-
one going into the scene and one coming away. Another, more recent, in places crossing the prints of Mrs Hunter came from Mr Alex Henry, the teacher's husband from Ravenswick. Size nine walking boots. Again, only to be expected. We know that Mrs Hunter waved at him, he crossed the field to join her and he used his mobile to call us.
The third set belongs to Magnus Tait. His prints aren't very clear. It's hard to tell how long he was there and what he was up to. That's because the other sets are laid on top of his. He was there before either of the others. Our examiner is quite clear on that.'
Sandy Wilson gave a cheer, punched his fist in the air, then fell silent when everyone else just sat and watched him.
'You think this is a cause for celebration, Sandy?' Taylor asked. The voice deceptively mild, but with an edge of sarcasm which Perez and the Inverness team recognized. He could be polite only for so long.
'Well it means we've got him,' Sandy said. 'Doesn't it?'
'He's already admitted to being at the scene,' Perez said. 'He didn't attempt to hide it. He told me on my first visit. It's in the day log, Sandy. But maybe you've not had a chance to look at it:
'Well, he would, wouldn't he? He'd know that we'd find his prints and he'd come up with a reason..!
'I'm not sure he's capable of that sort of thinking: Perez said. He wished Sandy would admit defeat, not show himself up in front of the others.
'Besides,' Taylor said, 'if he killed Catherine, how did she get there, Sandy? There are none of her prints. Tell me, did she fly? Did those bastard birds pick her up in their talons and carry her?'
'Maybe Tait did!
'Catherine was a tall young woman. He's an old man. Strong once, perhaps, and still used to some physical work, but I don't reckon he'd have been able to hoist her over two fields without putting her down for a breather.
Even if she was already dead!
'Then how did she get there?'
The question was directed to Taylor, but the inspector from Inverness only looked at Sandy for a long time in silence. 'Tell him, Jimmy: he said at last. 'You've worked it out, haven't you?' Perhaps he didn't feel he could explain to Sandy without really losing it, saying something he'd regret later.
'She walked: Perez said. 'She walked in with whoever killed her. Then it snowed and her footprints were covered up. There was a heavy squall at about midnight. I phoned Dave Wheeler the meteorologist on Fair Isle.
There was snow on part of the body, though according to the crime scene investigator it had been stroked carefully away from her face and upper torso. That's why Fran Hunter could see her from the road!
'So Tait could still be the murderer? No reason why not. He could have gone back later, early the next morning.
He could have swept the snow from her face.'
'He could be the murderer,' Taylor said, interrupting, finding it impossible now to restrain himself. 'Of course he could. Still most likely prime suspect. But let's picture the scene. It's dark. He took the girl into his house for tea early in the afternoon. We know that. He's admitted it and they were seen getting off the bus together. Let's suppose, just for a minute, that he managed to entertain her all afternoon. How did he persuade her to go out on to the hill with him in the pitch black? She was an intelligent young woman. Brought up in the big city.
Not naive. Streetwise. Even if she hadn't heard the rumours about him and Catriona Bruce, do you think she’d just wander off into the night with him? That's what the defence lawyers will say. And it worries me too!
Taylor turned quickly, so he had his back to Sandy, as if he wasn't worth further attention. 'Jimmy, what do you think?'
'I don't think she was the sort to be easily scared. And here, in Shetland, there's a sense of security isn't there?
Bad things don't happen here. Not the sort of things that happen elsewhere. We let our kids wander round on their own. We might worry about them getting a bit close to the cliffs, but we don't worry about them getting abducted by perverts!
'So I think she might have gone with him. If she thought he had something interesting to show her. Or for a challenge or a dare. A story to entertain her friends with the next day! He paused. 'But she wouldn't just have stood there and let him strangle her. She'd have fought him back. And there's no sign of that. No scratch marks on his hands or his face. They'll take a sample from under her fingernails. Perhaps we'll know more then!
'So how do you see it, Jimmy?' Taylor asked. 'Set the scene for me. 'Tell me what you think happened?'
'I think she walked out there with someone she knew and was comfortable with. Someone she'd stand close to, arm in arm maybe, to keep out the cold. When the attack came it was without warning. The scarf she was wearing pulled hard around her neck. She'd still try to fight, but perhaps it was so sudden that she didn't stand a chance.
Either that or someone with sufficient strength to catch her off guard!
'You're thinking a boyfriend then?'
'Aye perhaps. Probably. But not necessarily!
'Fill us in on the wannabe boyfriend you've tracked down, the lad who gave them the lift back New Year's Eve!
'Jonathan Gale. Family's English, moved to Quendale not very long ago. He's a year older than Catherine. At the high school too. He came to see me while I was there. Father's a travel writer.
Anyway, they were both outsiders so you'd expect them to get on. And he'd certainly fallen for her. Big style. I could tell, though he wasn't saying a lot. Apparently she didn't reciprocate. According to Sally Henry, Catherine hardly spoke to him in the car back from Lerwick. And Euan said she didn't seem interested. But Gale couldn't have killed her. Not according to his parents. He was with them all evening on the 4th. They watched a video!
'Until midnight?'
'No, but they claim he couldn't have driven away from the house without them hearing! He wanted to say he'd talked to the lad and liked him, but didn't think Taylor would be impressed by that. Instead he went on, 'It wouldn't have had to be a boyfriend. It could have been anyone she'd not be scared of:
'Her father?'
'I suppose he'd fit the bill. But wasn't he in Lerwick all evening? And what would be the motive?'
'God knows. But we've checked with his colleagues and he was a bit out with his timings. It wasn't as late as he said in his statement when he left town. It isn't necessarily suspicious, but he could have killed the daughter before the snow set in! Taylor began his habitual pacing. Perez wondered irritably if they couldn't give him something to slow him down. Valium? Or those little cannabis cookies Sarah used to make when she was at college? What did she call them? Hash brownies.
'I know where Catherine was the night before she fetched up on the bus with Magnus Tait. That might help!
Taylor stopped abruptly.
'For God's sake man, why didn't you say so before? Where?'
Perez was tempted to say that he hadn't been able to get a word in, but let it go. 'At the Haa. One of Duncan Hunter's parties:
There was a mutter of recognition, almost of amusement, from the Shetlanders. Taylor, though, was not amused. 'Is this supposed to mean something to me?'
'Duncan's a sort of local playboy. Businessman. Entrepreneur. He throws famous parties. We've all been to them at one time or another. Though few of us can remember much of what went on:
'Isn't the woman who found the body called Hunter?'
'Duncan's her ex-husband:
'Any significance there?'
'Only in the fact that it was she who told me the girl was at the Haa that night. Duncan wasn't going to bother letting us know.'
