‘I need to find a lift eventually. We flew over and there’s no way I’m flying back,’ Harry said.
‘Good. You can drive one of the cars back. How about the BMW? It rides like a dream. Use it while you’re here. To be honest, I’ll sell it when we get home. Not quite my style. I’m more of a Jag man myself.’
‘I’m sorry, Mr Deal, that wouldn’t be appropriate,’ Harry said.
‘I understand. Anyway, we’ll meet you at the police station. But be prepared for a long visit. I have quite the tale to tell. Murdo Wolf did not lead a dull life.’
‘You knew him well, then?’ Dunbar said.
Deal chuckled. ‘Knew him well? I should say so.’
They watched the old man leave.
Nine
‘Come on, Brian, for God’s sake. Make a bloody effort.’
‘You might not have noticed, but these shoes aren’t built for hiking. Neither am I, come to think of it.’
‘Fat bastard,’ she said in a lower voice.
‘What did you say?’
‘You heard.’ She broke out of the woods, ahead of her husband, and he lost sight of her for a moment. God, she could be a real fucking pain at times. Still, he was focused on the end result. That was all that mattered.
He was well aware of the view from up here. They could look down on the building site that they had going. Luxury homes for sale. Luxury apartments. It had been a long time coming for sure, but the potential was here. A luxury marina was next. Yes, the current marina was okay, but when you started to get people with money coming to the island, they’d want certain luxuries, and Brian Gibbons was going to give those to them.
Of course, the other members of the family would be pissed off when they found out that Old Man Oliver had invested in the projects, but he had been a good businessman, like his father before him.
Brian stopped and looked down at the houses below them. Shona was staring off into space. Maybe she was thinking about her brother, or her grandfather. Brian couldn’t give a flying fuck about either of them. The bottom line for him was getting this project finished. And when they could finally sell the house where Clive had been found, that would mean more houses to build. The land there was fabulous, with views down to the loch.
And Brian stood to make a killing.
He slipped and fell to one knee. ‘Fuck’s sake. Look at my fucking trousers.’
Shona turned to look at him, undisguised contempt all over her face. ‘I told you to wear proper gear, like me.’
‘And look like a fucking tree hugger or something?’
He could hear the music from the fairground in the distance below, round the other side of the hill, as he got closer to Shona. He bent over for a second as the stitch in his side flared up. He took some deep breaths. ‘Jesus, I’m knackered.’
She did her head-shaking thing again, the one she reserved for when he was pished or when he’d left the toilet seat up again. Cats might be able to swim, she had explained one time in her most condescending voice, but they don’t like to swim in the toilet.
‘Profanity and blasphemy. You’re doing well today.’
Here we go. Little Miss Uppity. Shona could be the perfect stuck-up bitch when she felt like it, but Brian had seen beneath the veneer. He stood up straight. ‘I am. I’m absolutely fucked,’ he said, just to push some more buttons.
‘Oh, nonsense. My grandfather used to walk up the hill every day from the house. He said that’s why he lived a good, wholesome life.’
There was something in her eyes; resentment. Yes, she liked the high life his building empire had brought, but the twenty-year age gap was starting to peel away at their short marriage. He thought she might be trying to kill him.
She ignored him and turned back to the lodge.
‘It has so much charm,’ she said.
‘I’ll have them put that on my tombstone.’
‘Shona’s starting to get a little bit ticked-off, darling. Shona hasn’t had her meds today, and Shona will be most displeased if her husband doesn’t shut his biscuit chute and come look.’
‘I know exactly what the view is like.’ He knew Shona was hurting inside. The fact that she refused to talk about her twin brother’s murder was one thing, but not wanting to talk about the discovery of her grandfather was even more disconcerting.
‘Listen, I’m here if you want to talk about it. It might do you a world of good,’ he said.
‘Really? Good for me? To talk about my brother being murdered and knowing the killer is still here with us? How do I know it wasn’t you?’
Shona’s eyes were wide now, her breathing getting faster.
‘Oh, come on, love, don’t be talking like that.’
‘You fucking keep away from me.’ Now she was pointing a finger at him. Fight or flight.
‘Shona, I think it’s time we got back to the house. Maybe get the doctor to give you something.’ He took a step towards her.
‘Fenton said you were just using me. He knows all about you. He told me to stay beside other people. That you’re dangerous. I told him not to be so stupid, but he pointed some things out. Like that place down there.’
Brian looked down at the new construction. ‘The houses? That was all planned yonks ago. Your father was excited about it. He gave it the go-ahead. How can you say I had planned this all by myself? Like I was trying to do something underhanded? Come on, come here. We’ll go back.’
‘Yes, my father planned this, but then he died. Two days before Christmas, just like my grandfather. Thirty-four years apart. Next Christmas the houses will be ready. Thirty-five years to the day since my
