I looked up. The same man in the Barbour jacket was ordering a drink. Before I could say anything, Phyllis returned to the table and sank down with a sigh.

“Mary said there’s a turf shed at the side of the house, where she parks her car. She doesn’t allow smoking in the house, so she knows it’s where some of her guests go to have a fag.”

Phyllis took a deep breath and patted her chest “She said she knew Bob was a smoker, had been since college, but whether he came in last night or not, she couldn’t tell me. Said she goes to bed at half nine because she has to be up at six to do the breakfasts.” She smiled. “I think she sleeps like a baby with all that sea swimming she does. Plus she said she’d had a broken night the night before.”

The row, I thought to myself, the row between Bob and Amanda had woken her the night before. “So she heard nothing?”

“She did say she heard the front door slam sometime before twelve. But she couldn’t tell who it was or how many there were. She said she went straight back to sleep.” Phyllis looked at Liam. “That could have been Derek and Amanda, I suppose, couldn’t it?”

Liam’s brow furrowed for a second and then cleared. “Aye. That would be about right, time wise. I think it was about half eleven when they got into the taxi.”

“Right,” I said. “So, Bob could have met someone outside the B & B, who took him up to Mamore Gap.”

I glanced over at where the man in the Barbour jacket had taken a seat on one of the bar stools. Was he Lissa’s husband? Had she seen him outside the B & B last night? Could he really have had something to do with Bob Jameson’s death? And if so, why? What was the connection between them?

“That’s much more likely than having him hauled from his bed,” Liam said. “His wife would have known if that had happened.”

“Unless she was involved,” Phyllis said darkly.

I nodded. Liam was right. “Bob Jameson was fully dressed when he was found so he hadn’t gone to bed.” I didn’t mention the one shoe. “And you’re right, Liam – he was a big man – so it seems likely that he went willingly with whoever it was. It must have been someone he knew.”

I glanced up at the bar again. The man in the Barbour jacket was of much slighter build than Bob Jameson. I couldn’t imagine how he would have been able to overpower him.

“And the wife never noticed him missing?” Liam said. “All night?”

“She fell asleep, waiting for him to come back in and then was worried when she woke up early in the morning and found he wasn’t there. Wears earplugs apparently.”