“Might there not be another motive?” she interrupted nervously. “The secret might just have been a game.”

“You’re right, of course,” he said. “There’s Sandy’s will, for example. We must keep an open mind about motives.”

But he was convinced that the secret was essential.

When they reached Kell, Sarah was hot and breathless. There were no geese left on the low land in front of the croft, and the lochan was as still and blue as the sea beyond. James was sawing wood just outside the house. He was in his shirt sleeves, and as he heard them approaching and looked up to watch them, he wiped his forehead with a clean, white handkerchief.

“Hello,” he said cautiously. George was wearing binoculars as he always did, and James continued. “ Is there some rare bird on my land that I’ve not heard about? You know that you’re welcome to go where you please.”

“No,” George said. “ We wanted to talk to you. Had you heard that Robert was dead?”

“No,” James said. He seemed shocked but made no pretence at grief. “And he seemed so healthy. Was it a heart attack? I heard the plane. I suppose that will have been the doctor. Of course he had no family left.”

Family, Sarah thought, why should family be so important? Kinness was so small, they should all consider each other as family.

“The doctor didn’t come in the plane,” George said. “ It was the police. He was shot.”

James put down the saw slowly.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I don’t know. The police think it may have been an accident. Could we go inside? I’d like to ask some questions. It’s about Mary. I’d like Melissa to hear about it, too.”

James looked embarrassed and anxious. He did not like to refuse George, but he had to think about Melissa. The habit of protecting her had become a way of life.

“I don’t know,” he said. “ She seems to have been a lot better recently, but I don’t want to rush things. She doesn’t find it easy to talk to strangers.”

Melissa was watching them through the kitchen window. They represented the world away from Kell. They were normal people and suddenly she wanted to be normal, too. The kettle was nearly boiling on the stove. She threw open the kitchen window, and before she had the chance to change her mind she shouted:

“Bring your friends in, James. Don’t keep them standing out there in the cold. I’m making some tea.”

She felt hot with triumph and excitement. She turned and laid out her best cups and saucers on the table, and poured milk from the churn in the scullery into a jug.