Page 40 of The High Island

And all the time he did so, he thought there was a possibility that it might be Kris Mowat.

‘Was there any jewellery?’ he checked.

‘I removed what looked like the charred remains of a leather band from his left wrist,’ she offered.

‘Any rings?’

She shook her head. ‘No rings, earrings or piercings.’

So the ring he and Jo thought they’d spotted in the video Willie had sent hadn’t been there at all.

‘The missing male Kris Mowat, last seen on the ferry to Moaness,’ Erling explained, ‘had a tattoo on his upper left arm described by his girlfriend as a Valknut tattoo.’

‘That’s a Norse tattoo,’ Hannah said with a nod. ‘I’m familiar with it. Three interlocking black triangles.’

Erling moved to the victim’s left side to study the area of the upper arm, trying not to breathe in.

Hannah, having left him briefly, now returned with a magnifying glass.

‘Try this,’ she said, handing it over.

The burnt flesh was now amplified in all its horror, but he still couldn’t make out a tattoo.

‘The forensic examination will likely determine the existence of a tattoo despite the surface damage,’ she offered. ‘But you’ll have to wait until the post-mortem for that.’ She paused before saying, ‘The lower half of the body is relatively unmarked by the fire and would likely be recognizable to an intimate partner. The genitals and feet in particular.’

Erling imagined bringing Rachael here to try to identify Kris in such a manner, and found himself repulsed by the thought. Although, he suspected, in her desperation to know the truth, she would agree to come if asked.

‘Too much?’ Hannah said, reading his expression.

‘I’ll make contact with Kris’s partner tonight or first thing tomorrow and obtain something to sample for hisDNA,’ Erling said, aware how much even that would distress Rachael.

‘Right. I’ll request a police chopper for tomorrow afternoon,’ Hannah told him.

He rang Jo from the car. When she picked up almost immediately, he realized she’d been awaiting his call.

‘Is it Kris?’ she asked, before he had time to speak.

‘Undetermined,’ he responded. ‘Did you manage to talk to Rachael?’

‘I had to leave her a voice message. But I checked with reception and she is still resident at the hotel.’

‘I’ll go over there now,’ Erling said. ‘I need aDNAsample to send down with the body tomorrow.’

‘Do you want me to—?’ Jo began, before he cut her off.

‘That won’t be necessary. See you in the morning, Sergeant,’ he said and rang off.

As he headed out of town, he reminded himself that tomorrow was the day Ivor’s will was due to be read. But, according to Eddie Balfour, that couldn’t happen without the presence of Kris.

Would Eddie have already heard about the discovery of a male body on Hoy? If so, he was bound to imagine that it might be that of the missing Kris Mowat. Especially if Kris didn’t appear tomorrow.

Rumours regarding the body and the missing Kris would already be weaving their way around Mainland and the outer isles, gaining arms and legs as they did so. And what folk didn’t know for certain, they would simply make up. But whatever that was could never match the horror of what he’d recently been faced with in the mortuary.

Leaving Kirkwall, he registered that it was still broad daylight. At this time in May, the sun wouldn’t go down until close to ten o’clock. The sky was clear and, despite the hectic nature of the day, he recalled that it had been fine and sunny.

He’d taken the Orphir road and, passing Houton, he resolved to check in again soon with Magnus, to see if he’d discovered anything of interest in his work on the Mowat family tree.

Since this morning at the care home, it seemed even more important to gain as much background on the Mowats as possible, from the time of the disappearance of Stella up to the recent disappearance of Kris.