Contents (57)
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by Sharon Gosling
‘That must have been at the behest of Eveline MacDonald,’ Toby guessed. ‘She wanted to keep the lighthouse.’
‘Perhaps. That might explain why the land was handed over so easily in the first place. If that was all she wanted, it would have been nothing compared to the parcel of land the house had stood on.’
Toby looked out of the window into the garden, considering. ‘If Dora McCreedy has owned that land for so long, why hasn’t she ever done anything with it?’
‘Oh, she’s got far bigger and easier fish to fry elsewhere. In any case, what would she put there? Houses? Newton Dunbar’s too small to support a larger local population and too far from Aberdeen to be a dormitory town, certainly not without better transport links. A hotel? Perhaps, but access is almost non-existent.’
‘Ron Forrester says that she’d been trying to buy the hill and the lighthouse from Cullen for the past five years.’
‘Really? I didn’t know that. Well,’ Crosswick mused, ‘I suppose that would give her an access route, but with the lighthouse smack bang in the middle there’s really not much she could do without taking it down, and to do that she’d have to go through the process of getting the tower delisted.’
‘Would that be difficult?’
‘It would be an added hassle, certainly. Although it’s Grade C, which is the lowest level and the easiest to reverse, so it wouldn’t be impossible.’
‘Even if it’s someone’s home?’
‘Having a sitting tenant like Rachel in it would complicate matters,’ Crosswick acknowledged. ‘She would have to prove that what she intended to build instead would provide significant enhancement to the local economy as be an argument for its removal.’ He was quiet for a moment. ‘I can see what you might be thinking, Mr Hollingwood, but I can’t see that there could ever be enough of an economical reason for McCreedy to launch a smear campaign against the current resident. Newton Dunbar is too small and too far from anywhere with no fast access to make that worth her while. She has better, more convenient investment opportunities elsewhere. I very much doubt this newspaper business is anything to do with Dora McCreedy. I think the timing of the offer is simply coincidental and, given that you say she’s been angling for the hill for years, not particularly surprising.’
Thirty-Six
‘Have you thought about what you’re going to do for your final art piece yet?’ Edie asked over breakfast. ‘You need to begin preparation work on that soon, you know.’
‘Yup,’ said Gilly.
‘Really? That’s good,’ Edie said, her hand pausing as she reached for her mug of tea. ‘Are you going to share it with me or is it a secret?’
‘It’s definitely not a secret,’ Gilly said. ‘Especially since I need your help to get it done.’
‘Well,’ Edie frowned, ‘that’s not really going to be possible. This is a piece you have to work on by yourself. It has to be your work, I can’t help you complete it.’