Кит Мори - Deadly Still

‘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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Dear Reader,

Thank you for taking the time to read my novel, I hope that you enjoyed reading about the dark things that can happen on my idyllic little Scottish island on the edge of the world.

It is true that characters in a novel often take on a life of their own. That happened several times in this novel, when the story did not follow the path that I had imagined it would take. The characters felt so at home on the island of West Uist that they felt empowered to pay the piper to play their macabre tune.

I have been a lifelong fan of crime fiction, but to my mind the use of the laboratory and the revelations that DNA testing can instantly give, somehow rob many modern crime novels of their sense of romance. That was why I set my story on the remote Hebridean island of West Uist, so that it would be far removed from the modern forensic crime thriller. Also, because the island has the smallest police force in the country, it would not be another gritty, urban police procedural. Crimes would have to be solved in a very old-fashioned manner.

I studied medicine at the University of Dundee and did some of my training in the highlands. I loved the sense of community in villages and determined that if I ever wrote a crime novel it would feature a Scottish detective working in a remote place, aided by friends, family and the local newspaper. Years later when Inspector Torquil McKinnon walked into my imagination I set about learning to play the bagpipes, although unlike Torquil, the winner of the Silver Quaich I have never been anything other than dire. Nonetheless, playing around with my pipes helps me as I am working out my plots.

Since golf is also a hobby and I had played on the remotest Hebridean courses, those sheep-nibbled links complete with dive bombing gulls had to appear in the stories. When I venture onto my local golf course I imagine the Padre, a steady 8 handicapper, playing alongside me, advising me on how to hit the green, sink a putt — or solve the newest clue.

If you have enjoyed the novel enough to leave a review on Amazonand Goodreads, then I would be truly grateful. I love to hear from readers, so if you would like to contact me, please do through my Facebookpage or send me a message through Twitter.You can also see my latest news on the West Uist Chronicle Blogand on my Website.

Keith Moray

keithmorayauthor.com

FICTION

The Torquil McKinnon Investigation Series

The Gathering Murders

Deathly Wind

Murder Solstice

Flotsam & Jetsam

Death in Transit

The Pardoner’s Crime

Fool’s Folly

As Keith Souter:

The Curse of the Body Snatchers

As Clay More:

Raw Deal at Pasco Springs

Judge on the Run

Double-Dealing at Dirtville

A Rope for Scudder

Stampede at Rattlesnake Pass

Dry Gulch Revenge

Adventures from the Casebook of Dr Marcus Quigley

The Doctor’s Bag