Ann Cleeves - Cold Earth

‘What kind of business had your sister set up?’ Willow was almost glad that they were separated by hundreds of miles and a dodgy video-link. She didn’t want him to see how important this was for her.

For the first time he seemed wary. ‘She was a very attractive woman. No harm in making the most of what you’ve got.’

‘Absolutely.’

‘She ran a legitimate company. Once the acting dried up, she still had to make a living.’ He paused and seemed deep in contemplation. ‘And it was a kind of acting, wasn’t it? Making men feel good about themselves. Everyone likes to be seen with a beautiful woman.’

‘So she worked as an escort. Is that what you’re saying, Jono?’ Willow wondered what Perez would make of that. The positive confirmation that the woman with the dark eyes and dark hair, who seemed to have haunted him since he’d found her body, had sold herself to men.

‘Only to decent blokes. Classy, you know – wanting some company. A bit of arm-candy at works social dos.’ He seemed very earnest in his sister’s defence. Willow wondered if he was convincing himself as well as her.

‘And she was doing well, was she, at the business she was running? She made enough to keep the wolf from the door?’

‘Eh?’

‘She earned enough to keep herself in nice clothes?’

‘She was always well turned out when she came to see me.’

Willow thought Jono had gained credibility inside, by having a visitor as glamorous as Alison. Had he told the other men she was his sister or allowed them to think she was his girlfriend?

Jono was still talking. ‘I think she might have had a bit of bother lately. Stepped on some important toes. It’s a competitive business and people have carved out their own territory.’

So perhaps that was why Alison had been seduced to Shetland , Willow thought. She’d upset some big players in London and had been told to move out for a while. Then she smiled to herself. What did she know about that sort of thing? Only what she’d seen in gangster films. Her police experience was limited to Scotland, and mostly the Highlands and Islands. There were few gangsters in Inverness or Kirkwall. ‘So Alison decided to leave the city to let things settle down?’

‘Yeah. Something like that. But that wasn’t the only reason she moved away. She had high hopes of the new venture. It had great potential. “If everything works out as I expect, you’ll be able to come and work for me, Jono. How do you fancy that? We’ll move you out of London and away from all those scrotes you’ve been mixing with.” I was looking forward to it. I thought it would be a fresh start for both of us.’ Now he seemed genuinely sad. ‘That’s not going to happen now, though, is it? No change of scene for me.’

‘Did Alison say exactly where she’d be moving, for her business?’ Willow thought it didn’t matter now. She had enough information to confirm her theory that Alison had been in partnership with Rogerson.

Jono considered for a moment. The image on the screen flickered and died and then he appeared again.

‘She told me I should pack my thermals.’ He gave a little laugh. ‘But she said it was beautiful. “It was my place of sanctuary, Jono. I always knew I’d go back.”’

That was enough for Willow. Alison had disappeared to Shetland when she’d been depressed and anxious as a young actor, and she’d decided to return to the same place recently, when things were getting uncomfortable for her in London.

Jono was looking off-camera, as if the prison officer operating the system had told him it was time to return to his cell.

‘Just one last question.’ Willow spoke quickly before the line was disconnected. ‘Did Alison mention a man called Tom to you? Tom Rogerson. Was that the person she was going to work with, when she left London?’ She knew it was a leading question, but she wasn’t a lawyer and she didn’t have much time.

‘I’ve got to go,’ Jono said. ‘I’m missing my dinner. They don’t save you any food, if you miss it.’

‘Please.’ Willow smiled. ‘I’d be very grateful.’

He thought for a moment. The need to be liked overcame his desire for his lunch. ‘She was a bit mysterious,’ he said at last. ‘I asked her for details: “Where will we live, Sis? What sort of place is it?” But she said she couldn’t trust me to keep my mouth shut. It had to stay secret.’

Suddenly the screen went dark. Willow couldn’t tell if Jono had finished speaking or if the prison officer had run out of patience and wanted his lunch too.

On the way back from Brae there was suddenly phone reception and their mobiles started to ping. Perez was driving, so Sandy relayed the messages.

‘The boss has just texted that she’s setting up a video-link to talk to Alison Teal’s brother in the nick.’

The boss , Perez thought. If we had any sort of relationship, is that what she’d always be? He wondered how that would make him feel and if it would matter to him or not. He couldn’t come to a decision.

‘Willow wants to know if you want to sit in on the interview,’ Sandy said.

Perez didn’t answer. The visibility was so poor now that he could hardly work out whereabouts on the road they were, and he felt as if they were in a grey bubble of water and wind. Thoughts of Willow were swirling around his head, as strange as the furious rain outside. He heard Fran’s voice teasing him in his head. He couldn’t remember if she’d ever actually spoken these words but, surrounded by the dense cloud, he could hear them as clearly as if she was sitting beside him in the passenger seat : You’re so romantic, Jimmy Perez. A soppy git. One day a wicked woman will come along and take advantage of you. How will you manage without me to look after you then?

Suddenly he realized that they were at the junction to Voe, and he knew where he was and felt grounded in the real world again.

‘Jimmy?’ Sandy was pressing him for an answer. ‘What should I tell Willow about the video interview?’

‘Tell her I’ll discuss it with her later. She’ll have it recorded, so we can see what the man says when we get back. I’m going to Ravenswick to see Tom Rogerson’s daughter. I should be able to catch her just as she finishes school.’

‘Do you want me to come with you?’ They were approaching Tingwall airstrip now. The cloud had lifted a little, but it was still raining.

‘No,’ Perez said. ‘I’ll drop you in Lerwick. I want you to go to school too. Call into the Anderson High and make some enquiries about the Hay lads. Willow seems to think we’re missing something with that family. Maybe one of the form teachers will have more information about them. Andy only left last year, so there should be someone who remembers him.’

‘Shall we meet up again later?’ Sandy sounded a little anxious. It seemed that Perez’s refusal to join Willow in the Teal interview had worried him. He wanted their small group to be working together again. He’d sensed the tension.

‘Sure,’ Perez said. ‘Tea and buns in the ops room at about five o’clock. You get the buns. Why not?’

He’d pulled up outside the High School and watched Sandy run across the exposed playground, his hood pulled over his forehead, his coat held tight around him against the almost horizontal rain. The strength of the wind triggered a memory; it was something Willow had said, something he needed to check. But the thought disappeared before he could properly pin it down.

On the road south to Ravenswick, Perez passed Duncan Hunter in his flash new Range Rover. He was driving in the opposite direction and Cassie sat on her booster in the front seat beside him. She’d be staying with her father in the Haa again this evening, something Perez hadn’t mentioned to Willow. Cassie caught sight of Perez as the car flashed past and gave him a little wave. Gracious, like a queen. Perez smiled. He was just grateful that Duncan had remembered to collect her from school on time. It didn’t always happen.