She’d asked him to finally tell the truth, and for the last hour he had, all that he could remember

Finn’s body shook as he looked around. He knew where the plane had hit the water, but already there was no sign of it. He scanned the choppy surface and spotted someone swimming towards the beach. Looked like the pilot. No sign of Lenny. He turned to the island. A handful of figures stood at the Italian Chapel, stark against the building. There were three police cars and an ambulance, lights flashing. He shouted in their direction.

Linklater seemed worn through, skin pale and hair in a greasy ponytail. Finn wondered how he looked to her, with all his injuries. He straightened his back and cricked his neck, blades of pain slicing through him. He took shallow, careful breaths and tried not to upset the equilibrium of his body.

“I did warn you,” Linklater said.

They were back at the police station, this time with the official tape going and the jowly cop in tow. Linklater sighed. She’d asked him to finally tell the truth, and for the last hour he had, all of it, all that he could remember anyway.

He’d hoped his injuries might buy him a day or two in hospital, put off this little chat. But the ambulance crew at the scene saw to his cuts and bruises, and the superficial gunshot wound to his thumb, and he was deemed fit for interview.

Concussion

Amy was in hospital. A police dinghy had picked the two of them up from the buoy after a few minutes. Paramedics scurried around her for a while, then she was taken to the Balfour. According to Linklater she was awake and had no serious injuries. Concussion, the damage from Lenny’s beatings, but very lucky.

The police also picked up the pilot, a Norwegian called Gunnar according to his wallet. He refused to speak without a lawyer, but they’d been in touch with Norwegian police and he was known to them,.

Finn waived his right to a solicitor, which was maybe why Linklater cut him some slack and filled him in about the others. Police divers were in Holm Sound examining the wrecked plane, trying to find Lenny. Another officer was taking a statement from Ingrid. Maddie was gone.

Finn grabbed a few words with Ingrid while he was being treated in the ambulance and she told him that Maddie had bolted just after Finn left the chapel, taking Ingrid’s car. Finn checked his pocket and sure enough, his car key was missing. He told Linklater to check the boat in Orphir. An officer found Ingrid’s car parked with the key still in it, the boat gone. The coastguard was still searching, but had found no sign of her. Maybe she really sailed across the Pentland Firth. Maybe she even made it. Then what?

Maybe she hadn’t gone across the firth at all, but hid the boat somewhere along the coast to throw them off, then doubled back and got the ferry. The cops were looking for her there too so she couldn’t just walk up, but there were plenty of delivery trucks she could hide inside.

Finn was relieved to be telling the truth. How she flirted with him, how she walked away from the crash. How she called him and he went running, doing as she asked, hiding her. How he betrayed Amy and lied to Ingrid.

He wasn’t in the clear about the murders yet. They had various DNA samples from the two murder scenes, but nothing so far that matched the swab they took from Finn. That didn’t mean anything, of course, what they needed was a positive match to Lenny or Maddie. But Lenny was on the seabed somewhere and Maddie was AWOL.

Conclusive

Even if they got a match it might not be conclusive, Linklater said, given that the two murder scenes were Maddie and Lenny’s homes anyway.

He thought about the bag of money, presumably still in the Norwegian plane. He thought about Lenny and Maddie. He told Linklater what they each said in the chapel, that the other one committed the murders. “Indulge me,” Linklater said, arms spread. “What do you think happened?”

Finn thought for a long time. “I think Lenny killed Kev,” he said. “Why?”

“I don’t know. Either because of Kev and Claire or the money. Maybe both.”

“And you think he killed Claire too?”

Finn nodded.

“Why?”

“Maybe she knew he killed Kev. She seemed scared when I met her. Or maybe he thought she knew where the money was. Tried to get it out of her but it went too far.”

Linklater pursed her lips. “So you still don’t think Maddie had anything to do with the murders?”

Finn pictured her kicking at him, trying to push him out of the moving car. He pictured her unbuttoning her blouse in the Lewis place, leading him to the bedroom. “No.”

“We’ll see,” Linklater said. “Where do you think she is now?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

There was silence between them for a time. “You stepped into a real nest of snakes, didn’t you?” Linklater said. Finn just looked at her.

Linklater flicked the pages of her notebook back and forth. Eventually she looked up, and Finn wondered if he saw sympathy in her eyes.

“For now, I’m willing to believe you didn’t kill Kevin Pierce or Claire Buchan. Though the evidence might prove otherwise.”

She waved a hand in front of her. “But the rest of this. Perverting the course of justice, obstructing an investigation, aiding and abetting a wanted suspect, possibly assisting a murder.”

“I never did that.”

Excuse

“And that’s not even including the plane crash,” Linklater said. “I mean the first plane crash. Depending on the powers that be, that could be terrorist charges.”

“I’m not a terrorist.”

“It’s out of my hands.”

“Couldn’t you put in a word for me?” Linklater stared. “Why would I do that?” “You know I’m not a bad person.” Linklater shook her head. “I don’t know anything of the sort.” She looked at her watch. “I need a break. Interview terminated at 4.35pm.” She reached and pressed stop on the recording device. “You are an idiot,” she said. “You know that.” Linklater nodded at the door. “Get some fresh air, it could be your last chance for a long time.”

Finn went to the toilet in the police station and splashed water on his face. He looked in the mirror. He remembered looking in the mirror of the toilet on the plane, squinting at his fuzzy image, thinking about Maddie, talking to Amy on the phone.

All the deception started there, but he’d been deceiving Amy long before that, lying to her about how he felt. Maddie was an excuse.

The door opened and Freya from the Orcadian breezed in. “This is the men’s toilet,” he said. “I should hope so, I’d hate to find you in the ladies. Add it to your long list of indiscretions.”

More tomorrow.