She’d agreed then to his plan and he’d come up on deck, keen to use his mobile before the charge ran out.

Late afternoon now, they would need to wait until it was dark enough to go ashore.

He sent a text to Ava saying simply that he was fine and would be home soon.

38

It was clear from the number of people gathered, and the display of evidence, that the fire death and the Orlova killings had become a joint investigation.

Rhona spotted DS Clark and the two detectives who’d examined the Orlova crime scene in the throng of attendees, plus the bespectacled Ollie from IT who McNab favoured. The one person she’d expected to see wasn’t there and conspicuous by his absence. Of course, McNab might yet turn up, good timekeeping not being his strong point.

News was that McNab had taken a late booking on the Caledonian Sleeper after a prolonged meeting with the boss the previous evening. Since Chrissy’s intelligence was rarely wrong, Rhona suspected he’d gone south with Bill’s blessing.

When DI Wilson appeared stage front, the din quickly diminished, leaving an expectant silence. He began with an acknowledgement that it was now believed that the Glasgow and Orkney cases were linked via a company called Go Wild. Something DS McNab and DS Clark had established. DS McNab was currently following up this link, hence his absence, and DS Clark would give them an update.

Janice appeared beside him.

‘We have not yet verified our fire victim as Londoner Olivia Newton Richardson, although credit cards in that name were discovered with the body,’ she said. ‘However, it has been established that Ms Richardson ran a holiday company, which has links with Go Wild. Go Wild has also been involved with the staging of illegal bare-knuckle fights in Glasgow and elsewhere. Something DS McNab encountered first-hand,’ she told them.

There was a ripple of laughter from those who’d obviously viewed McNab’s face.

She continued, ‘Since then, it has also been established that the MV Orlova, which was washed ashore on the west of Orkney during the recent Storm Birka, was operating as a cruise ship under the ownership of Go Wild. So we currently have four suspicious deaths associated with this company. We have not, as yet, identified any of the victims.’

When Bill gave her a nod, Rhona knew she was up soon.

‘Most of you will be familiar with the facts surrounding the fire death,’ Bill said, taking over from Janice. ‘Dr MacLeod and her team also examined the Orlova crime scenes and recently attended the autopsies on the three recovered bodies. DI Flett from Kirkwall, who took charge of the Orlova, joins us online while we look at the images from the ship and hear what was found there.’