In Dark Water (Detective Shona Oliver 1)

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‘I’ve been trying to call you,’ Rob said impatiently as she came through the back door just after eight p.m. ‘Becca won’t leave the house. She should have a walk, some fresh air. I think the accident’s still on her mind. You need to talk to her, convince her the driver’s not coming back.’ He was repacking the freezer, on his knees in jeans and an old checked shirt. A family-sized homemade lasagne lay on the countertop. Next to it was a colander containing the last of the salad leaves Rob grew in the garden. At least they wouldn’t starve. Not yet, anyway. ‘Becca’s already eaten, do you want me to put this on now? It’s going to be at least an hour. The guests for the Rood Fair in Dumfries will be here next week, if you’re not hungry I’ll save it for them. Murdo called looking for you, by the way.’ He stopped at the sight of her pale face and red-rimmed eyes. ‘What?’

Shona stood looking down at him, clenching and unclenching her fists. ‘Who knows what happened at Milton McConnell? Who did you tell?’ she said. All the way home in the car she’d thought about this, more and more convinced this was what Baird meant about her unfitness to serve and rumours from London: her association with Rob and the bank fraud. All it took was whispers.

‘No one, I swear,’ Rob said, shocked. ‘It’s hardly something I’d boast about, is it?’

‘I’ve been suspended,’ she spat.

‘How can that be my fault?’ he challenged, getting up and kicking the freezer door shut. ‘Look, I know I messed up, but I’m getting help.’

‘You know what that means?’ Shona yelled. ‘Thanks to you we’re finished. No money, no jobs, no business. Think, Rob, think hard. Who knows about this?’

‘Look, Shona, I’m the victim here. They screwed me over at the bank.’ He stabbed a finger at her. ‘If someone’s out to get you, don’t blame me.’ Rob stalked out of the kitchen and left Shona staring open-mouthed after him.

‘Thanks for the support!’ she yelled. ‘Rob!’ She went through the kitchen after him, but he’d already sprinted upstairs. High above she heard their bedroom door slam.

Becca’s pale face looked down over the bannisters. ‘Everything okay, Mum?’

‘Yes, yes, darling. Sorry I’m so late.’ Shona’s smile was brittle and unconvincing. ‘How are you doing? Did you get out today?’

‘Didn’t feel like it.’

‘Right, well I’ve got some time off coming. Maybe we could take a boat out? It’s not too cold yet, is it?’

‘Dunno.’ Becca slouched back from the bannisters and Shona heard her bedroom door close.

‘Becca? I’ll be up in a minute. Where’s your old phone?’ Shona called after her, but there was no reply.

Shona’s hands trembled as she pulled out the drawers in the kitchen searching for Becca’s discarded handset. It lay under a under a pile of tea towels and red bills. She wasn’t even going to look at those. Bundling up the envelopes, she went into Rob’s office next door and dumped them on the overcrowded desk beneath the window. Plugging the phone into the wall, she inserted the SIM card bought in Kilmarnock. ‘C’mon, c’mon.’ The sluggish battery blinked slowly back at her.

Shona’s RNLI fleece hung on the back of the utility room door. She searched the inside pocket for the business card Dan had given her the first time they’d met at Silloth Lifeboat Station. It was there, folded in half. She blew off the fluff and returned to where the phone was slowly coming back to life. One bar showed on the battery, that would be enough if she kept it plugged in.

Becca’s music drifted down from above. There was no sign of Rob. She closed the office door over and punched Dan’s mobile number into the phone.

‘Hello?’ he answered cautiously after the fifth ring, not recognising the number.

‘Dan, it’s me.’

‘Boss, at last,’ Dan sounded relieved. ‘Are you okay? Murdo told me he’d had a call about a temporary guvnor. What happened?’

Shona filled him in, omitting Baird’s inference about her past. There was a long silence from Dan. ‘I think you’ve been treated appallingly,’ he said eventually.

‘Dan, listen to me. You’ve got to let this go now.’

‘Not a chance,’ he said flatly.

‘I mean it. Your DCI isn’t interested, you said so yourself. Murdo won’t be able to help you,’ she warned. ‘Let it go, Dan, you did what you could.’

‘You’re not letting it go, are you?’ It was half statement, half question.

‘I’ll go and see Isla’s mother tomorrow. Tell her I’m sorry we couldn’t find out how her daughter died. I owe her that much at least.’

‘Want me to come with you?’ Dan said. She was touched by the generosity of his offer, but what Dan needed to do now was keep his head down. She had misjudged Baird. If he spoke to Dan’s boss, the bull-headed DCI Lambert, then this conscientious young officer could be caught in the fallout of her suspension.

‘Thanks, Dan. It’s better if I do this alone. Take care of yourself.’

‘You too, boss.’ Dan hesitated. ‘If you need me, you know, to talk or anything, just call.’