Thin Air: (Shetland book 6) (37 page)

‘It was for Lowrie,’ Grusche said.

‘Was it?’ This was the detective again. ‘You’ve always been honest. That class you did with Fran. The final assessment. She said your art was uncompromising, truthful. Didn’t she?’ He paused briefly and when he spoke again his voice was easy, conversational. ‘So let’s be honest now, shall we? This was about you. About not wanting to end up a lonely woman. Needing Lowrie and Caroline for company and conversation. I know about loneliness. I can understand that. But it has to end here.’ He held out his hand. There was a moment of hesitation, a sudden tightening of the hold on Polly’s neck, then Grusche reached out, twisted her wrist so that the handle was facing the detective and dropped the knife into his palm. Polly saw that his skin was dark, as if he’d been in the sun, and his hand was bony like Marcus’s.

Then Willow Reeves was there, wrapping Polly up in a blanket and asking if she was all right, or if they should get
Oscar Charlie
, the rescue helicopter, to take her to hospital. Saying they’d take her back to her friends in Sletts. Polly turned for a moment and saw Grusche staring at her with eyes that were still full of hatred.

Chapter Forty-Five

In Springfield House, Willow sat in the corner of the yellow morning room and watched the conversation between Jimmy Perez and Grusche Malcolmson. Sunlight was streaming through the window and outside there was the sound of birdsong. Jimmy had rustled up coffee from somewhere and the smell of it filled the room. On a plate was a pile of little round biscuits dusted with sugar. They’d probably been made by Grusche herself.

‘Why did you kill Eleanor?’ The inspector’s voice was so soft that Willow strained to hear.

They’d allowed Grusche to get dressed. She was wearing wide linen trousers and a hand-knitted sweater. Willow thought that she herself would probably look very similar to Lowrie’s mother when she was in her sixties. She would be tall and angular and would wear charity-shop clothes.

Grusche looked up sharply. ‘She was evil. You know that, Jimmy. She was flirting with Lowrie, trying to steal him from Caroline, trying to steal him from
me.
’ The voice suddenly very sharp and shrill.

‘I don’t think she was doing that, Grusche. She was faithful to her husband. Always had been.’

‘No!’ The word exploded from her like a gunshot. ‘I had proof. The two of them were here in Shetland together just a week before Lowrie’s wedding. I saw a photograph on his laptop, the day of the hamefarin’. It was of Lowrie with his arm around that woman, and the museum in Lerwick behind them.’ She stared at Perez, her eyes like steel, forcing him to understand the implication of her words. ‘That afternoon Lowrie was in his room, staring at the picture, when I took in his clean shirt for the party. He shut his computer, but not before I’d seen the image.’

‘You printed it out,’ Perez said, ‘on photographic paper.’ Willow thought none of this was coming as a surprise to him.

Grusche nodded. ‘While he and Caroline were hanging up bunting in the hall. Think of what it meant, Jimmy. Think of the spell that woman must have had over him. He was only married for a week, and yet he was obsessed by the photograph of himself with another woman. She must have been some kind of witch.’

‘So why did you print out the photo, Grusche?’ Perez took a little sip of coffee and seemed to savour it.

‘I wanted to confront the woman. To prove to her that I knew what her game was. I wanted something in my hand – something concrete.’ The German woman paused as if she was looking for the right words, as if she was desperate for Perez to understand. ‘Something real. I couldn’t carry Lowrie’s computer across the sand to Sletts now, could I, Jimmy?’

‘Why don’t you tell me what happened,’ Perez said. He leaned back in his chair and waited. Outside a curlew flew overhead, calling. He shut his eyes and for a moment Willow wondered if he was drifting off to sleep.

‘I had to speak to Eleanor Longstaff, to make her see what she was doing. All that evening, while she was dancing and laughing and flirting, the truth was eating away at me. She was going to make Lowrie unhappy again. You must see, Jimmy, that I had to do something. You’d be the same if anyone treated Cassie badly. Eleanor would ruin my son’s marriage and he’d become ill and depressed. He might disappear south with her, and then I’d never see him again. I could tell that
she
would never consider living in Shetland.’

Perez had his eyes open and leaned towards her. ‘Eleanor never planned to steal your son from you. You must know that now.’ But it was spoken in a whisper, almost to himself.

Grusche didn’t seem to hear him and continued talking. ‘After the party we tidied up a bit and then George went to bed. He’d been drinking all night and I knew that he wouldn’t wake up until the morning. I could hear him snoring, like a great big bear. Then Lowrie and Caroline went off too. I let myself outside and walked down to the beach. I could see all the people from Sletts sitting on the deck. They were talking and laughing. After a while the men went inside. Then a little later Polly disappeared too, and only Eleanor was left. And that seemed like a sign that I should go and talk to her. It was just getting light and she saw me coming. She waved to me. “Can’t you sleep either, Grusche? Shall we go for a walk?” Not waiting for an answer. I don’t think she ever really listened to what people said to her.’

There was a moment of absolute silence in the room before Grusche continued.

‘I didn’t know where we were going until she said: “Do you believe in ghosts? Do you think Peerie Lizzie exists?” That was like another sign. I said I’d show her where Vaila had seen Lizzie, and I led her up the footpath to the standing stone.’

Another silence. Perez drained the coffee in his mug. ‘Were you planning to kill her at that point, Grusche? Please tell us. It is important that we know.’

‘No! I wanted to make her see that she had to leave Lowrie alone.’

‘So you’re walking up the footpath towards the standing stone and it’s just getting light.’ Perez gave an encouraging smile. ‘What happened then?’

Willow felt as if she was almost dozing. She’d had very little sleep in the last few days and the tension had drained from her. The sun was strong now and the room was very warm.

‘We sat close to the cliff edge,’ Grusche said. ‘We talked. She said she hadn’t been this happy for years and at last it seemed that everything was going right for her. Perhaps she’d been silly to place so much importance on having a baby. She’d finally found the man she loved and nothing else seemed important.’

‘You thought she was talking about Lowrie?’

‘Who else could she be talking about?’

‘Her husband,’ Perez said. ‘I think she was talking about her husband.’

‘I showed her the photograph.’ Grusche was almost screaming. Willow thought she didn’t listen much, either. ‘I laid it on the grass. I demanded to know, Jimmy, what was going on here. I had that right. What had she been she doing in Lerwick with my Lowrie the week before his wedding?’

‘And what did she say?’

Again Willow had to strain to hear Perez’s words.

‘She said it was a secret. “But don’t worry, Grusche, I don’t really have designs on your son. Besides, he’s quite grown-up now. He doesn’t need you to look out for him.” Then she laughed. As if I was ridiculous for caring what happened to my boy.’

‘So you killed her,’ Perez said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. ‘Talk me through exactly how that happened, would you, Grusche? For the record.’

‘I wanted to stop her laughing,’ Grusche said. ‘And I wanted to be sure that she’d never make Lowrie so unhappy that he wanted to kill himself again.’

She paused and Willow listened carefully, imagining how the scene might have played out. They were recording the interview, but this first telling might help her to understand.

Grusche continued, ‘We were sitting at the top of the cliff, Jimmy. There was that strange early morning light, which you only get at this time of the year. There was so much noise. All those seabirds shrieking around our heads. But I could still hear the woman laughing. I picked up a boulder and I hit her with it.’ Another pause. ‘She fell awkwardly and seemed somehow crumpled and disfigured. I like lovely images. You know that, Jimmy. You know I could have been an artist myself. Fran always told me I had great potential, but I was happy to sacrifice that for my son. I dragged Eleanor into the middle of the loch, so that she looked like a picture. Someone might take some pleasure from the striking image, at least. She was a beautiful woman.’

‘What did you do then? After you’d thrown her cloak and shoes over the cliff and you’d torn the photograph into little pieces.’

‘I went home,’ Grusche said. ‘I lay next to my snoring husband. I went to sleep.’ She reached out and took one of the biscuits, then nibbled it as if she was judging its quality. Willow was astonished at how calm she seemed. There was another minute of complete silence.

‘Did you tell Lowrie what happened?’ Perez’s voice was sharper now. ‘I mean, has he known for the last week that his mother is a murderer?’

‘No!’ The same explosive retort. ‘Of course not.’

‘But you must have asked him what he was doing with Eleanor in Lerwick. You would have wanted to know.’

For the first time Grusche seemed less sure of her ground. ‘He said he was there as a friend, helping Eleanor with some project at work. I told him that he must keep that secret, that you would suspect him of killing her if you knew that he’d met her in Lerwick without telling anyone.’

‘And Lowrie did what he was told,’ Perez murmured. ‘Of course he did. First you and then Caroline making decisions for him. He’d never had to think for himself.’

Willow wondered if Lowrie had guessed at his mother’s involvement in Eleanor’s death. Perhaps she was so perfect in his eyes that he couldn’t contemplate the possibility of her being a murderer. Certainly he hadn’t asked Grusche any awkward questions. Willow was reminded of the way that Charles and David had kept their relationship intact by ignoring unpleasantness – anything that was difficult or uncomfortable.

‘What about Hillier?’ Perez was saying. ‘Why did he have to die?’

‘He was there that night,’ Grusche said. ‘He saw me walk up the path with Eleanor. And come down all alone.’

‘He was blackmailing you?’

‘And that shows just how ridiculous he was!’ Grusche spat out the words. ‘As if we’d have any money to give him.’

‘Did Hillier tell you that he was in Lerwick for that meeting in the museum? With Lowrie and Eleanor and Monica Leaze?’

She nodded reluctantly. Willow had no idea what Perez was talking about. He seemed to her like a magician himself, fanning random cards on the table until they made sense, at least to him. But she knew better than to interrupt. Let him explain to her later.

‘So you’ll know that Eleanor was telling you the truth,’ Perez said. ‘That there was no affair. Lowrie was there as her friend.’

‘That wasn’t how Lowrie saw it.’ Again she was almost screaming. ‘You didn’t see the way Lowrie stared at that picture. He would have done anything for that woman. He was as infatuated now as when he first met her.’

‘Even if he was,’ Perez said and his voice was sad, ‘I don’t think it was your place to interfere.’ Then he changed his tone. ‘Hillier. Tell me what happened.’

‘I arranged to meet him on the shore at Springfield. I said I had some savings, a family inheritance, and we might be able to do a deal. I went to the book club in Baltasound as usual that night, but I stopped at Springfield on my way home.’

Willow was tempted to ask what the book group had been reading. She was feeling light-headed and a little giddy. She’d believed that Grusche was a dignified and intelligent woman. She hadn’t recognized the obsession that had gripped her.

But Grusche was still talking. ‘Hillier was waiting for me on the sand. The mist was coming in again. It wasn’t hard to dispose of him.’ Then she snapped her lips shut. ‘I’m not talking any more, Jimmy. Not to you, and not in this place. I know my rights. You can take me to Lerwick now, and Lowrie will find me a lawyer. Lowrie will look after me.’

Chapter Forty-Six

‘I still don’t understand why the Malcolmson woman went after Polly Gilmour,’ Sandy said. ‘And that stuff about Peerie Lizzie. Was the lassie on the sand just a figment of the English folk’s imagination?’

They’d stopped in the North Light Gallery for lunch on their way south through Yell. Willow’s idea. Perez would have preferred to go straight back to Lerwick so that he could be home when Cassie came back from school. The painting of the girl in the white dress was still hanging on the gallery’s wall. Catherine Breton was in her glass bubble making pots. The gallery with its cafe was unusually quiet. It was a breezy day, with the wind blowing cloud-shaped shadows across the water outside and loose sand against the windows.

He was about to answer when the door opened and a woman walked in. Perez thought Willow had been expecting her, that this was a pre-arranged meeting. The newcomer stood just inside the door, then approached them. She was wearing a bright-red coat, heavy brown boots and carried the smell of cigarettes with her.

‘I went to the police station this morning as soon as the ferry came in.’ Monica Leaze had the same nervous energy that Perez remembered from the launch of her exhibition. The same wiry hair and chestnut eyes. ‘They told me to talk to you here.’

‘So now we’re in a position to explain to Sandy about the ghost.’ Willow’s voice was light until she turned to the artist. Then she was fiercer than Perez had ever seen her. ‘If we’d understood earlier that you were involved, we might have prevented Hillier’s death.’

‘Of course I should have come before.’ Monica was playing with a napkin on the table, folding it into smaller and smaller squares. ‘But when I left Shetland I didn’t know Eleanor had died, only that she was missing, and that was always part of the plan.’ She turned to stare out of the window. A waitress brought coffee without her noticing. ‘It started out as a bit of a hoot, and a way to get Nell out of a financial mess. Nobody was really supposed to get hurt.’