He spotted somebody further ahead. ‘Muckle!’ he shouted.
McInsh was with his dog and a woman who was walking a Beagle on a leash.
‘Jimmy! This is my wife, Wilma. With Nessie.’
The woman smiled at them. ‘How do.’
Dunbar introduced them all before turning to Muckle. ‘Listen, son, I wanted a word if you don’t mind.’
‘Sure.’ Muckle turned to Wilma. ‘Be back in a sec, love.’ He walked away with Sparky and Dunbar.
‘You know I can’t ask you to go and look at those houses, but did you write down the addresses?’
‘I did.’ Muckle reached into a pocket and brought out a piece of paper. ‘Wouldn’t it be easier if I just showed you? I mean, I don’t have to go in. I could just bring the dog and wait outside.’
‘Aye, why don’t we do that. Where’s your pal tonight?’
‘He’s away off somewhere with his boyfriend.’
‘Have you decided what you’re going to do about a job?’
‘Nah. Not yet. I’ll leave the island, though. I’ve already told Wilma, and she’s quite happy for us to go back to the mainland. I’ve been giving some thought to starting up a wee investigation business on the mainland. Maybe Wee Shug will join me.’
‘You could always join the force again,’ Dunbar said.
‘Thanks, sir, but there are a lot of bastards still in uniform who shouldn’t be.’
‘We’re trying to weed them out. You and Shug would be fine. You could always work Govan again. My team are brand new.’
‘I’ll keep it in mind. First, though, let’s go and have a look at those places.’
They walked back to the group.
Harry was looking at the fairground rides. A rollercoaster, the waltzers, a ghost train ride. And all the little stalls in between. Coloured lights flashed more prominently in the descending darkness. Music filled the air, not just from the concert down the road, but the familiar chintzy music played in fairgrounds the world over.
He could hear a bingo caller shouting out the numbers. Carnies were encouraging the public to spend a fortune on a stuffed gonk. Throw a wonky dart at a playing card tacked to the wall. Knock metal cans down.
‘Brings back memories, eh?’ Alex said.
Harry didn’t hear her for a moment. ‘What? Oh, yeah. Good times. Chance had a great time at Burntisland. We could never get him off the wee fire engine that went round on a track with some other cars.’
‘Hopefully we can make some good memories too, with our own kids.’
He smiled and put a hand on hers. ‘We will. I promise.’
Dunbar walked back over. ‘I just had a call from Thomas Deal, the solicitor. He wants us to head over to the house. The boys have turned back up. With Brian Gibbons. There’s a ruckus going on.’
‘Let’s go.’
‘You want me to come up?’ Muckle asked.
‘Best not, my friend. Things could go south for you now that you’re not in an official capacity.’
‘You’ve got my number. Give me a shout if you need me. That Sergeant Turnbull is about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike.’
Seventeen
Whatever had gone down in the house was now over.
‘I tried to tell them,’ Thomas Deal said. He was standing in front of the fire with a glass in his hand. ‘But what do I know?’
‘He started it!’ Brian Gibbons said, pointing to Fenton. ‘And I finished it.’
‘Finished what? Fucking twat,’ Fenton answered.
‘Let’s get you cleaned up,’ Missy Galbraith said. The solicitor’s assistant was fussing around like a mother hen. She was younger than any of them but acted twice her age. She handed Brian a damp cloth, then left the room.
‘Leave me alone,’ Brian said, holding a bloodied hanky to his nose.
‘Were you with Shona today before she died?’ Dunbar said to him.
‘I just went for a walk after she stormed off,’ Brian answered.
Fenton looked at him like he had two heads. ‘What did you say?’
Zach, who had been sitting in an armchair, jumped up. ‘Our sister’s dead?’
‘You haven’t heard?’ Harry said. ‘It’s all over the island. People start talking before we have a chance to talk to the family.’
‘Heard what? I didn’t hear anything.’ Fenton said. ‘Did he know?’ He pointed to Gibbons.
‘I’m sorry to say, we’re treating her death as suspicious,’ Dunbar said, ignoring the question.
‘What does that mean?’ Fenton asked.
‘It means we don’t think she died of natural causes.’ Harry explained where Shona had been found but not the exact circumstances.
‘Fucking murdered?’ Fenton looked at Brian. ‘Oh, you old, fat bastard. I knew my sister shouldn’t have married you.’ He took two steps towards the older man.
‘That’s enough!’ Dunbar said. ‘We need to talk to you all. Not Mr Deal, but you two, Fenton and Zachary. I want to know where you were today. You too, Mr Gibbons. I want to know exactly where you were before you went to the fairground.’
Fenton curled his lip. ‘Where were we? We were looking around at the houses our father left to us. Nothing more, nothing less. We had dinner in a little restaurant on the south island. Here,’ he said, fishing his wallet out of a pocket. He opened it up and took out a receipt. ‘You never know when somebody will screw you over, so I always keep the receipts until the credit card bill comes in.’
He passed it over and Dunbar looked at it. It was marked for a couple of hours previously.
‘What about you, Mr Gibbons?’ Dunbar said, handing the receipt back. ‘Where were you?’
‘I left Shona on the hill overlooking the fairground. Well, the new houses on the other side. I walked over to the fairground. The mobile phone reception is better there. I called for a taxi. I spoke to Joe Murphy like I already said, and then I came home. Where the two young detectives were waiting.’
‘The houses that you and my father are building,’ Zach said. ‘If you want to know who
