Potentially, Nellie was a gold mine of information about what went on inside Laurie Fell when Bartholomew Kennedy-Craig was there, and that could give them a clear picture of who might want him dead. All of her information pointed to Lord Reilly’s presence on the craft not being widely known about, so they had to assume, until they discovered otherwise, that Kennedy-Craig was the target.

Nellie had arrived with a Tactika lawyer. No doubt they cost an arm and a leg and it indicated that the family and the company was wary about what Nellie knew. The last thing Kelly needed was a barrage of ‘no comment’ offerings, but more often than not these days, that was all they got before any charges were brought. The onus was all on the police to prove a case. Gone were the days where criminals understood the scope of the law and could be intimidated into making mistakes. Not that she saw Nellie as a criminal – yet – but after talking to Dan and Emma, they had to question why Nellie had not wanted to cooperate with them when they visited Laurie Fell.

They began.

Kelly got on with the formal process of identifying the witness and recording her date of birth and the like.

‘Nellie, I want to make clear that this meeting is a fact-finding exercise about the last known movements of Bartholomew Kennedy-Craig, as part of the inquiry into his death.’

Nellie looked at her lawyer, who nodded.

Kelly proceeded. ‘What was your relationship to Bartholomew Kennedy-Craig?’ she asked.

‘He rented my property. I made sure it was ready for him when he wanted to stay.’

‘And I believe you have no other tenants?’ Kelly asked.

‘No.’

‘How did you two meet?’ Kelly asked.

Nellie sighed and brought a tissue from her pocket – her emotional response in direct contrast to how the way Dan and Emma had described her reaction when they’d visited Laurie Fell after the crash.

‘Mr Kennedy-Craig was visiting holiday lets, many years ago, and he fell in love with Laurie Fell. I showed him around. That was when my father owned it. It was my idea to rent it out; my dad needed something to do, he couldn’t live in that massive place on his own.’

‘You didn’t live with him?’

‘He gave me the cottage years ago. I lived there.’

‘And how did that work? Mr Kennedy-Craig was your only paying guest, but it’s still advertised on websites?’ Kelly asked.

Nellie smiled and looked at her lawyer, who nodded.

‘It’s common practice. In all honesty, I just never got around to removing it and to be honest, I always thought I might change my mind, for the right client.’

Kelly didn’t like it when witnesses used phrases like ‘in all honesty’ and ‘to be honest’, especially twice in one sentence. It made her hackles raise, like it did now.