‘Maybe.’ She was thinking furiously, casting her mind back. ‘The day you were fuelling up and you turned those two people back, a man and a woman, remember? First you told me they were tourists with a dog, then later you admitted they were cops and you didn’t want them treading on your op. So you sent them away. Was one of them Wilmot?’

‘Well, yes. Wilmot and a young female cop. A new arrival at the station. He said he was mentoring her, showing her around. I told him he should’ve had more sense, knowing what he did. Why?’

‘And did they have a lot of camping gear in the vehicle?’

He frowned. ‘Why would they? They’d have got a meal at Alloway, and a bed if they’d wanted it.’

‘Because Matt met them on the road and told me some cock-and-bull yarn about helping them change a flat tyre. Said they were southerners, loaded down with brand-new camping equipment and had no idea how to handle a puncture. It was after that he started sniping at you, hinting you weren’t a botanist. He knew, Connor, because that’s when Wilmot told him. He must’ve – it was the only time they saw each other. When he was here with Burns before that, Matt wasn’t home.’

In the faint glow of the headlights, she saw Connor’s eyes flicker as her words sank in. ‘And another thing’—she nodded, remembering back—‘when Burns came first and was bullying me about knowing Gerry wasn’t dead, Wilmot tried to get him to back off, like he might’ve been afraid that I’d admit to it.’

‘There’s an easy way to check,’ Connor said. ‘I’ll ring Alloway. See if Wilmot left without the sergeant. If he did . . .’

The phone seemed to ring forever until it was snatched up and an irate voice said loud enough for Tilly to hear as well, ‘Bloody hell, I’m coming! Alloway. Waddyouwant?’

She listened to the quickfire exchange and deduced the answer from Connor’s grim look. ‘Well, find him. And report it to the police,’ he barked, and killed the connection.

‘Seems you’re right.’ He sighed deeply. ‘Shit! That was the owner. According to him, Wilmot left on his own. Told him he couldn’t locate his mate, that he’d had an emergency call and couldn’t wait. Then took off like his backside was on fire, to quote mine host.’

Tilly bit her lip. ‘Do you think he’s okay – the sergeant?’

‘Who knows? He could be tied up, or lying somewhere with a bullet in him. These guys play for keeps. Okay, so the cavalry’s down to Des, and I’ve no way of warning him about Wilmot.’

‘And Sophie – is she safe?’

‘I think she’d better take Luke and go to the camp. She needs to be among other people right now.’