It had been exceedingly difficult for Rutledge to explain Hamish’s existence, the reality of his voice, to the doctor at the clinic. He was not a ghost—ghosts could be exorcised. Nor was he a disembodied voice repeating Rutledge’s thoughts like a parrot. What was there was vivid—the nuances of thought and tone demanded answers. And Rutledge in 1916, broken in spirit and mind and nearly in body, had found it easier to answer the voice than to challenge it. He had known Hamish through two years of war— his memory was filled with conversations that had shaped new conversations—new thoughts—new fears.

In the five months since returning to the Yard, Rutledge had slowly found the courage to argue, to refute—to take on the voice in verbal battle. A painful step toward sanity, he told himself again and again—not away from it. But challenging it went beyond his courage still.

Hamish was saying, “It’s those bones in Glencoe that gave Oliver an excuse to bring a charge of murder against Fiona. He wouldna’ care about them, else. It’s no’ even his jurisdiction! It doesna’ matter to him whose they are.”

“True enough, but until we know how that woman died, we’re bound to take them into account,” Rutledge argued. “As long as her shadow—whoever she may be—falls over the evidence, it will obscure everything else.”

Hamish still disagreed. And said so. Rutledge shook his head.

“Eleanor Gray’s disappearance gave the police in Duncarrick a name to put to those bones. Identify the corpse— that’s the first rule of a murder inquiry. And Oliver is convinced that he has. Once that’s established, he has to find a clear connection between the two women. If Eleanor Gray was pregnant and came to Scotland to wait out her term, then the link begins to take shape. If that’s not true, then there has to be another explanation for her presence in Glencoe. And if it can be proved that the bones aren’t Eleanor Gray’s after all, Oliver is simply going to search for another identity to give them. Named or nameless, the woman is a stumbling block.”

“Aye, I grant you. But can you no’ see that named or nameless, it’s happenstance that connects these bones with Fiona in the first place. What if Oliver proves they belong to the Gray woman? What if he proves she was pregnant when she disappeared? It’s still a giant leap to prove Fiona killed her!”