‘It’s Vicky’s right enough,’ said Brock, sounding more sober. ‘Please find her for us, Inspector McKinnon.’
After leaving the Spiers’ house Torquil walked to the West Uist Chronicle offices, and was pleased to see Calum’s yellow Lambretta was parked against the kerb. Torquil pushed open the door and triggered the bell in the office above. Taking the steps three at a time he bounded up and found both Calum and Cora hard at work on their computers.
Cora, always full of verve rose instantly to greet him, while Calum wheeled round in his swivel chair and leaned back.
‘Welcome to the press room, Piper,’ Calum said, picking up a pencil and tapping his desk with it. ‘Any fresh leads?’
‘As a matter of fact that’s why I’m here.’
‘Has the post-mortem on Jamie Mackintosh been done?’
Torquil had worked out how he was going to play it with Calum. ‘We are waiting for the official report. It should not be long. But we found this.’ He opened his briefcase and took out the polythene bag containing the mud-covered trainer. ‘I’ve just been round to see Brock and Jeannie Spiers and they conformed it belongs to Vicky.’
Cora bent down to look at the trainer. ‘I went to see them earlier. They are totally cut up. The poor man was drinking whisky this morning. I could see that his wife was worried for him as well as for their daughter.’
‘We’re all getting worried, Cora,’ said Torquil.
‘And I can tell that you’re worried what we’re going to write,’ said Calum. ‘Well, don’t worry, the West Uist Chronicle is here to help not hinder.’
‘Exactly the spirit I was hoping for, Calum. Can you take a photograph and get it out there? Ask if anyone has seen the other one?’
‘Leave it with us, Piper. We’ll put it on the blog and we’ll send out one of our digital bulletins. We’ll get it across the island as quick as you can say Jack Flash.’
‘You are a couple of stars,’ Torquil said as he set the bag on the table for them to photograph.
From the Chronicle offices Torquil went back to the station, picked up the Bullet and rode up to the Old Hydro Residential Home. Doreen McGuire greeted him at the door and asked him a barrage of questions about the terrible situation as she led the way along the corridor to the manager’s office where Norma Ferguson was sitting behind the desk making out worksheets. Torquil could see from the patina of perspiration on her brow that she was feeling stressed.
He refused the offer of tea and before she too hit him with the same questions he took the initiative and told her about the finding of the trainer, now identified as belonging to Vicky Spiers.
‘So I need to know more about how Vicky settled in here.’
Norma leaned forward and clasped her hands in front of her on the desk. ‘She’s one of three part time girls who are all studying at the Academy, doing their Highers year. She and Catriona McDonald have been with us all this year.’ Tears welled up in her eyes. ‘Oh, Inspector McKinnon, this is so dreadful and what with finding Robbie dead like that.’
‘I understand, Norma. It must have been a dreadful shock.’
‘I’ll never forget it as long as I live.’
‘Did you touch anything when you went in?’
‘No, I told DC Faversham I just checked his pulse to see if he was alive. I knew he was dead. He was just like some of our residents when they pass away overnight and we find them in the morning. That’s a nice way to go I always think, but poor Robbie, that was horrible. No-one should die alone like that.’
‘Have you been in touch with Catriona or Vicky’s parents?’
‘Oh yes, it was one of the first things I did after I heard about what happened at the old pillbox. I went round to see them, actually. I thought it was the least that I could do. It … it’s what Robbie would have done.’
Unable to hold back the tears any longer she began to sob. Torquil reached over the desk and patted her hand.
‘Let it out, Norma. It’s natural that you’ll feel upset.’
‘I … I just feel so helpless. I don’t think I could have done anything to stop what happened to the girls and poor Jamie Mackintosh, but I can’t help thinking that I should have been able to help Robbie. I’m just so gullible and believed him when he told me he wanted to be a writer.’ She pulled out a paper handkerchief from the box on the desk and blew her nose. Then: ‘I think I loved him, Inspector. I think he liked me too, but neither of us have ever said anything. Maybe he’d still be alive if —’
‘Norma, there is no point in letting your mind do that to yourself. You have nothing to feel guilty about. But tell me, what did he write? I wasn’t aware that Robbie was a writer.’
She gave a brief smile. ‘I think it was wishful thinking, really. He always had a laptop with him and was forever tapping away at it in spare moments. He talked about his novel and how it was going, but none of us know anything more than that. He had a cheeky way of putting us off and said that one day we’d be able to read it, when he was on his way to being rich and famous.’
‘You said you were gullible, do you think he wasn’t telling the truth?’
‘It was Millie McKendrick, one of the older care assistants who told me. She’d known him for a lot longer than me. She used to roll her eyes when he went on about his writing, especially if he was going to spend his weekend off in his writing cabin. Then one day she told me he built the cabin not to write, but to drink his peatreek.’
‘Tell me about that, did he make his own spirits?’
Norma shook her head. ‘I don’t know, Inspector. You’d maybe be better asking Millie herself.’
Torquil nodded. ‘I will. But now about Catriona, she seems to be doing better in the hospital. Her vision is clearing, so I hear. Her mother is staying at the hospital with her. Catriona told Sergeant Golspie that Jamie Mackintosh brought the bottle of peatreek that they were drinking. Where do you think he got it?’
‘I don’t know that either, Inspector. I saw Jamie now and then, he was friends with the two girls, but he didn’t work here or have any connection with the Hydro.’
Torquil lifted his briefcase and opened it to show her the bag containing Vicky’s trainer. ‘Do you recognise this?’
‘Adidas! That’s Vicky’s right enough. She liked her trainers and she liked her shoes. She was always saying that she was saving up to buy some Alexander McQueen trainers or a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes. She liked her high heels almost as much as her trainers, you see. She and Catriona were quite similar that way and were always talking about what they would be wearing when they went to uni.’
‘What did they say about uni?’
‘Catriona is planning to go into nursing and Vicky was planning to do something with people, though maybe not caring specifically. She was talking about studying to be a dental hygienist. She had been looking at the University of Dundee or the University of the Highlands and Islands.’
He put the trainer away. ‘Norma, you’ve been very helpful. Now if you don’t mind I’d like to have a chat with Millie.’
‘Of course, she’ll be on the west wing doing the tea round, so I’ll give her a buzz and I’ll take over from her. You can stay here and use the office.’
Millie McKendrick had worked at the Old Hydropathic Residential Home for twenty-two years and was devoted to her job. She was about five foot two in height, fairly slim, but with forearms that were well developed from all her years of lifting residents. Torquil knew her as a stalwart of the church, ever ready to help out at St Ninian events. He also knew from his uncle that although she was not exactly teetotal she had strong views about alcohol.