‘Nor me, hen. Ewan never mentioned anything.’

‘I don’t like this one bit. Please. I’m asking you. Won’t you just go home and let the police handle this situation?’

Boonzie’s face hardened like granite. He replied, ‘I came here tae help Ewan. It’s too late for that. But I’m no leavin’ until I find the people who did this.’

Grace could see that no force on earth could change his mind. She paused, glanced over her shoulder as though to check nobody was watching, then quickly took a slip of paper from her pocket and pressed it into his hand. It was a grocery receipt, on the back of which she’d scribbled a phone number.

‘That’s my personal mobile. Will you call me if you need anything?’

Boonzie said, ‘Like what?’

She flushed slightly, shrugged. ‘Ewan and I … we were close once, a long time ago. We weren’t much more than kids back then. Anyway, he often used to talk about you. Said you were like a father to him. After what’s happened I just thought – just between you and me, you know? – that if there’s anything I can do to help …’

Boonzie was touched by her words. It didn’t surprise him to hear that she and his nephew had known each other better than she’d let on at first. He didn’t miss a lot, and had noticed the way she talked about Ewan. He also got the impression that she wasn’t overly impressed at the way her provincial cop colleagues were handling the case. But he kept all that to himself and replied simply, ‘That’s very kind of you, lassie. I appreciate it.’

‘Just please, don’t go poking around too much.’

‘Because of what those clowns Macleod and Coull might think?’

‘No, because you seem like a nice man, and there are obviously some nasty characters about, and I wouldn’t like to think of you getting hurt. There’s been far too much of that already.’

He smiled. ‘I’ve come across a few nasty characters in my time, and I’m still here. Dinnae you worry aboot me, lassie.’

A door swung open and a pair of uniformed officers stepped through it, talking. One of them smiled at Grace. The other just looked, then glanced at Boonzie. Grace said, ‘I’d best get ready for my shift. Where are you headed now?’

‘Back tae Kinlochardaich.’

‘Will you be okay? Not many buses go out that way.’

‘I’ll be fine.’

‘You take care, all right?’

Boonzie thanked her again, and watched her hurry off. He was a straight-ahead kind of man who either liked people or he didn’t, and he’d decided that Grace Kirk was one of the good ones.