‘I just wanted to make sure you were clear about our story,’ said Adam. ‘You were pretty out of it back there sometimes.’
‘All thanks to Uncle Charlie. What happened to my case, by the way?’
Adam shook his head. ‘I chucked it over the side of the lifeboat while you were out for the count. Thought it was for the best.’
‘Shame, I could do with some now,’ said Roddy, his body tensing as he shifted his weight.
‘Here,’ said Adam, lifting a button attached to a drip going into Roddy’s hand. ‘The nurse showed me, this is morphine. You press it to get more.’
Roddy grinned. ‘Drugs on tap? That’s a fucking sweet deal.’
He pressed the button and waited a few seconds. He stared at Adam, his eyes widening then narrowing. ‘Oh fuck, that’s good shit.’ He sank into his pillows.
‘So,’ said Adam. ‘Our story?’
‘Yeah, yeah,’ said Roddy dreamily. ‘We crashed. Found Ethan. Luke missing. Set a fire and sat around all night till morning. Simple.’
‘Cool,’ said Adam. ‘They’ve found Joe and Grant already.’
Roddy gazed glassily through the morphine. ‘I knew they would. A fire that size was bound to attract attention. What’re they saying?’
‘We spoke to that copper Eric that Molly knows.’
‘Did you tell him what really happened?’
Adam shook his head. ‘Molly thought it best to just stick to our story with him too.’
‘Clever girl,’ said Roddy. ‘She’s right. Can’t be too careful. The fewer people know the truth the better.’
‘I don’t think anyone is linking us to the fire at the still, not yet anyway. I get the impression that the other Islay cops weren’t in on the bootlegging thing. Molly seems to reckon they’ll just want it all to go away, so they’re not looking too hard for reasons not to brush it under the carpet.’
‘It can’t be that easy?’
‘It’s not,’ said Adam, shaking his head. ‘Cops are coming from the mainland to look into it. Eric reckons they’ll want to speak to us.’
‘Right.’
‘Oh, a lifeboat and a couple of coastguard boats are sweeping the coast off the Oa, searching for Luke. Remember to look hopeful that they find him.’
‘They’re surely not expecting to find him alive after this time?’
‘No, they’re searching for the body, really. Fingers crossed they don’t find it for a while. Even if they do, hopefully we’ve done enough that forensics won’t twig.’
‘Depends how good a job you made of getting that bullet out.’
‘I got it out fine, OK?’
‘OK, only fucking saying.’
‘Well don’t bother,’ said Adam. ‘You have no idea what I went through when you were out cold back there.’
Roddy looked at his shoulder. ‘I kind of had my own shit to worry about, you know.’
Adam could feel his heart racing and made a conscious effort to calm down. ‘I know. Look, we just have to stay calm and stick to what we said, OK?’
‘Not a problem.’
The door opened and Eric poked his head round. He looked at Roddy. ‘How you doing, son?’
‘Not too bad, considering.’
‘That’s good.’ Eric looked at Adam. ‘Can you follow me please, Mr Strachan? A couple of gentlemen from Strathclyde CID in Glasgow have arrived and want to have a quick word with you.’ He turned back to Roddy. ‘Then they want to speak with you, Mr Hunter, if you’re up to it?’
‘Sure,’ said Roddy.
Adam patted Roddy on his good shoulder and gave him a furtive glance. Roddy smiled and pressed the button for more morphine, sinking further into his bed covers.
‘That is good shit,’ he said to himself as Adam headed out the door.
39
‘I believe you’ve been through quite an ordeal.’
Adam was back in the same beige room as before, facing a tall, muscular man with a square jaw and close- cropped hair. No uniform, but he’d shown Adam his ID, Detective Inspector Ritchie. The guy looked more like a bouncer than a copper, though was there really much difference?
‘Where’s Molly?’
The DI gave him a look. ‘Ms Gillespie is giving her version of events to my colleague.’
‘Version of events?’
‘Just routine,’ said Ritchie. ‘With any incident like this, we want to establish the chain of events, make sure we know exactly what happened.’
‘But it was just a car accident.’
Ritchie smiled, no warmth in it.
‘A car accident resulting in one fatality, one serious injury and one missing person, presumed dead.’
‘Presumed dead?’
‘You strike me as an intelligent man,’ said Ritchie. ‘If your friend has been in the water since the crash, he has very little chance of survival at this time of year.’
‘If?’
Ritchie stared at Adam. ‘Presuming you never saw him in the water, how do you know for sure that’s where he ended up?’
Adam’s mind raced. ‘We searched all over for him after the crash, didn’t find anything.’
‘Maybe he woke up first, went to get help but got into trouble.’
Adam frowned. ‘What kind of trouble?’
‘You tell me.’
Adam looked at Ritchie. ‘He wouldn’t have gone off without helping us first. He would’ve woken us. When I came round, Molly and Roddy were still in the car, they needed to be got out. He would’ve done that, not just wandered off.’
‘Maybe he was concussed and confused.’
‘He wouldn’t just wander off.’
‘Or maybe he got out of the car before it went over the cliff.’
‘What?’ Adam could feel himself getting flustered. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Maybe he realised you were heading over a cliff, and somehow got out before the car went over.’
Adam shook his head. ‘Then he would’ve gone for help, wouldn’t he?’
‘We just have to consider all the possibilities,’ said Ritchie. The DI was absent-mindedly staring out the grimy window. ‘You understand that, don’t you?’
‘Of course.’
Ritchie turned back. ‘So, tell me what happened in your own words.’
‘Doesn’t there have to be two of you present for a police interview?’ said Adam.
Ritchie smiled. ‘I think you’ve been watching too much Taggart, Mr Strachan. This isn’t a formal interview, just a little chat to establish what happened. There’s no need to be so defensive.’
‘I’m not being defensive,’ said Adam, his blood pumping faster.
‘So tell me what happened.’
‘We were driving back from Stremnishmore, and…’
‘What were you doing there?’
Adam took a moment. ‘Looking at the old distillery.’
