It seemed like a long shot, but Ben took out his phone and went to his stored images. The picture of Boonzie was a few years old, taken when Ben had visited him and Mirella at their place in Italy, but he was confident that Holly would recognise him if she’d seen him. There was only one Boonzie McCulloch in the world and he didn’t change much. Ben angled the phone so Holly could see. She leaned further forward across the bar, squashing her chest on the counter and tickling his hand with the dangling tips of her hair. The images were stored in date order with the most recent first. He’d have to scroll all the way back to near the beginning to get to the one he wanted to show her.

But Holly stopped him dead when she saw the very first picture, Ben’s most recent addition to the file. It was the image of Ewan’s gold coin that Mirella had emailed him earlier that afternoon. Holly spotted it and instantly said, ‘Hey, that looks familiar. Did you find buried treasure too?’

Ben stared at her. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘That.’ She pointed at the picture with a long, glittery nail. ‘It’s not every day you see bling like that getting flashed around. Is it real? Looks real. Just like the other.’

‘When did you see something like this before?’

She pulled away from the phone, as if she’d seen enough. ‘Och, just a few days ago. He was sitting right there, on the same stool you are.’

‘Who was sitting here?’

Holly’s brow creased into a frown and she hesitated before replying, ‘Ross Campbell.’

‘Ross Campbell, the fellow who drowned?’

She nodded sadly, still frowning. ‘You must have heard about it back home where you come from, aye?’ As though accidental drownings in remote parts of Scotland were big news internationally. ‘That was awfy. I didn’t really know Ross that well, but I was so upset when I heard.’ Holly thought about it for a moment, then added in an undertone, ‘You know, some folks’re calling it suicide. But I don’t believe it. When he was in here that night he looked way too pleased wi’ himself to be the suicidal type.’

‘Explain this to me,’ Ben said. ‘Ross Campbell was in here a few nights ago and had a gold coin with him, just like the one in the photo? Is that what you’re saying?’

Holly nodded again. ‘Aye, must’ve been a day or two before … before it happened. Maybe even the very day before. I don’t remember.’

‘And you actually saw the coin?’

‘He showed it to me.’ There was nothing in her eyes but blank sincerity. She was telling the truth.

‘What for?’