Ava shook her head, tears running down her blackened face. ‘I don’t know. I don’t know.’

‘Stay here,’ Magnus ordered.

She watched as he steadfastly approached the blaze.

‘No, Magnus,’ she called. ‘Don’t.’

Whether he heard her plea or not, he didn’t stop, even though he must have known that if there was anyone in the boathouse, they didn’t stand a chance.

Eventually he retreated, although obviously loath to do so.

‘Might he have taken the boat out?’ he asked her.

‘I don’t know. Maybe,’ she said, in hope now.

‘I need to get closer,’ he said. ‘If someone is still in there . . .’

Ava knew what Magnus was trying to say. She remembered the trouble he’d had at school because of his hyperosmia. They’d all tormented him mercilessly about his ability to smell things so powerfully. Made him the butt of so many stupid teenage jokes. She felt sorry for that now, as she saw him try again, his expression determined.

He was concentrating, allowing his sense of smell to take over. She watched as the power of it seemed to almost overwhelm him, as she’d seen happen in the past. She imagined what it must be like . . . the smell of scorched wood, tar, a mishmash of hot metal and seared stones and, worst of all . . .

He turned to face her, and in that instant she knew. Nowhere among it all had he caught the smell of burning flesh or the scent of singed animal hair.

‘Dougie isn’t in there,’ he told her. ‘And neither is Finn.’

‘You’re sure?’ she said, her relief obvious.

Magnus nodded. ‘I’m sure.’

‘Then where are they?’

‘They?’ Magnus said, his voice wary.

Ava thought of saying Dougie and Finn, but she could tell by Magnus’s expression that that wouldn’t wash. Only the truth would work here.

‘Dougie has the girl from the Orlova with him, Nadia,’ she said.

He nodded, as though he had suspected that all along.

A thought suddenly struck Ava. ‘Why did you come over? Was it because you saw the flames?’

‘I had a call from DS McNab in London. Go Wild thugs have been holding him. He escaped but they still have his mobile. He wanted to warn you that they could have traced your number and there’s every reason to believe they have someone already on Orkney.’

Fear crept back to swamp Ava’s relief. She stared at Magnus. ‘Then they could have taken Dougie and the girl and lit the fire to make us think they were in there.’

Magnus considered this. ‘What about Finn? He wouldn’t have gone with them without a fight. Did you hear him barking?’