She stepped out into view.
‘Evening, Hanlon,’ said Donald cheerily. ‘Could nae keep away, eh?’
He opened the door and ushered her in.
In contrast to McCleod’s pigsty of a house, Donald’s was a model of cleanliness and neatness. He opened the fridge; as far as she could tell from a glance across the room, it seemed to be just full of lager.
He took out a can.
‘Like one?’
‘No, thanks.’ Her head still felt slightly muzzy from McCleod’s whisky. ‘Did Catriona tell you what happened?’
‘Aye, I called her after the last of the mains went out to ask what all of this was about. So Big Jim tried to drown you in the Gulf of Corryvreckan? Unbelievable…’ He shook his head, opened the can and tipped the contents down in two goes. He belched. ‘That’s better. You should go to the police.’
‘I am the police,’ said Hanlon, ‘in a manner of speaking.’
He reached for another can and closed the fridge door. He looked questioningly at Hanlon.
‘He’d deny it, as I said to Catriona. Besides, I’m not sure he would even remember doing it.’
‘Well, his boat’s back,’ Donald said. ‘I have nae seen Harriet though.’
‘What sort of condition is he in?’ wondered Hanlon.
‘He’s absolutely fucked, steaming,’ Donald said. ‘I saw him passed out in his office earlier. He was slumped across the desk, snoring his head off.’
Good, thought Hanlon. I’m glad you’re suffering some kind of meltdown, you murderous bastard.
‘I’ll go and collect my stuff tomorrow,’ Hanlon said, ‘then I’ll be off.’
‘You’re welcome to stay as long as you want,’ Donald said seriously. He looked at her for once without his habitual come-hither/bedroom-eyes expression. He looked concerned. ‘Catriona’s a friend.’
Hanlon found his care touching. Delayed shock, she guessed. First Wemyss, now Donald.
‘You know her through your brother, she said.’
Donald nodded. ‘Yeah, that’s right. He met her at an exercise class. He’s a wee bit slimmer than me.’
‘Oh, God…’ She suddenly remembered – how could she have forgotten? ‘It was his bloody kayak… I’ll get him a new one. I can hardly speak to Big Jim about it.’
‘I’d forget it, if I were you,’ Donald said. ‘As for Big Jim, he’s not going to have a pot to piss in soon. Don’t worry about it. John never used that kayak anyway.’
‘I can’t do that,’ Hanlon said. ‘I always pay my debts.’
And I will to you, Big Jim. I can promise you that. I’ll give you what’s due to you, from me and Eva and maybe Franca.
Donald shrugged. ‘Have it your own way.’ He shook his head, looking at Hanlon. ‘I can’t believe he tried to drown you. Did Harriet not try to stop him?’
‘In fairness she did.’ Well, she had stopped him shooting her, but was that because it would have been too obvious? ‘But I’m not sure how hard she actually tried.’
‘Well, if Big Jim got carted off to prison or died, she’d be better off, I guess,’ Donald said.
‘How come?’ asked Hanlon.
Donald stretched out luxuriously in an armchair; he downed half his lager. ‘Harriet is a good hotel manager – she does all the work and Big Jim ruins it. If he was removed from the helm, the ship would be sailing towards safer waters, not towards the rocks. But, as it is, I can confidently expect to pick the business up cheap in a fire sale from the receivers when he goes bankrupt.’
‘But she’s still around?’ asked Hanlon.
‘How do you mean?’ Donald looked puzzled.
‘Big Jim didn’t shoot her or throw her overboard?’ explained Hanlon.
Donald laughed. ‘Not unless she’s come back as a ghost. I saw her earlier, I didn’t speak to her.’
‘Well,’ Hanlon said, ‘thanks for putting me up. I’m off to bed.’
‘Remember,’ Donald said, reverting to type, ‘if you get lonely…’
‘I won’t, Donald,’ Hanlon said firmly. ‘I really won’t.’
The next morning, Hanlon got up and walked over to the Mackinnon Arms. The sun was high in the sky and there were only a few clouds floating high above the Paps. The hotel seemed eerily deserted and she met nobody as she retrieved her case and her clothes from her room. There was no sign of Big Jim, but she did meet Harriet.
Hanlon encountered her in the lobby as she walked down the stairs holding her bags. The two women stared at each other, both stony faced. If Harriet was discomforted by meeting Hanlon, there was no sign of it on her face. Hanlon felt a surge of anger towards Big Jim’s accomplice. Most of all, she remembered Harriet at the wheel, accelerating the boat away from her, leaving her to the cold mercy of the sea.
‘I didn’t drown,’ Hanlon said coldly. Unlike the others, she thought.
‘Please come into the office,’ asked Harriet.
She did so.
‘Take a seat.’
‘I’d rather stand,’ said Hanlon.
‘What can I say?’ Harriet opened her arms expressively, pulling a sympathetic face. ‘I did my best, but I’m afraid he’s so far gone these days – that’s why I was on the water with him in the first place. He was in no fit state to be steering a boat… At least I got that gun away from him.’
‘I know,’ Hanlon said, ‘but I very nearly died out there. You left me out there. In the sea. With a sunken boat, by a whirlpool. I’m here, but it’s no thanks to you.’
‘Well, if Big Jim got carted off to prison or died, she’d be better off, I guess.’
Donald’s words resurfaced in her memory. If she had drowned, Big Jim might well be taking his first unsteady steps towards a murder trial, star witness Harriet, star exhibit, one very dead Hanlon. And if Big Jim was involved in drug smuggling his profits would be in cash, easily available to be appropriated by Harriet. They wouldn’t be invested in ISAs or national savings bonds, that was for sure.
‘All I can do is say sorry. What more do you want from me?’ Harriet looked at her appealingly. Hanlon felt a surge of incredulity. It was as if she
