When Sandy told her that Jimmy Perez would join them at the oil terminal at Sullom Voe, Willow wasn’t sure what she made of it. She supposed she should be pleased that Perez was well enough to be part of the investigation. He’d been at this business for longer than she had and she could do with his local knowledge. Sandy was willing, but not sufficiently confident or skilled to make the intellectual leap that would bring a case to a conclusion. However, her experience was that male officers took over the decision-making and when that happened she became resentful, ending up sounding either shrill or defensive. A pre-menstrual harpy. And this was her first investigation as SIO. She didn’t particularly want to share the glory.

The rain showers had blown away altogether now, though there was still a breeze. They took the road that ran north-east through the hills towards Sullom Voe.

‘What’s he like then, this Jimmy Perez?’ she asked.

A sheep wandered onto the road and Sandy didn’t answer for a moment. At last he said, ‘He’s a good man.’ Another pause. ‘A fine detective.’

That didn’t seem much of an answer, but it was clear it was the only one she was likely to get. They came upon the oil terminal quite suddenly. It was hidden by the peat bog until the road came round the hill, and the tanks and the power station looked alien there. It was like a set from an old science-fiction movie. She thought tourists could spend a fortnight in Shetland and have no sight or knowledge of the oil that had changed the islands so profoundly.

They stopped at the main gate. A security guard came to the car. ‘You can’t go in. You need clearance to get any further.’

‘We have clearance.’ Sandy had to explain who they were and what they were doing there. ‘I spoke to your press officer this morning.’

The gate swung open and the concrete barrier beyond sank into the ground to allow the car through. ‘Wait here. Andy will come for you.’ The guard spoke through the car window. ‘I heard about the murder on the radio.’ He was a big man. Ex-services, Willow guessed. He seemed comfortable in the uniform.

‘Were you on duty yesterday?’

He seemed surprised that she was the one asking the questions, speaking across Sandy through the open car window, but he answered anyway. ‘I was on a late. Two till ten.’

‘You’ll have seen Jerry Markham here then? He visited the terminal in the afternoon.’

‘I signed him in and then I signed him out again.’ The man looked at her sharply. ‘He was alive when he drove his fancy car out of that gate.’

‘What time would that have been?’

‘Four, four-thirty.’