Deadly Still

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

‘We are glad to see you out of hospital, Morag,’ said Torquil as the West Uist team sat in the rest room the day after.

‘I’m glad to be out, boss. I can’t say that I like this hangover, though. Why people willingly drink vast amounts of whisky is beyond me.’

‘You’ll be pleased to hear that Catriona McDonald is being discharged home from the Western Isles Hospital today. Her vision is almost completely back.’

‘What about Vicky? Her parents must be so relieved to have her home.’

‘Ralph says he’s going to arrange some counselling. She’s probably still in shock, but post-traumatic stress syndrome is common after false imprisonment.’

‘I can hardly believe that Helen Beamish could have been so evil,’ Morag said. ‘She had me fooled completely.’

‘And she had everyone taken in, Morag,’ Torquil replied. ‘We’ve looked at the memory stick that Robbie Ochterlonie gave old Stuart Robertson for safe-keeping in case anything happened to him. It was inside one of his ships in bottles on his dressing table. She’s been embezzling and exploiting clients right left and centre for years. She was the murderer all right, but she had her lover, Nathan Westwood, wrapped round her finger. They were stashing money away and he had no qualms about either imprisoning Vicky or indeed, killing her.’

Morag winced. ‘That cold-blooded monster, Helen Beamish, said Vicky was being terminated while she tried to poison me. And if her poor husband hadn’t come in when he did —’

‘He knew that she was having an affair, but he wasn’t sure with who,’ said Torquil.

‘I saw him on the moor on Monday morning,’ Ewan volunteered. ‘Wet weather gear and binoculars. He told me he was bird watching, but he must have been trying to spy on some of those cottages of theirs.’

‘Poor man,’ said Morag. ‘I don’t suppose he even knew about the embezzling. Will he be OK?’

‘Yes, he was taken to the Western Isles Hospital and they flew a cardiothoracic surgeon in. She removed the bullet from his lung and resected it. He’s in intensive care with IV lines and chest drains, but he’s expected to recover physically. As for psychologically, after this, who knows.’

‘Archie Reid is another one in shock,’ Wallace said. ‘He admitted that he’d been supplying Robbie Ochterlonie with peatreek for years, but was terrified that his peatreek could have been involved in either of the two events.’

‘He had taken quite a beating from Angus Mackintosh,’ added Douglas.

‘How did Angus know that he supplied the peatreek?’ Morag asked.

‘Jamie Mackintosh kept a diary. We have it now. In it he made daily notes and it seemed he did all sorts of odd jobs around the island to make cash, including being Archie Reid’s delivery boy. Clearly, he had taken one of the adulterated bottles of peatreek when he and Vicky and Catriona planned their celebration at the pillbox after their exams.’

Morag turned to Penny and Ewan, who were sitting side by side on the settee. She noted their thighs were touching and smiled to herself. They certainly seemed to have hit it off.

‘What happened with Stan Wilkinson?’ she asked.

‘He was the burglar, Morag,’ Ewan said. ‘He wanted his phone back in case we found his pictures of him wearing all those stolen shoes.’

Penny explained that she had realised who he was, with the beard he had grown and his much shorter haircut. ‘I think he’s harmless enough. He just has this shoe fetish.’

‘Aye, when he burgled the place he took all sorts of things to make it look as if it was random. The silly chap took the trainer and the other things from the search, not realising their importance. He said he couldn’t resist my murder shoes.’

‘Superintendent Lumsden took his officers back to Lewis,’ Torquil continued. ‘He was threatening all sorts of reprimands for leaving the station under the management of a civilian, but I sort of suggested that Calum could muster up quite a media storm against him, so all in all, I think it’s going to be passed off, especially now that we have Vicky back. Of course, the Procurator Fiscal is going to open Fatal Accident Inquiries on the deaths of Jamie Mackintosh, Robbie Ochterlonie and now Helen Beamish. We’re going to be busy. Also, since Calum’s last bulletin all sorts of things have come out of the woodwork.’

‘Such as?’ Morag asked.

‘Well, sexual shenanigans for starters. The Corlin-MacLeods are splitting up, because Esther has been having an affair with Councillor Charlie McDonald. Apparently he had taken solace in golf and the Padre has acquired a new parishioner. Hamish McNab has also been a bad lad and has been using his mistress, Doreen McGuire to spy on McDonald’s daughter and gain whatever dirt she could about Charlie. There may be financial irregularities and unscrupulous behaviour over properties and licensing to be investigated.’

The bell from the front door rang and Ewan leaped to his feet to go through to see who had come in.

A moment later he came back in. ‘Look who’s here.’

The Padre walked in with a beaming smile. ‘No, he didn’t mean me. She wanted to surprise you so she called me to pick her up from the ferry on the Ariel.’

Lorna walked in and went straight to Torquil and they exchanged polite air kisses, knowing that they would exchange them for the real thing once they were alone.

‘Superintendent Lumsden sent me over. He said you’d need some help picking all the pieces up. He almost seemed human.’ From a shoulder bag she drew out a bottle. ‘Look what he sent for the wedding guests to enjoy at the wedding. It’s a 50-year-old malt whisky. A good one from Cambeltown.’

‘Whisky!’ Torquil said. ‘Look, about that, Lorna, I’ve been thinking. I’m not so sure that whisky would be right for the wedding favours.’

‘Oh, that’s a change of heart. And what about that other question. Have you decided?’

Torquil grinned. He knew she was referring to his choice for best man. ‘Actually, I have. There are going to be five of them!’

***

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