Hamish turned and left the room. As he got to the front door of the hall, he had a feeling of being watched. He swung round but could see no one in the shadows.
He suddenly felt lighter and freer. He had burnt his boats. Now let’s see what she will do.
Two days later, Hamish received a call from Juris. “The nurse has disappeared,” he said. “All her stuff is in her room, but she’s gone.”
“I’ll get over there,” said Hamish. He called Charlie. Then he phoned Jimmy and explained what had happened.
“I can’t say anything about confronting her,” said Hamish as they sped off. “I’ll be hauled over the coals. Damn! Did she run for it? But why leave her belongings behind?”
As if to suit his mood, black rain clouds were being driven in from the west on a rising gale. The gamekeeper was on guard at the gates to keep the press at bay. How did they find out so soon? wondered Hamish. A small huddle of men stood in the now driving rain.
Juris let them in. “We’ll interview you after we’ve seen her room,” said Hamish. “We cannae go in because we’ll need to leave it clear for forensics, but we can stand at the door and look in.”
They followed Juris up the shadowy stone staircase. Outside the wind had risen to an eldritch scream. Lightning flickered across the glass eyes of the stuffed animals, and then came a great roll of thunder. Juris went on up to the second floor and pushed open a stout oak door.
Hamish peered in. He put a handkerchief over his hand and switched on the light. Not much had been changed since the days when it had probably housed a governess. There was a single brass bed against the wall with a side table, holding a Bible. By the opposite wall was a toilet table with an old-fashioned ewer and basin. No wash hand basin with running water. Beside it stood a large Victorian wardrobe, the door standing open to reveal coats, dresses, and skirts. There were no books or pictures. The mullioned windows let in very little light.
“Right, Juris,” said Hamish. “We’ll go down to the study and start the questioning.”
But as they descended the staircase, there came a pounding at the door. Juris hurried to open it. Blair, Jimmy, several policemen, and a forensic team crowded in.
“We’ll take over,” said Blair. “There’s enough o’ us here. You pair, get back to your station.”
Hamish and Charlie climbed into the Land Rover. Hamish stared moodily out at the pouring rain. “This is all wrong,” he said. “Why should she leave her belongings behind? I didn’t see a handbag in that room. Maybe she took her money and cards and left. Let’s go to the garage. I want to see if her car is there.”
He reached into the back for his oilskins and shrugged into them before getting out into the storm. Followed by Charlie, he made his way to the garages, which had been converted from the old stables.
Hamish swung open the door and went into the musty interior, smelling of petrol, oil, and dust. “That’s her car,” said Hamish. He took out a pair of latex gloves and slipped them on. The car was not locked. He flipped open the glove compartment. Nothing but a roll of peppermints. He opened the boot. It was clean and empty. He studied the tyres. There was no sign that the car had been driven recently. In fact, the car looked as if it had been recently washed, inside and out.
“Now, did she get it washed herself or did someone else? Where’s the nearest car wash, Charlie?”
“Nothing till you get to Strathbane,” said Charlie. “Fine Foods supermarket on the outskirts.”
“Let’s try there,” said Hamish.
The whole of the Highlands seemed to be in motion as they drove south to Strathbane. Lightning stabbed down and thunder rolled. At one point, their way was blocked by a fallen tree and they had to bump over the moor to get round the blockage.
As they neared Strathbane, the sky began to clear to the west, and by the time they drove into the supermarket car park a watery sun was shining down.
The manager said they did not take a note of car registrations at the car wash, only entered the type of cleaning required in the books. The cars were all washed by hand by a gang of Eastern Europeans. Hamish asked to see the security tapes for the past two days.
He and Charlie settled down in the manager’s office to go through them. But after hours of searching, there was no sign of Helen’s car.
Charlie scratched his head. “You seem to be thinking something nasty happened to her,” he said. “But she’s the main suspect.”
“It’s the way she left,” fretted Hamish. “Leaving it all behind, even her car. And why was that car so clean inside and out? Is there any other car wash?”
“Not that I know of,” said Charlie. “There’ll be one in Inverness.”
“Too far. It would show some signs of mud by the time it was brought back.”
“Couldn’t she just have asked Juris to clean it for her?”