“Fi, its me.” Dorothy’s voice was soft, breathless. “You all right, Mum?” “Not really, there’s been . . .” “Speak up, Mum, I can hardly hear you

Fiona took a sip of coffee as Doug cleared his throat. “He was storing body parts of deer that the ghillie gave him, fresh carcases, all bloody and full of gore. “And he staged accidents, made it look like a driver had hit a deer, took loads of photographs then got half the insurance money from the driver.

“Got the guys who worked for him to get weeds and stuff from down at the river to make it look real.”

“What? That’s ridiculous!” Fiona typed The Alyth Voice into her Google search.

“Strange but true. He was only found out when the ghillie shopped him as he got fed up delivering the deer that he’d shot – legally – to Lawsons whenever a gullible enough driver arrived.

“So, once they started investigating Old Billy Lawson, there was a lot else wrong with his books.

“He’d been selling stolen cars for years apparently. Thought he could get away with it in sleepy Alyth.”

Fiona gasped. “So Pete had no idea his car was stolen, he bought it thinking it was just a second-hand car?”

“Certainly looks like it. The other two guys who worked for him are also up for charges as they were all in cahoots.

“Now just got to find out how many drivers got fraudulent insurance claims. Amazing to think there are so many dishonest folk nearby!”

“Wow, amazing, Doug. Thanks,” she said, clicking on the story online.

“Mrs C said you’d be dying to hear that news. Well, I’d better go. Say hi to the wee guy.”

Unexplained

Fiona was still beaming when she put down the phone and read the whole article.

So, Pete hadn’t broken the law, he’d been duped by some criminal, in Alyth of all places.

She frowned – he had taken all their savings, though, and there were other things unexplained, including her conversation with Debs.

But at least she could delete “car thief” from the list of attributes of “My Boyfriend the B ***** d”.

Fiona put the ironing board away in the cupboard and looked up at the clock. Half past three.

They’d have just blown the whistle for half time at the football. She couldn’t wait to hear how he enjoyed it.

Jamie had been so excited all morning before Martha and Allie picked him up, he could hardly even eat his lunch.

She was feeling upbeat, having had that phone call from Doug.

She knew Pete wouldn’t have bought a stolen car if he’d known.

She was still incredulous that there were so many alleged criminals near Alyth willing to go along with Lawson’s insurance scam involving dead deer.

She chuckled and headed for the larder, having decided she’d bake some scones for Martha and Jamie coming home.

She had meant to go into work to research the Craigs, but decided she’d stay at home instead.

She was just weighing out the flour into the bowl when the phone rang.

“Fi, it’s me.”

Dorothy’s voice was soft, breathless.

“You all right, Mum?”

“Not really, there’s been . . .”

“Speak up, Mum, I can hardly hear you.”

“I’m in an ambulance, on the way to hospital.” “What? What’s happened? Are you okay?”

“It’s Dad, he’s had a heart attack. They’re trying to stabilise him, they need to put a stent in and . . .” “Where are you, Mum?”

“Not sure, I can’t say. I’ll give you over to . . .” “Mum!” Fiona shouted. “Mum, speak to me!”

Lilting

“Hello, you must be Mrs Craig’s daughter.” It was a softly spoken voice; a lilting accent.

“Yes, it’s Fiona Craig here. Can you tell me what’s going on please?

“My mum sounds really strange. Did she say my dad had had a heart attack?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. She’s a bit upset.”

Fiona leant back against the back of the chair. “He’ll be all right, won’t he?”

“Early days, still early days.”

“What happened?”

“Well, they were on the Tarbert to Uig ferry. It takes only about an hour and forty-five, but, unfortunately, the attack happened just about half an hour from arrival.

“That meant they weren’t near enough to the shore to get immediate help.”

“Can’t Mum speak to me?”

The voice had softened to a whisper.

“Your mother is in a bit of a state as she said they’d had a blazing row.

“And Mr Craig had just shouted something at her when he collapsed. She seems to think the heart attack was her fault, that’s also why she’s so upset.

“Obviously it wasn’t, but that’s not important right now. They gave him CPR on board while the captain got emergency procedures in place, managed to get the ambulance waiting at Uig harbour.

“We got him in 20 minutes ago and we are off now to Portree Hospital.”

Fiona let out a long sigh. “He’ll be all right, won’t he? He’s not that old, only 68 and fit as a flea.”

“Are you in a position to find your way to Portree, Fiona?” The paramedic sounded calm and steady. “Yes, yes of course.”

“That’s good. I think it would do your mother good to have your company. Now, I’d better go now as we’re nearly there.”

“Give Mum a big hug please!” Fiona swallowed. “And Dad too!”

The phone clicked off.

Fiona stared at the phone as she replaced the receiver. How was that possible? How on earth could her healthy father have had a heart attack?

He was never ill. The only thing Mum said was ever wrong with him were “the Grumps”, as she called them.

Action

She tapped into her laptop and Googled “AA route finder” then ran to the study to attach the laptop to the printer.

As it whirred into action, she wondered why she had always refused to buy a sat nav.

She’d always insisted she didn’t need one, she could read a map. Martha had one, she could borrow that.

God, Martha. She had to tell her what she was doing, she couldn’t just leave her with Jamie.

Fiona grabbed the sheets of paper from the printer then ran back to the kitchen, picked up her mobile and tapped in Martha’s number.

She didn’t answer. She tried Allie’s number next, but didn’t get a response either. They would be concentrating on the game.

Her eyes darted to the clock. Just four o’clock, the game wouldn’t be over for another half hour. But she couldn’t wait that long.

More tomorrow.