They chatted for a few minutes more before Rhona said her goodbyes and offered her hope that Magnus might get some sleep despite the wind.

‘I doubt Birka’s shrieking will allow for that,’ Magnus said with a laugh, ‘although a whisky nightcap might help.’

Sleep proved elusive in Glasgow too as the howling wind, peppered by the distant shriek of sirens, no doubt answering emergency calls, kept Rhona on red alert.

Eventually she did doze off with Tom stretched out alongside, the cat having no issue with the Viking maiden’s assault on Glasgow, or indeed on Scotland for that matter.

3

Inspector Erling Flett picked up the drilling mobile and, rising, headed for the kitchen before answering, not wanting his partner, Rory, to be disturbed. They’d had little enough sleep, what with the wind howling round the cottage all night.

Erling, being Orcadian, was used to the constant winds of the islands, but last night the storm that had battered his low-lying croft house had surprised even him in its ferocity. High on the Scorradale Road, his home faced any onslaught coming across Scapa Flow from the south and the east.

‘What’s up, Constable?’ he said, recognizing PC Ivan Tulloch’s voice.

‘Looks like we have a stray ship on the rocks up by Yesnaby. I’ve sent over the photo Geordie Findlater took at first light this morning. The coastguard’s been alerted, sir.’

Erling brought up the image, which had obviously been taken amidst the storm. Through the early light and the falling rain, he could just make out what looked like a battered cargo ship tossing about just a short distance from the famous cliff face.

‘Any crew on board?’

‘Coastguard says there was no Mayday call. They suspect it might be a ghost ship brought here from the Atlantic by the storm.’

Abandoned vessels, known as ghost ships, were plentiful at sea and often ended up on Atlantic-facing coastlines, the most recent having been washed up on the west coast of Ireland. They were also a devil to deal with, especially if there was fuel still in their tanks.

PC Tulloch continued, ‘They haven’t managed to get near it as yet, sir, although the wind’s forecast to drop by the afternoon.’

‘Okay, I’ll head over there.’

‘What’s up?’ Rory had entered as the call ended, encircling Erling in his arms.

‘The storm’s brought a ship ashore up by Yesnaby.’

‘God,’ Rory said, studying the photograph. ‘Who was brave enough to take that?’

‘Farmer Geordie Findlater went out to check that his sheep hadn’t blown away and spotted it.’

‘It looks abandoned. No lights on anyway. I take it the coastguard knows?’

Erling nodded. ‘No Mayday signal, so they think it’s likely to have been abandoned somewhere mid-Atlantic and driven here by the storm.’

‘What about the fuel tanks?’ Rory said worriedly.

‘My first thought too.’