Ann Cleeves: White Nights

‘Did he say what sort of work it was?’

‘“Promotional street theatre”.’ Perez could hear the quotation marks in Taylor’s voice, thought that might describe the pantomime at the cruise ship and in Lerwick. He wasn’t sure it covered the drama at the Herring House though.

‘Rita thought it was weird that he’d consider doing work like that. She said usually he was a bit picky. He liked real theatre, not the arty stuff. She thought it would be some sort of conceptual theatre – whatever that is – because he said it was linked to an art gallery. When I told her what was actually involved she said she was surprised he hadn’t just left and come home. It wasn’t acting at all. A kid straight out of school could put on a costume and hand out a few flyers. And Booth could be very arsy when it came to work.’

‘So she thought he’d been hired to do the work by the gallery?’

‘That was the impression he gave at first. Later he said what a great opportunity it was – a chance to get close to a real celebrity. “This could be my big chance, darling. The time to hit the jackpot. My little bit of luck. And if I hadn’t been watching the telly the other night, I’d never have known.”’ He went all mysterious on her after that. She didn’t really take any notice. He was always talking about hitting the big time. All actors do.’

Perez sat for a moment in silence, wondering how this information fitted in with his ideas about the case.

‘Do you have any idea which television programme he was talking about?’

‘Wouldn’t it have been that documentary about Roddy Sinclair?’

Perez didn’t watch much television, but the uncertain theories in his head about how Booth had died suddenly shifted and came into focus.

‘What documentary would that be?’

‘It was one of a series. Sort of a fly-on-the-wall look at contemporary artists. The cameras followed Roddy round for a week.’

‘I think I read about it in the Shetland Times ,’ Perez said. ‘The BBC came here to film him during the music festival last year.’ Then he remembered that Kenny had talked about it and been involved in it too.

‘Some of it was set in Glasgow. Him playing at a folk club, meeting up with his friends, talking about his music – but there were a couple of scenes in London and quite a long piece filmed in Shetland. The Herring House featured, I think, and there was an interview with Bella. I remember one part where they followed Roddy into the Biddista shop – there was a bit of banter with the customers – and another of him playing music in the school where he used to go.’

‘The high school?’

‘Nah, these were little kids. It must have been the local primary.’

‘In Lerwick?

‘Out in the wilds somewhere, I thought.’

‘Can we track down a copy of the film?’ Perez asked.

‘If you think it’s important.’

Perez didn’t answer, but he was thinking it would confirm to him who’d killed three people. Proving it, though, would be quite a different matter.

Perez arrived at Middleton School just as the children were leaving. He’d asked Taylor if he’d like to come too, thought Taylor could do with a break from the incident room, some fresh air, cold turkey from the caffeine. And if Perez did the driving he might even catch some sleep in the car. But the conversation with Booth’s agent seemed to have had a strange effect on Taylor. He sat at his desk, frowning, oblivious to the activity around him. He was quite still. The restlessness and fidgeting seemed finally under control. He didn’t even ask why Perez wanted to go to Middleton. He seemed preoccupied with concerns of his own.

‘Are you OK?’

Taylor turned then, flashed a grin, which immediately disappeared.

‘Yeah, fine. Things on my mind. You know. Nothing to do with this case. Work-related, stuff happening back in Inverness.’

Perez didn’t think he could push it. They’d reestablished a delicate balance in their friendship. He wanted to keep things that way.

It was classic Shetland weather, breezy with flashes of bright sunshine, and as Perez got out of his car a group of children ran out of the school into the wind, arms outstretched, yelling and laughing. He envied their energy. He waited until the playground was empty before he went inside. Dawn Williamson was in the school library, sitting on one of the small chairs in front of a computer. He stood for a moment watching her, but her body blocked his view of the machine so he couldn’t see what was on the screen.

‘Don’t you have a PC at home?’ Everyone did now. Most Shetlanders shopped online. One time, when you went south, people gave you a list of goodies unobtainable in the islands to bring back. Now people bought their CDs, books, clothes and even household items on the internet.

She turned, startled by his voice, then smiled, reassured, when she recognized him.

‘The hard drive’s crashed,’ she said. ‘I’ve only had the bloody thing for six months. It’s a real nuisance. Martin used it for work. Even Aggie had become a convert – she’s really interested in family history and there’s loads you can do online. I’ve just sent it back to the manufacturer. It was still under warranty and I couldn’t get anyone to come out to fix it.’

‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I’ve a few more questions.’

She stood up and leaned against the desk so she was facing him. Something about his expression seemed to panic her.

‘Is anything wrong, inspector? What’s happened now?’

‘There’s nothing new,’ he said. ‘Just questions.’

‘We’re all so jumpy. I heard you’d found another body down the Pit. It’s horrible, unbelievable. What do I tell Alice? I hoped she’d be protected, growing up here.’

Perez thought of the bullying he’d endured when he moved from the small Fair Isle school to the hostel in Lerwick. Kids were cruel wherever they lived. He didn’t think people were so different because they lived in Shetland. Not the children or the grown-ups.

‘It’s about the television documentary on Roddy Sinclair. You remember it?’

‘I’ll never forget it,’ she said. ‘You won’t believe the excitement it caused, the BBC coming to the school. They were here for three days and in the end the scene only lasted for about five minutes. The kids loved it.’

‘Roddy was never a pupil here, though, was he? He lived in Lerwick when he was in the primary.’

‘Dramatic licence, I suppose. Middleton’s a bit more scenic. And I think he did come here for a few weeks when he was very young. It was when his father was first diagnosed and had to go away to Aberdeen to hospital. His mother went too and Roddy stayed with Bella. He has come in to do some music with the kids since he started recording. They loved him, of course. There was enough of the rascal in him to appeal to them.’

‘How long did the BBC spend filming in Biddista?’

‘Quite a lot longer. More than a week. In the end the documentary was as much about the community as about Roddy himself.’

‘What did the Biddista folk make of that?’

‘Oh, they all pretended to be very cool, but they made sure they were out and about whenever the BBC were filming.’

‘Everyone?’

‘Well, Aggie’s always been a bit shy. She got Martin to stand in for her the day they did the bit in the shop. We persuaded her to pretend to be one of the customers, so the whole community was captured.’

‘Was Willy still living in Biddista then?’

‘He was. He was there on the film. Although it’s not long been shown on the television, they shot it last spring.’

‘So it was before Peter Wilding moved into his house?’

‘Yes, it was. Willy was managing quite well on his own then.’ She looked directly at Perez. ‘What is all this about? You can’t think one of us is a killer.’