Or was she the curse for having written about it, for trying to discover its secrets? Maybe she should give up? Maybe then the killing on the farm would cease?

Her mobile buzzed and she checked it anxiously to find it wasn’t Dougie. He hadn’t been here when she’d got back mid-morning and she’d heard nothing from him all day. Erling had said he’d taken off with Finn, too upset to wait for the dead cow to be removed.

It was what Dougie did when things got too much for him. Head off on foot with the dog or take out his beloved boat. Seeing the seething waters of the Flow, Ava hoped it was the former, but she would have to check to be sure.

Her heart jumping a little, she made her way to the boathouse, all the while repeating the mantra that the Fear Not would still be inside. Even before she reached there, she knew it had gone . . . but where?

Her first thought was Hoy, because it was one of Dougie’s favourite islands. If he was over there, chances were he wouldn’t have got her text messages. Ava clung to that thought for comfort.

Checking the contents of the boathouse, she thought some of his camping gear might be missing. Surely if he planned to stay away, he would get in touch to tell her? Ava wasn’t so sure he would. Anger at her London trip, followed by a cow being killed in her absence, might just mean he’d keep her waiting and in the dark as to where he was.

He was seventeen, he’d reminded her constantly. A man. He didn’t need to answer to her any more. Just the way she chose not to answer to him.

A feeling of defeat accompanied her back to the house. That and the terrifying thought that Dougie might have had something to do with the animal deaths in order to persuade her to stay.

It was a ludicrous thought, but once it lodged in her brain, it demanded to be considered. On the other hand, if the cow deaths were connected to the Orlova investigation, that meant there was someone on Orkney with a vested interest in shutting her up.

How realistic was that? Not very, she thought. A local was unlikely, which meant it had to be an incomer with links to Go Wild. And, if they wanted to shut her up, why not just shut her up permanently?

Mark had sent her home to Orkney because he believed it to be the safest place in the present situation. Although I didn’t tell him about the dead calf, she thought.

That brought her thoughts back to where they’d begun. With Dougie. Was her wee brother capable of killing the cows in an attempt to make her stay here with him?