As Chrissy finished, the woman they’d been discussing appeared. Tall and dark-haired, she observed them with a cool, clear, interested gaze.

‘It’s good to meet you, Dr MacLeod, and you must be Chrissy. I’ve heard all about you both from Magnus.’

She accepted her dram and they all toasted their meeting and the stunning sunset.

‘I forget when I’m in London just how long the spring and summer days are in Orkney,’ she said. ‘It’s always a revelation when I return. As is the wind,’ she added, laughing.

‘What wind?’ Magnus indicated the flat calm of the water gently lapping against the stone jetty.

They spoke mainly of Ava’s work during the meal and Rhona discovered a mutual connection between them. Ava had been working on the disappearance of immigrant children in London, which had links with the torso of a young Nigerian boy found in Glasgow’s River Kelvin. Rhona had been involved in the case, and the subsequent search for another little Nigerian boy snatched from a garden in Glasgow.

‘Michael’s father, Sam, helped us with that,’ Chrissy told Ava. ‘Rhona and DS McNab eventually travelled to Nigeria to help find and rescue little Stephen.’

After that, they’d moved on to Ava’s reporting on the MV Orlova.

‘Of course, I’m aware of the restrictions on talking about the crime scene,’ she said. ‘What I am intrigued by are the ship’s secrets. Who owns it, what was happening on board in general? I’ve spent all my time since its arrival trying to discover its backstory.’

‘And have you?’

As Chrissy asked the question, Rhona was conscious of water lapping against the thick stone walls of the house. It was like being aboard the Orlova, yet not like it at all. In here was warmth and light and a knowledge of permanence. Out there – she glanced through the glass at the moonlit darkness beyond – the ghost ship would be juddering and creaking in its perpetual circle round its anchorage.

‘Did you hear that, Rhona?’ Chrissy said, breaking into her thoughts. ‘Ava says the Orlova was offering trips aboard via a company called Go Wild. So that’s what the GW insignia stood for,’ she added triumphantly.

‘I understand from Erling that a couple of detectives are arriving tomorrow to take a look at the ship?’ Ava said.

Chrissy looked to Rhona. ‘It wouldn’t be McNab, would it?’

‘I’m sure if it was we would have heard by now,’ Rhona said.

‘This is the McNab from the Nigerian story?’ Ava said, sensing Chrissy’s excitement at such a prospect.

‘My wee boy’s named after him,’ Chrissy said proudly. ‘Michael McNab saved my life when I was pregnant.’

‘Wow,’ Ava said. ‘A friend indeed, then.’