Page 96 of The High Island

Moving to the front, withDSGreen at his side, he asked her first to describe to the assembled officers what had happened overnight on Cava and the possible reason for it.

The drug running now in their focus, he thankedDSGreen. Once she’d left the stage, he askedDSGowan to come forward and relate the events of last night that had resulted in the death of teenager Eilidh Mowat, granddaughter of the current head of the Mowat family, Hugh Mowat.

There was a heavy silence as Gowan told his story of being present in the nightclub. His suspicions at what was happening there. Liverpudlian voices, like his own. No open trading but an underlying feeling of tension.

‘If asked now what I thought was unravelling there last night, I would say there was a stand-off brewing. If the Mowats did have control of the drugs coming into Kirkwall, they were being challenged on that front.’

Erling accepted this and indicated he should continue.

‘It was around closing time when I received a call regarding a young woman in the harbour area. I exited the club immediately, and Leo and I ran down Bridge Street. We saw a body in the water and, entering the gate, traversed the walkway and together managed to pull the girl out.’ He halted there for a moment. ‘We attemptedresuscitation until the ambulance arrived and the paramedic took charge. Sadly, she was pronounced dead shortly after that.’

Erling now gave details of his conversation with the elderly American visitor who had spotted the disorientated girl and had called 999.

‘He noted that she was shoeless and was behaving as though intoxicated, either through drink or drugs or a mixture of both.’

He then explained about the possible injection site on her left arm discovered byAPTHannah Weir at the Balfour mortuary.

‘The body has since been viewed by Hugh Mowat and he has identified her as his sixteen-year-old granddaughter, Eilidh, who, against her mother’s wishes, had taken the ferry to Mainland from Hoy.’ His words, he knew, were detailing every parent’s nightmare, as was obvious by the reaction in the room.

He then doled out his orders. Both the club and the route to the harbour required a thorough search. ‘We’re looking for the victim’s mobile in particular. The search team have not located this, so she may have dropped it between the club and the harbour. Or it may be in the water, so we require a police diver to take a look. Her shoes are also missing. I don’t have a description of those as yet.’

At this point he knew he would have to talk toPCTulloch, who would have the difficult job of visiting the girl’s home on Hoy and speaking to her parents. Alone, with Jo back on Mainland. But then again, maybe, after their talk, hisDSwould welcome the opportunity to return to Hoy, despite the circumstances.

Having directed the troops as much as was possible for the moment, Erling retreated to his room. His aim now was to try to put the pieces of the ever-expanding jigsaw of Mowat family secrets together. Including their business interests, which seemed on the surface to have been on a collision course, both within the family and, ifDSGowan was right, with a rival drug supplier.

Before he died, Ivor Mowat had set a ball rolling that had succeeded in exposing the secrets of his family, both in the past and in the present.

Was that what the fight had been about with his eldest son before he died?

Erling’s initial thoughts on that altercation had placed Hugh Mowat firmly in the driving seat regarding his father’s death. To the extent that he’d considered exhuming Ivor’s body.

But now?

He replayed his entry to this room and the devastated man who’d awaited him here. It seemed to him now that Hugh Mowat had, together with his granddaughter, become the latest victims in whatever was really going on here.

As soon as Hugh had shown him the photo of Eilidh, Erling had known that he was looking at the drowned girl. No false eyelashes or smeared make-up. Just an image of a smiling teenager, her dark hair whipped away from her by the wind and the golden sands and waters of a bay behind.

Where had it been taken, he wondered. Somewhere on Hoy, he presumed. Maybe even at Lyrawa Bay.

He drew his thoughts back to Hugh and what had taken place in the mortuary at the Balfour, revisiting the scene as the drawer was pulled open and Hugh saw his granddaughter. The devastation on the man’s face. The horror at what had come to pass. And the guilt.

Hugh had felt responsible in some way for his granddaughter’s death. Was that because of the family’s likely foray into the supply of drugs in Orkney, probably sanctioned by him? Or because he had not succeeded in preventing such a move from happening?

And the fight that night at the care home. Had Ivor revealed Harald as Kris’s father? Or had the old man challenged Hugh onwhether the family were involved in the drugs trade? Or maybe even both?

When Hugh reappeared here as requested later today, Erling intended to get answers to all of those questions.

47

Jo watched as Houton Bay retreated, her relief at being sent back to Hoy as profound as her release at finally revealing her past toDIFlett.

Erling hadn’t requested details, asking only if she wished to register a complaint regardingDSGowan’s behaviour. Her answer had been no, although being in a position where she had been asked had lightened her mood still further.

She’d not spoken to Gus during her time in the strategy room. Nor had he attempted to speak to her. And she’d been impressed when he’d given his version of events regarding the previous night.

He was, she acknowledged, and not for the first time, a good detective. That didn’t mean he couldn’t also be a prick and a bully, she said quietly to herself.

She was in little doubt that he had jumped at the chance to come here. And it wasn’t because he liked a challenge, or that he just wanted to help.