‘Well, not a long drive and an overnight ferry,’ Cilla said. ‘Clearly the adventure she spoke of was more metaphorical than geographical.’
Perez thought there was nothing clear about the communication between the mother and daughter. Their relationship seemed to involve a strange game of second-guessing and pretence. ‘Could you be more specific?’
‘It might have been a new man, I suppose,’ the woman said. ‘That would be the most prosaic explanation. Or a spiritual journey. She was very lit up. Perhaps she’d even started to believe in her ghosts. Or it could just have been her work. In the end that was always what meant most to her.’ She stood up. ‘We said goodbye on the pavement and she hugged me. She was always very touchy-feely with her friends, but never with me, so I was taken aback by that. Then she walked away. I nearly called her back. I had the words in my head. What was that all about, Nell? What did you really want from me? But then I thought about my project at the museum and how I was already behind schedule. I stood for a moment and watched her climb into a cab. And then I went back to work.’
They looked at each other. Perez got to his feet too. He knew that was what was expected of him. ‘What time did she leave you?’
‘I’m not sure. About two-thirty.’
So what had Eleanor done between having lunch with her mother and meeting Polly in the library in Hampstead? Had she gone back to the office?
Cilla was looking at him impatiently, but he stood his ground.
‘Did Eleanor get in touch when she was in Shetland?’
‘Just a text on the Saturday afternoon to say they’d arrived safely and that it was a beautiful place.’ The woman had walked into the hall full of images. ‘I texted her back and told her to have a lovely time. Put an “x” on the bottom, with one of those ridiculous smiley faces.’ She turned to see that Perez was following her. ‘I’m glad I did that at least. I hope she knew how much I cared for her.’
‘Do you have any questions for me?’ he asked, remembering his promise when he’d phoned the night before.
Her hand was on the door handle and she was frozen for a moment. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I don’t think I do.’
Again he was shocked. Most relatives wanted to know if their relatives had suffered. He walked down the street expecting her to call him back to ask the question that was obviously in her head. But when he turned to look, the door was already shut. As at her last meeting with her daughter, she was too proud to change her mind.
Chapter Nineteen
On Wednesday morning Willow woke to fog so thick that she could hardly see the grass outside the bedroom window. Her first thought was that she was glad Jimmy Perez wasn’t scheduled to return from London to the islands until the following day and hoped the weather would clear to let him in. Then she wondered why that mattered so much to her. The day before she and Sandy had been out visiting, taking statements from everyone who’d been at the party, asking about Eleanor. Most of them remembered her. ‘She danced like a demon,’ one elderly man had said, his eyes twinkling. No one had remembered seeing a girl in a white dress on the beach or admitted to being part of the smoking couple whom Polly had mentioned. Willow felt that the investigation had got stuck and hoped that Jimmy Perez would bring a new energy to it on his return. Of course that’s why I want him back here. But she was too honest to be taken in by the thought. Yeah, right. He’s got under your skin, lady. Just let that go and concentrate on work. You really don’t need the complication.
Sandy was already in the kitchen eating breakfast and Charles and David were there too. They were sitting at the table, drinking tea. David jumped up as soon as he saw her, offering eggs from the Malcolmsons’ croft. She’d told him when she arrived that she was vegetarian. All that I have left from a childhood in a commune. Yoga every morning and a refusal to eat meat.
‘Yes, please, to the eggs.’ When she was working a case she always felt hungry. ‘Scrambled. With toast made from Grusche’s bread, if there’s any left.’
He pulled a pinafore over his head and moved to the stove to start cooking.
‘I hope the weather changes before tomorrow.’ Sandy looked up from his carnivore’s dream-start to the day. ‘There’s no way the planes will be moving in this. Jimmy and Cassie will be stranded in Aberdeen.’ He sounded anxious, lost without Perez too.
What is it with the man that he’s made us all dependent on him?
Charles looked over from his side of the table. ‘It could be quite clear in Sumburgh, and you know how quickly it can change. Four seasons in a day here.’ He was already accustomed to reassuring visitors about the weather. There was the sound of footsteps on the stairs and he got up to serve his guests in the dining room.
Willow drank some coffee and thought there was a perfectly logical explanation for her anxiety to get Jimmy back. He was her reference point in the islands and she depended on his judgement.
She took Sandy with her to talk to the Arthurs in Spindrift, their new house close to the community hall. The couple might end up as suspects and, if they ever came to court, a single interviewer’s evidence wouldn’t be admissible. Besides, Sandy was a Shetlander and about as unthreatening as you could get. He’d always put people at their ease. Outside the fog was still as thick as when she’d woken up and her coat was covered in drops of moisture by the time they reached the car. In the distance there was a strange diffuse light, which suggested that eventually the sun would burn it away. In this weather anyone might believe in ghosts.
In the bungalow’s porch there was a pram with a tiny baby sleeping inside it. Sandy was ahead of her and saw it and backed away as if it were a bomb. They walked round the side of the house looking for another way in. At the back door he gave a quick knock, then opened it and shouted inside. ‘Anyone home?’
A young woman appeared. She was carrying a mug of coffee and was dressed in pyjamas and dressing gown. Willow introduced herself. ‘I hope we didn’t wake you.’
‘Not at all. I was up and just about to get dressed. We had such a bad night with Vaila. My husband was working in Yell today anyway, so he got up early and took her out in the pram to walk her to sleep, and I took the chance for a lie-in. Come away in. I’ll put the kettle on and go and make myself decent. You’ll be here about that poor woman who’d come north for Lowrie’s hamefarin’.’ Still talking as she was setting out cups and heading into her bedroom. So chatty and friendly that Willow found it hard to consider her as a potential killer. And she was tiny. It was unlikely she’d have had the strength to move Eleanor’s body and position it in the loch.
They sat in a living room, which could have been in suburban England: patterned paper on one wall and furniture from IKEA. The woman cleared a pile of baby clothes and a rattle from the leather sofa so that they could sit down. The fog made the room so gloomy that she switched on the light.
‘Your baby’s named Vaila? That’s pretty.’ Willow took the offered coffee.
‘I’m Vaila too. Named after one of the off-islands. I thought it might be a bit confusing, but Neil liked it, and it’s always been a tradition in Shetland to keep names in the family, so we thought Why not? She can use her middle name if she doesn’t like it when she’s older.’
Willow looked at Sandy. She’d asked him to begin the interview. He looked panic-stricken for a moment, then cleared his throat.
‘You were at the hamefarin’ on Saturday night?’
The woman stared at him. ‘Don’t I know you? Weren’t you in Anderson High? The year below me. You were a Whalsay boy, and you stayed in the hostel too.’ She paused. ‘Well, I’d never have had you down as becoming a detective.’