Кит Мори - Flotsam and Jetsam

‘I’ve been plucking up courage, Morag,’ Sandy King said. ‘Is it OK to call you that? I just thought maybe we could have that drink I mentioned the other day. Just you and me.’

‘I – er – would love to,’ she said. ‘When I’m off duty.’

His smile enchanted her. ‘That’s settled then.’ He handed her a card. ‘My mobile is on there. Just ring when you are free. Look I need to rush, myself. I have another appointment to keep. Look forward to our date.’

Morag stared at the door as it closed behind him. ‘I don’t believe it,’ she said to herself.

‘Ewan,’ she called through to the kitchen. ‘Am I dreaming or not? Did Sandy King just come in?’

‘He did, and he asked you out on a date.’

‘Were you listening, you big galoot?’

‘Of course I was, and I’m happy for you. Could you get his autograph for me, or maybe a football shirt?’

There was a chorus of laughter from the rest room and the Drummond twins appeared, both of them dressed in the West Uist police navy-blue jumpers.

‘Special Constables Wallace and Douglas Drummond reporting for duty, Sergeant Driscoll,’ said Wallace. ‘We just came in the back door in time for tea and heard the good news too.’

‘You’ll be asking Torquil for a holiday then,’ said Douglas with a grin.

The bell tinkled again and Torquil himself came in with Crusoe trotting loyally at his feet.

‘Did I hear someone mention the word holiday?’ Torquil asked, as he lifted the flap and let himself in. ‘I’m afraid there will be no holiday leave for a while folks. We’ve got a murder investigation to set up.’

Ewan made a huge pot of tea and distributed mugs to the team as they sat around the rest room listening to Torquil’s news.

‘Ralph McLelland is still conducting tests, but it is conclusive enough already to know that there has been foul play.’

Morag stared at him in disbelief. ‘So it is definitely murder? No mistake?’

‘Foul play, Morag,’ said Torquil as he absently stroked Crusoe who was lying contentedly at his feet. ‘It looks like murder, but that is not absolutely certain. What is certain is that he didn’t die on Kyleshiffin moor. His body was dumped there.’

‘Aye, I see what you mean,’ said Wallace. ‘Why would someone move the body if he hadn’t been murdered?’

‘But where was he killed?’ Douglas asked. ‘And why was he moved?’

‘That’s what we need to find out,’ said Torquil. ‘But so far we know next to nothing about him, apart from the fact that he was an entomologist here studying midges.’

‘He was a drinker,’ said Ewan. ‘He ruined that TV show, Flotsam & Jetsam, and he spent time in the cell.’ He patted Morag’s shoulder. ‘And if it is murder, then it lets all of us off the hook.’

‘Maybe, Ewan,’ Torquil replied. ‘But he would have been safe while we held him. Someone may have been waiting for him to be discharged.’

Ewan beetled his brows. ‘Och, but we didn’t know that. Surely the Press won’t keep up that tack?’

‘By the Press, did you mean Calum Steele?’ Wallace asked. ‘That wee toad has shown that he’d do anything for a story.’

‘So are you going to tell him, boss?’ Douglas asked.

‘I haven’t thought about that yet,’ Torquil replied. He bit his lower lip. ‘The first person I need to talk to is our esteemed Superintendent Lumsden. I tried to ring him last night after I found out from Ralph, but his wife said that he was out and she had no way of getting a message to him. She was all hush-hush about it. She said she was expecting him this morning at nine.’

Morag shook her head. ‘That man is not right in the head, I am thinking. He wants to know all that is happening, but he makes himself unavailable when something important comes up. It’s almost as if he knows how to make matters difficult for us.’

‘For me, you mean, Morag,’ Torquil corrected with a wry grin. ‘It occurred to me as well, but then I thought that’s just me being paranoid. How could he know anything about this? No, I’ll ring him in a minute and then we’ll go through the backlog of cases that need looking at, decide what can be held and divvy out the tasks to get this investigation on the road.’

He got up and headed towards his office. ‘I’ll get this over with now. Ewan, you get the case book and Morag can start going through it while I fill Superintendent Lumsden in.’

Cora was amazed at the speed with which Calum seemed to recover.

‘I told you, it was something I ate,’ he explained, as he tucked into a cold mutton pie. ‘I just needed to pump up the stomach contents and I knew I’d be fine.’

‘But why are you filling it up with that disgusting thing? Don’t you feel sick?’

‘Not now,’ Calum returned, wiping a trickle of cold grease from his chin then taking a hefty gulp of tea. ‘Cora, you have a lot to learn about journalism, but stick with me and I’ll teach you all you need to know. You may not think it, but I know exactly how to handle my stomach and what is good for it. Now, as for you and all that veggie stuff, do you really—?’

His mobile phone went off and he promptly answered it. ‘Hello, yes, Calum Steele speaking.’

Cora watched as his eyes turned into big round orbs to mirror the shape of his spectacles. ‘Sandy! Great to hear from you. Of course, one o’clock would be terrific. Excellent, I’ll see you there.’ He went silent for a moment, nodded his head, and then winked at her. ‘Wee Hughie asked that?’

He made a thumbs-up sign at her. ‘Oh I’ll pass that message on to her, but I can’t give out her phone – ethics, you know. But between us, I think she’d be delighted to see him. Tell him she’ll be there.’

Cora’s eyes went wild and she clenched her fists at him.

‘OK, Sandy. I’ll see you here at one o’clock and I’ll pass that message on to Cora.’

He snapped his phone shut and tossed it on to the desk before taking another mouthful of pie. ‘See, it’s all working out smoothly, Cora. Sandy King is going to come here for an interview with me at one.’

‘I heard that. And what was that about me? Me and that ape, Wee Hughie? What did you mean I’d be delighted to see him.’

‘Apparently he’s smitten. Couldn’t stop talking about you last night. He’s asked that you meet him at one o’clock in the Commercial Hotel for a lunchtime drink.’

‘Oh Calum!’

‘What? Our plan worked, didn’t it?’ He winked. ‘Just like I thought it would. Now, look, I’m going to follow up on Sandy King and why he is here, and you are going to have lunch and find out as much as you can about what this hoodlum and his boss are doing on West Uist.’

‘But wouldn’t it be better if I did the Sandy King investigation?’ Cora asked pleadingly.

Calum winked at her over the rim of his mug. ‘Ah, the trouble is, Wee Hughie doesn’t fancy me.’

‘Well, Superintendent Lumsden was a delight, as usual,’ Torquil said as he returned to the rest room after his phone conversation with his superior officer.

‘He wasn’t pleased, was he?’ Morag asked, rhetorically.

‘A bit less than usual,’ Torquil returned. ‘He wants to be kept in the loop and he wants results yesterday.’ He clapped his hands. ‘So come on, folks, let’s get started. First of all, let’s have a run down on what we have on the book.’

Morag quickly ran through the cases, giving a thumbnail description of each and what stage each case was at. She and Ewan added about their respective chats with Annie McConville.