Rhona wanted him to see that things were different now. That working this case had restored some of her faith in her own abilities. Not that she imagined for a moment that meant the flashbacks would suddenly stop. She was well aware that it didn’t work that way.

But I won’t let them define me. Not any more.

The devastating thing about the sin-eater case was that she’d missed the signs, which, looking back, seemed so obvious now. The question of how she could have been so blind was what had made her question if she could rely on her own judgement ever again.

But that too had changed.

Sitting high above the harbour, the Royal held an enviable spot in Portree. Despite it being a quiet time of year for holidaymakers, it still looked busy, as did MacNab’s bar. Rhona had messaged Alvis on her way over, suggesting they take a walk to the harbour and the Pier Hotel pub, which she’d visited with Jamie.

Blaze, she knew, was often a visitor there with Donald, although not tonight, and with luck she and Alvis might find a seat in the tiny bar.

‘Rhona.’ Alvis emerged from the main door. ‘I hope I haven’t kept you waiting in the cold.’

Rhona gave him a quick hug. ‘I’m glad you came back before heading home.’

‘Things have developed, I understand?’

The sky was clear and covered in stars, and reaching the quayside, they could just make out the distant outline of the northern part of Raasay. The sight of the island brought a surge of memory for Rhona. During her sojourn there, she had travelled to the wild and most northern tip of Raasay and looked across the water to the twinkling lights of Portree Harbour and what appeared to her to be its safety. Something she’d craved at the time.

‘You’ve been on Raasay before, I hear?’ Alvis said.

When Rhona looked surprised that he might be aware of that, Alvis explained that Lee had told him the tale of her last brush with the MOD over human remains retrieved from Raasay Sound.

‘It’s a local legend,’ he said.

Without responding to that, Rhona said, ‘How was the island?’

‘Like Skye, a special place for me, having been there with Marita. I think she would like to know I returned and walked out to the memorial to Sorley MacLean, a favourite poet of hers.’ Alvis changed the subject. ‘I hear Detective Sergeant McNab is on the Skye team now?’

‘Only briefly.’ Rhona explained about the possible identification of Private Galbraith, and McNab’s return to Glasgow with the body. ‘I think he’ll be glad to get back to the city.’

‘He’s not fond of wild open spaces, as I recall,’ Alvis said with a smile.

Rhona laughed. ‘That’s the understatement of the year.’