Going to the hospital was also an opportunity to visit the Reilly family, to see how Lord Donald was doing. He’d been unconscious when he was brought in last night, and was still unresponsive so far. His brain activity had slowed extensively but it was too early to ascertain if parts of it had been damaged permanently. The priority right now was keeping him alive. He couldn’t breathe on his own, and all tests on the Glasgow scale had been worryingly low. The examination was performed on all coma patients in the ICU and was a scale of awareness assessing basic responses. Lord Donald Reilly was in a bad way. On the drive over, she rang Kate on hands free for an update: it was still grim news.

‘They’re treating his burns, and testing his brain activity every hour. The family is with him; he’s got two kids, and his wife is called Elaine. I popped over there this afternoon to talk to her. She’s a tough nut to crack. They’re showing all the expected signs of a family concerned for a loved one,’ Kate said. It was customary to discuss things like this when the injuries of a victim were potentially suspicious. In this case, they had no idea yet whether or not Lord Reilly was a target, or if the crash had been caused by sabotage. When assessing a family’s responses, they expected several patterns of behaviour and it sounded as though Elaine Reilly was presenting suitably as a worried spouse.

‘Did you ask her about Bartholomew Kennedy-Craig?’ Kelly asked.

‘Well, I mentioned him, and the tragic circumstances of his death – gently, of course, but she definitely stiffened at his name. Given the press reports about their relationship, I should imagine she’s embarrassed.’ Kate said. ‘Rob updated me on the hydraulic cable,’ she added.

‘It doesn’t look good,’ Kelly said. ‘Any news from the Laurie Fell estate from Dan and Emma?’ she asked.

‘Sounds like Dan’s on to something. He reckons the AW139 could have been hangared there in the open elements. There is equipment in one of the sheds for such an eventuality, but the owner was a cold fish, and she basically kicked them out,’ Kate told her.

‘What’s she hiding? Surely she’d want to help find out what happened to her only tenant,’ Kelly said.

‘Dan reckoned she was protecting Kennedy-Craig’s privacy, but she wasn’t exactly helpful,’ Kate said. ‘She called him “the chief”. Odd, don’t you think?’

‘Nothing as queer as folk,’ Kelly said. ‘So, did the pilots stay over too?’ she asked.

‘The owner didn’t say.’

‘Strange. That stinks to me,’ Kelly said.

‘Me too,’ Kate agreed.

‘I’ll mention it to Ted; he should have done the toxicology on both of them by now. If they were guests overnight then they might have drunk too much,’ Kelly said. ‘That could explain her reticence.’