‘She’s not still a student? Perez was thinking another pint would go down well, but decided immediately that he’d stick with coffee. He might go into Lerwick later and see if Sandy was back in the police station. He could pass on this information about the girlfriend. ‘Her course must have finished years ago. What’s she up to now?’

‘I don’t know.’ Brodie seemed uncomfortable. He’d always suffered from acne and the spots seemed more red and livid as the conversation progressed. Perez wondered if the man had fancied Evie Watt himself. ‘I saw her in one of the halls at Up Helly Aa, but she was with a gang of friends and we didn’t chat. I think she might have moved back. Not to Fetlar, but to Shetland. That was the impression I had.’

‘You haven’t been in touch with her since?’ Perez asked.

Brodie shook his head. ‘She was way out of my league,’ he said. ‘Pretty and smart. No point setting yourself up to be disappointed, is there?’

‘Sometimes it’s worth taking a chance.’ But Perez wasn’t sure that was true. He would never take up with another woman.

On his way out of the hotel he decided that he’d call on Peter and Maria after all. Maybe it was the beer giving him a strange sort of confidence. He’d been in their flat a couple of times, invited in after dinner in the restaurant for coffee or a dram. He’d been with Fran on both occasions and had sensed that Peter Markham found her attractive. More than that, that the hotel owner had been obsessed by her. He’d been perfectly civilized and jovial, but he’d seemed almost breathless when he approached her and, even when his wife was talking, his eyes had strayed back to Fran. Perez had teased Fran about it: ‘You’ve got an admirer.’ And she’d laughed back. ‘He’s a very attractive man, Jimmy Perez. And he has much more money than you. You should take care!’ The memory of that conversation brought his lover back to life for him for a moment and he was almost grateful.

He asked Brodie to let the Markhams know he was on his way up. ‘I just want to give my condolences.’ And Brodie nodded as if he suspected Perez had planned the visit from the beginning.

The door at the top of the stairs was open ready for him, and Peter and Maria were in the room beyond. Because it was at the top of the house there were views all the way along the coast and across the Sound, beyond Raven’s Head to Moussa. Briefly Perez’s attention was caught by the view. He’d only been in the room in the dark before.

Peter Markham stood up. ‘Do you have news for us, Jimmy?’