He went into the house to pack an overnight bag, then began to walk to the airstrip. He hoped to leave before the police arrived on Kinness. It was not that he felt in competition with them. He would have been glad of a chance to discuss the information that Elspeth Dance had a secret and was frightened of being recognized. But he knew that they would not be interested. They were willing to consider that Robert’s death was murder, but he was certain that Robert had died only because he shared Mary Stennet’s knowledge. Mary Stennet’s death was the key to the thing, and they believed that she was a foolhardy girl who had slipped.

He enjoyed the walk to the airstrip and got there before Alec’s car or the aeroplane. He heard the engine of the plane first, then Alec’s car raced up the track and stopped dramatically with squealing brakes and a cloud of sand, just as the plane touched down.

As the Woollie Man unloaded his luggage from the boot, Alec stuck his head through the car window and shouted at George:

“You’re leaving then, are you? You rake up all the muck and then you piss off. Well, don’t think you’ll be welcome on Kinness again.”

Perhaps he thought that George would not hear him. The noise of the plane’s engine was very loud. George got in and chose a seat by the window. The plane took off and circled the island once before heading for Baltasay. George looked at Kinness, green and perfect below him, and he knew that what Alec had said was true. However things turned out, he would never be welcome on the island again, and once the matter was resolved, he knew he would never return.

Chapter Eleven

That afternoon Sarah met Elspeth quite by chance. Alec had told her that George had gone to Baltasay. She supposed that he was following some line of investigation and felt resentful because he had not told her why he was going. Jim had refused her offer of help on the croft and she did not want to stay inside. The sunshine tempted her to explore.