The Dark Isle Read online

  “It’s a war, Dani. The realities don’t fit with your neat rules and regulations. If we don’t get tough, they will win.”

  “If we interrogate innocent young boys, beat them to death and try to hide our crimes, then they’ve won already, Kerr. We’ve lost our values.”

  “I won’t go to prison. I’d rather take my chances out there.”

  Dani reached across to grab his jacket, but Kerr already had the door open. He jumped out of the car and disappeared down a side street, before she had the chance to get her key into the ignition.

  Chapter 36

  Andy was the first to share his information with the team. “Gail Ballater claims she’s never heard of Adnan Mahtam, or Kerr Travis for that matter. I was inclined to believe her.”

  Dani nodded. “Travis suggested that his marriage to Gail was simply a cover, to allow him to live here without drawing suspicion.”

  “But he remained on Nabb for all these years,” Alice added. “There must have been more to it.”

  “Perhaps there was,” DI Peyton added. “They bought the cottage and the land. Ballater’s father had been a fisherman. He chose a life he didn’t mind living.”

  “Ballater supplemented that living by taking payments for ferrying folk to the smaller islands at any time of the day or night and for any purpose.” Andy felt his cheeks redden. “I expect he got that idea from the job he did for Lowther and Travis.” He thought back to the night they sailed out to Ghiant with the Hutchisons. Ballater had gone to have a smoke in the ruins of the post office whilst they got on with their business. He wondered how often the man had done that exact same thing in the past.

  “There is an alert out for DS Travis,” Dani explained. “Because of his undercover work, the search for him is strictly low-key. There will be no coverage in the press. If his real identity gets splashed across the nationals, there are other officers currently undercover whose lives will be at risk.”

  “Won’t that make it harder to trace him?” DI Peyton looked annoyed.

  Dani sighed. “Yes, it will. It seems that Travis has been very canny at saving his own arse.”

  Alice stepped forward. “Juliet Lowther left herself far more exposed. Ballater and Travis had disappeared into the woodwork, but her whereabouts were easy for anyone to trace.”

  “Retiring from the force and moving to Fort William did make her less conspicuous. I believe she ditched her plans to move her mother in with her because she feared retribution for what they did to the boys on that island. Her mother was safer in the rest home. Recently, she had herself confirmed into the church. I think she was ready for what was to come. Perhaps she was ready to make peace with her sins.” Dani tried to feel sympathy for her old friend, but the emotion didn’t come.

  Peyton looked thoughtful. “Juliet told Kerr she was being watched. She kept her car in a secret location, presumably so she could move about unobserved. But someone found her in the end, following her to that carpark in Mallaig. Or enticing her there.”

  “You told us Travis admitted there were more young men on the island when Adnan was killed. Do we know how many? At least one of them managed to escape, so they must have washed up somewhere along the west coast.” Andy addressed the DCI.

  “Travis didn’t give me any more details.”

  Alice got to her feet. “But it means the ones who escaped had a boat, the one they stole from Ballater and Kerr. Is it possible they still have that boat now?”

  Dani nodded. “It’s entirely possible.” She rubbed her temples. “I don’t think Travis is going to talk, even if Glasgow Division manage to track him down. We need to check all records of missing persons from the Glasgow area reported in the Spring of 2008. Our young men must be among them.”

  “There could be dozens of reports,” Andy lamented.

  “Then we’d better get started,” Dani added, with determination in her tone.

  Chapter 37

  It was nearly dark by the time Dani emerged from the Nabb town hall. She was fighting to keep her eyelids open, she could feel the grit forming painful deposits under their soft skin.

  The evening was mild, the wind just a gentle breeze. As Dani approached the entrance of the Gordon Hotel, she felt an arm suddenly grip her coat sleeve. She spun around, ready to floor whoever was trying to intercept her path.

  “Bill! For heaven’s sake! You can’t grab me like that. I could have knocked you to the ground.”

  The man looked put-out. “Well, that wouldn’t have been very friendly, DCI Bevan. It’s just you’ve been away for so long and I’ve got something very important to talk to you about.”

  Dani wondered if it was as important as a multiple murder inquiry. She glanced at her watch. “We could share a nightcap in the bar.”

  His face lit up. “Oh, marvellous. I could really do with a brandy. I’ve been waiting out here for you for hours.”

  Dani said nothing, simply allowing him to lead the way inside.

  Bill returned from the bar with a brandy and a whisky and soda.

  “Joy and I have been doing some research into the island. We thought it might help.”

  “Okay.” Dani sipped her drink, the warmth of the whisky was welcome.

  “Well, it was more into Joy’s uncle and aunt.”

  Dani could sense Bill’s steady voice lulling her into a peaceful state. She relaxed into the high-backed leather armchair and listened, as he recounted the information they’d gleaned about Robert Rushbrooke, who’s war record wasn’t as straightforward as they’d first believed. The story was a distant and mildly intriguing one until Bill said something that made her sit bolt upright.

  “Rob’s service record is still classified?” Dani repeated.

  “I don’t actually know that, but I’m assuming it must be the case, as he clearly worked with SOE, yet his whereabouts during the war aren’t recorded in any of the online archives.”

  “Then it probably won’t be possible for you and Joy to find out any more. I don’t know much about the SOE, but I’m aware the operatives often worked abroad.”

  “That tended to be the foreign nationals whom the allies had recruited. There were many overseas agents operating in eastern Europe and in France, most notably.” Bill finished his brandy. “No, I have been considering this carefully since we found out about Rob’s links to the secret services.” He leant forward conspiratorially. “I think Rob’s posting was a little closer to home.”

  Dani narrowed her eyes, she wasn’t in the mood for guessing games.

  “I believe Rob was based on Ghiant itself during the war.”

  Dani put down her glass. “I thought Rob met Joy’s aunt at an army base somewhere and they returned to Ghiant after the war was over.”

  Bill waved his hand dismissively. “That was the story, yes. But we found out that Ghiant was used by the army as a lookout station during the war.”

  “That doesn’t sound very top secret.”

  “No, that’s my point exactly. What Rob was up to had to be so sensitive that the details still cannot be released into the public domain. There are only a few things that can mean. I don’t believe they were detonating nuclear devices on Ghiant, so it only leaves a handful of other possibilities.”

  Dani’s mind was ticking over.

  “Ghiant is a very remote island with few inhabitants. Rob knew the place like the back of his hand. His family’s farm was on the island, giving access to numerous outhouses.”

  Dani was thinking about her current case. Lowther and Travis had chosen Ghiant as a place to take their terrorist suspects because it was in the middle of nowhere and nobody lived on it. Yet Ballater could get them to the island with relative ease by boat.

  “You think they were interrogating people on Ghiant during the war?”

  Bill nodded. “I suspect so. It would have gone against the Geneva Convention, which all countries had to follow in the war years. But we know the Germans did it, and the Japanese, of course.”

  “Who wo
uld the British army have wanted to interrogate?”

  Bill shrugged his shoulders. “Top ranking prisoners of war, defectors from the axis countries, people found spying for the enemy. There are many possibilities in wartime.”

  “I thought the Brits treated their POWs very well. That’s what my dad always told me.”

  “Yes, we did. But there were still internment camps across the country for foreign nationals. And there was a war on, Danielle. There may have been times when more drastic action was necessary. There were moments when defeat to Germany seemed like a very real danger. This is when Rob’s role would have been at its most crucial.”

  “Do you really think the Isle of Ghiant was used as a secret location to interrogate the enemy during World War Two? It seems like it would be impossible to keep that a secret for all these years?”

  “If the people involved took that secret to the grave, and the documents relating to its use have remained classified, I think it’s entirely plausible. There will be people who know, of course. There always are. But they will be in important positions of power and will not want the country to be embarrassed by the release of the truth now.”

  Dani sat in silence. She tried to make out the shape of the island through the window of the lounge bar, but it was too dark outside and the lights of the hotel were too brightly reflected in the glass. Had Juliet known the secret history of Ghiant? Was it something she discovered when she had security clearance to investigate counter-terrorism?

  Did this knowledge give her the idea of taking their own recalcitrant suspects to Ghiant, a place remote and isolated, where in wartime, interrogation had been given some kind of legitimacy? Hadn’t Kerr described the situation following the bus bombing as a ‘war’. Perhaps Juliet saw herself as an heir to the agents who operated on Ghiant in the 1940s. This could well have been her justification.

  She suddenly realised Bill was still talking.

  “This wasn’t the information Joy wanted to hear. Her memories of the summer she spent on the island in the 1950s were of an idyllic existence. Now we suspect the government wanted Rob there, as a caretaker for the place, to guard any evidence that might have remained of their activities. It’s why they received compensation in the end.” Bill sighed. “But Joy’s not taken it as badly as I thought. She wants to return home to Louise and the boys. In fact, she’s keen to find out more about her own father’s role in the war. I think she believes she was perhaps too judgmental of him as a young girl. Kenneth wasn’t exciting, you see. He was a rather dour man, as I recall. But I believe Joy feels she should give his memory a little more attention.”

  “I’m glad,” Dani stated flatly. “I’d like to think some glimmer of good has come out of all this.”

  Chapter 38

  Matt Currie had left the police force a couple of years previously. The growing emphasis on paperwork didn’t suit him. Since then, he’d taken a series of jobs in security. Currently, he was a night security guard at one of the major hotels in the city.

  Phil Boag hadn’t really kept in touch with Matt, only by way of the annual Christmas card. But he found the man still living at the address where he’d been when they worked together. Matt’s wife filled him in on the rest.

  The lobby of the Cadogan Hotel was brightly lit by the staggering number of chandeliers suspended from the ceiling. Matt wasn’t difficult to spot. His bulky form was squeezed into a smart black suit. An earpiece protruded conspicuously from the side of his closely shaved head.

  Phil approached him without preamble. “Matt. long time no see.”

  The man looked Phil up and down. It seemed to take him a while to process the information his eyes were giving him. “Phil Boag? Christ, it’s been years.”

  Phil met the man’s gaze and fixed him with a stare. “We need to talk.”

  “I’m at work, pal.” Matt glanced nervously around at the staff on the reception desk.

  “Then take a break.”

  He examined his watch, as if he’d only just learnt how to interpret the position of its dials. “Okay, I could take my break in five.”

  “I’ll meet you at the café across the street. Don’t keep me waiting.”

  When Matt pushed through the door of the greasy spoon, he had a padded jacket pulled on over his swanky suit. Phil had ordered them both a mahogany brown mug of tea.

  Matt shovelled sugar into his. “What do you want to talk about?” He kept his gaze fixed on the chipped Formica.

  Phil leant forward. “Adnan Mahtam.”

  “Who?”

  Phil nearly laughed. “He was a twenty year old student who went missing from GCU in March 2008. We handled the case, remember?”

  “Oh, him.”

  “Yes, him. Only his body was found last week. He’d been beaten to death, within days of him going missing. His body was buried on an island off Skye.”

  Matt finally looked up. “What the hell? We thought he’d gone off to join the Taliban.”

  Phil shook his head slowly. “You and Juliet thought that. I never did.”

  “We conducted a thorough investigation, Phil. The file will show that.”

  “I’m not here to make sure we’ve both covered our arses.” Phil’s expression was one of disgust. “I want to know why you lied to me.”

  “About what?”

  Phil wasn’t a man to lose his temper easily, but he could feel the anger brewing. “I asked you to examine the CCTV footage from around the campus and surrounding streets on the afternoon Adnan went missing. You told me he wasn’t on any of the footage. Was that true?”

  Matt seemed suddenly engrossed in the actions of the waitress behind the counter who was noisily frying eggs.

  Phil brought his fist down on the table. Tea slopped over the lips of their cups and pooled around the bases. “Tell me the truth!”

  A few fellow customers glanced briefly in their direction, quickly returning to their meals. It was late, and Phil imagined this establishment probably experienced its fair share of nutters.

  “I started to. Then I passed the footage on to Juliet.” Matt’s voice sounded weak.

  “Why did you do that?”

  “Because I saw something on one of the tapes that I wanted to clarify with her.”

  “Okay, I’m listening.”

  “She told me that what I’d seen was part of a classified counter-terrorism investigation. The DI claimed you’d not got clearance to view the material.”

  “And you didn’t smell bullshit?”

  “Lowther was the boss. What else could I do?”

  Phil tried to recall the intensity of the atmosphere in the department back then. Everyone was watching their backs. But he still lacked sympathy. “What did you see, Matt? Lowther is dead now and Kerr Travis is on the run. You’re under no obligation to keep their dirty secrets.”

  Matt made eye contact. “I’d watched a few hours of tape. Then I finally spotted the lad. He was wearing that blue sports jacket his parents told us about. Adnan was heading along Kennedy Street, towards the newsagents. Then, two figures stepped out from a side street and talked to him. One of them was kinda gripping his arm. They turned as they led him out of sight of the camera. I caught a look at both their faces at that point.” He cleared his throat. “It was DI Lowther and DS Travis.”

  “Bloody hell.”

  “I didn’t know what to do,” his voice had become shrill. “I showed it to Lowther. She said the boy was known to them, he had associations with the Roydon Road bombers. They’d spoken to him that afternoon. But when she and Travis left the lad, he was alive and well. Lowther reckoned they’d shaken him up with their questions and that’s why he’d taken off that day to a training camp somewhere. For safety, she said.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me this at the time?”

  “Lowther said it was confidential. She said the Mahtam’s missing persons’ report would complicate their counter-terrorism investigation. If that tape fell into the wrong hands, their operation would all have b
een for nothing.”

  Phil shook his head. “Those bastards. Who the hell did they think they were?”

  Matt’s face had gone pale. “They weren’t the ones who killed the lad, were they?”

  Phil sighed. “You were a detective for over a decade, Matt. I’ll leave you to work that one out.”

  “Holy shit.”

  Phil got to his feet. “I need you to walk into Pitt Street station first thing tomorrow morning and make an official statement to a DC called Dan Clifton. He’ll be expecting you. And don’t worry, Matt. I don’t think you’ll get into any trouble.”

  “It’s okay, I want to do it. Set the record straight.”

  Phil sprinkled coins on the table and headed for the door, hoping he’d never have to set eyes on the man again.

  Chapter 39

  As they approached the block of flats, Dani sensed something different about the place. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly what it was.

  DS Forrest punched in the code on the exterior door and led Dani and Andy up the stairs to Juliet Lowther’s flat. The landing was as silent as it had been when Dani was first there.

  On this second visit, Dani understood more about the woman who had lived out her last few years in the apartment. Juliet was a woman who knew her card was marked. She had kept her life simple, always looking over her shoulder.

  Andy walked in and out of the compact rooms. “Is there somewhere else Lowther might have kept the rest of her stuff – there must be trinkets from her late mother, that kind of thing. This place is clean as a whistle.”

  DS Forrest shook his head. “Apart from the car, there was no evidence she kept anything away from this place. One of my team checked all the local storage companies and even those down in Glasgow.”