Ann Cleeves: Thin Air

‘I had to speak to Eleanor Longstaff, to make her see what she was doing. All that evening, while she was dancing and laughing and flirting, the truth was eating away at me. She was going to make Lowrie unhappy again. You must see, Jimmy, that I had to do something. You’d be the same if anyone treated Cassie badly. Eleanor would ruin my son’s marriage and he’d become ill and depressed. He might disappear south with her, and then I’d never see him again. I could tell that she would never consider living in Shetland.’

Perez had his eyes open and leaned towards her. ‘Eleanor never planned to steal your son from you. You must know that now.’ But it was spoken in a whisper, almost to himself.

Grusche didn’t seem to hear him and continued talking. ‘After the party we tidied up a bit and then George went to bed. He’d been drinking all night and I knew that he wouldn’t wake up until the morning. I could hear him snoring, like a great big bear. Then Lowrie and Caroline went off too. I let myself outside and walked down to the beach. I could see all the people from Sletts sitting on the deck. They were talking and laughing. After a while the men went inside. Then a little later Polly disappeared too, and only Eleanor was left. And that seemed like a sign that I should go and talk to her. It was just getting light and she saw me coming. She waved to me. “Can’t you sleep either, Grusche? Shall we go for a walk?” Not waiting for an answer. I don’t think she ever really listened to what people said to her.’

There was a moment of absolute silence in the room before Grusche continued.

‘I didn’t know where we were going until she said: “Do you believe in ghosts? Do you think Peerie Lizzie exists?” That was like another sign. I said I’d show her where Vaila had seen Lizzie, and I led her up the footpath to the standing stone.’

Another silence. Perez drained the coffee in his mug. ‘Were you planning to kill her at that point, Grusche? Please tell us. It is important that we know.’

‘No! I wanted to make her see that she had to leave Lowrie alone.’

‘So you’re walking up the footpath towards the standing stone and it’s just getting light.’ Perez gave an encouraging smile. ‘What happened then?’

Willow felt as if she was almost dozing. She’d had very little sleep in the last few days and the tension had drained from her. The sun was strong now and the room was very warm.

‘We sat close to the cliff edge,’ Grusche said. ‘We talked. She said she hadn’t been this happy for years and at last it seemed that everything was going right for her. Perhaps she’d been silly to place so much importance on having a baby. She’d finally found the man she loved and nothing else seemed important.’

‘You thought she was talking about Lowrie?’

‘Who else could she be talking about?’

‘Her husband,’ Perez said. ‘I think she was talking about her husband.’

‘I showed her the photograph.’ Grusche was almost screaming. Willow thought she didn’t listen much, either. ‘I laid it on the grass. I demanded to know, Jimmy, what was going on here. I had that right. What had she been she doing in Lerwick with my Lowrie the week before his wedding?’

‘And what did she say?’

Again Willow had to strain to hear Perez’s words.

‘She said it was a secret. “But don’t worry, Grusche, I don’t really have designs on your son. Besides, he’s quite grown-up now. He doesn’t need you to look out for him.” Then she laughed. As if I was ridiculous for caring what happened to my boy.’

‘So you killed her,’ Perez said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. ‘Talk me through exactly how that happened, would you, Grusche? For the record.’

‘I wanted to stop her laughing,’ Grusche said. ‘And I wanted to be sure that she’d never make Lowrie so unhappy that he wanted to kill himself again.’

She paused and Willow listened carefully, imagining how the scene might have played out. They were recording the interview, but this first telling might help her to understand.

Grusche continued, ‘We were sitting at the top of the cliff, Jimmy. There was that strange early morning light, which you only get at this time of the year. There was so much noise. All those seabirds shrieking around our heads. But I could still hear the woman laughing. I picked up a boulder and I hit her with it.’ Another pause. ‘She fell awkwardly and seemed somehow crumpled and disfigured. I like lovely images. You know that, Jimmy. You know I could have been an artist myself. Fran always told me I had great potential, but I was happy to sacrifice that for my son. I dragged Eleanor into the middle of the loch, so that she looked like a picture. Someone might take some pleasure from the striking image, at least. She was a beautiful woman.’

‘What did you do then? After you’d thrown her cloak and shoes over the cliff and you’d torn the photograph into little pieces.’

‘I went home,’ Grusche said. ‘I lay next to my snoring husband. I went to sleep.’ She reached out and took one of the biscuits, then nibbled it as if she was judging its quality. Willow was astonished at how calm she seemed. There was another minute of complete silence.

‘Did you tell Lowrie what happened?’ Perez’s voice was sharper now. ‘I mean, has he known for the last week that his mother is a murderer?’

‘No!’ The same explosive retort. ‘Of course not.’

‘But you must have asked him what he was doing with Eleanor in Lerwick. You would have wanted to know.’

For the first time Grusche seemed less sure of her ground. ‘He said he was there as a friend, helping Eleanor with some project at work. I told him that he must keep that secret, that you would suspect him of killing her if you knew that he’d met her in Lerwick without telling anyone.’

‘And Lowrie did what he was told,’ Perez murmured. ‘Of course he did. First you and then Caroline making decisions for him. He’d never had to think for himself.’

Willow wondered if Lowrie had guessed at his mother’s involvement in Eleanor’s death. Perhaps she was so perfect in his eyes that he couldn’t contemplate the possibility of her being a murderer. Certainly he hadn’t asked Grusche any awkward questions. Willow was reminded of the way that Charles and David had kept their relationship intact by ignoring unpleasantness – anything that was difficult or uncomfortable.

‘What about Hillier?’ Perez was saying. ‘Why did he have to die?’

‘He was there that night,’ Grusche said. ‘He saw me walk up the path with Eleanor. And come down all alone.’

‘He was blackmailing you?’

‘And that shows just how ridiculous he was!’ Grusche spat out the words. ‘As if we’d have any money to give him.’

‘Did Hillier tell you that he was in Lerwick for that meeting in the museum? With Lowrie and Eleanor and Monica Leaze?’

She nodded reluctantly. Willow had no idea what Perez was talking about. He seemed to her like a magician himself, fanning random cards on the table until they made sense, at least to him. But she knew better than to interrupt. Let him explain to her later.

‘So you’ll know that Eleanor was telling you the truth,’ Perez said. ‘That there was no affair. Lowrie was there as her friend.’

‘That wasn’t how Lowrie saw it.’ Again she was almost screaming. ‘You didn’t see the way Lowrie stared at that picture. He would have done anything for that woman. He was as infatuated now as when he first met her.’

‘Even if he was,’ Perez said and his voice was sad, ‘I don’t think it was your place to interfere.’ Then he changed his tone. ‘Hillier. Tell me what happened.’

‘I arranged to meet him on the shore at Springfield. I said I had some savings, a family inheritance, and we might be able to do a deal. I went to the book club in Baltasound as usual that night, but I stopped at Springfield on my way home.’