Page 15 of The High Island

‘May I ask why you chose that particular spot?’

Maitland appeared unsure as to whether he wanted to reveal this, but perhaps deciding it was in his best interest to do so, said, ‘I have family connections to Hoy, from the Second World War. My grandfather served there and married a local girl, my grandmother.’

‘She was a Mowat?’ Erling asked.

He shook his head. ‘No, she was a Sinclair. Margaret Sinclair. Neither of my grandparents are alive.’

‘May I ask how you found out about that particular piece of Mowat land?’

‘Ivor Mowat contacted me personally to tell me the land was available for purchase.’

Erling waited for a further explanation regarding how or why Ivor might have believed Maitland to be interested.

Sensing this, Maitland said, ‘I wrote a piece about my family connection to Orkney and Hoy. It appeared inTheOrcadian. He said he’d researched my background and discovered I was an architect who specialized in eco-housing and wrote to tell me he wanted to sell the old Mowat croft house and land. Was I interested? We spoke on the phone and I said I was. We agreed a price and that was that.’

‘Did you ever meet Ivor in person?’ Erling asked.

‘I was to meet him on arrival here, but then I learned he had died.’ He sounded surprised by that. ‘He seemed so alive the last time we spoke. He was excited that his great-grandson was coming back to Orkney to visit him.’

‘That’s Kris Mowat?’

‘Yes. He appeared to be very fond of him, but had indicated in our previous conversations that that wasn’t the case with other members of the family. In fact—’ He halted there, as though wondering if he should say any more.

Erling waited, but only briefly. ‘In fact what?’ he encouraged.

Maitland still hesitated, before eventually saying, ‘I believe he was selling the land to spite them.’

‘He said that?’ Erling asked.

‘Not in so many words, but yes, I believe so.’

7

They took the Orphir road. It was the longer route to Stromness, but Erling preferred it because of the view across to Hoy, which was very much on his mind.

He wondered how theSOCOteam were doing at the locus. There had been no word as yet, which suggested nothing of interest had been found. He should be relieved by that, but found himself wishing he could delay the handover of the property to Mr Maitland a little longer. At least until they might identify the victims found there.

The morning weather had been dry, although the forecast was for intermittent rain arriving soon from the west, accompanied by a rising wind. Despite the foreboding sky, the mayflowers were out in abundance along the verges. A carpet of yellow on either side of the road.

When younger, he’d never paid much heed to their appearance, although he now recalled how much his mother had loved the sight of them. Mayflowers and the kye back out in the fields signalled the return of spring after the long dark winter.

His sergeant had remained silent during their exit from Kirkwall. Waiting, he suspected, for him to speak first after his meeting with the architect and his partner. Which he now did.

‘Maitland told me something interesting,’ he began.

Jo immediately perked up. ‘What?’ she asked.

‘It was Ivor who approached Maitland and offered to sell him the land.’ Erling explained about Maitland’s article inTheOrcadian. ‘Plus Ivor led him to believe he was doing so to spite his offspring.’

Jo made a face. ‘It sounds like an episode ofSuccession.’

Erling, who didn’t possess aTVand only knew what was popular because of hisDS, decided not to pursue this comparison. Jo obliged him anyway.

When she’d finished her story, he acknowledged the resemblance of Ivor and his relationship with his children to its fictional equivalent.

‘Kris Mowat was, according to Maitland at least, the only one Ivor had a liking for,’ Erling told her. ‘However, he was not one of the pall-bearers at Ivor’s funeral.’

‘Perhaps because of that,’ Jo suggested.