‘According to Dr Sissons, there was no birch residue anywhere in the wounds. Evidence of basalt from the rockfall, nothing suggesting knife or axe wounds, though. He did give me an extended written treatise on what an injury is.’ McNab paused here before obviously reading from Sissons’s script.

‘Injury is the result of tissue distortion as a consequence of transfer of energy, usually kinetic energy in mechanical injury, which in turn is related to half of the mass multiplied by the square of the velocity (speed) of the impact. The distinction between self-infliction, accident and assault is based on other evidence (witness and circumstantial), pattern of injury and common sense.’ He gave Rhona a characteristic grin. ‘So that’s you told,’ he added.

Rhona laughed. ‘He’s right, of course. Which is why pushing someone off a cliff is a good way to kill them and not be found out.’

‘But you thought he was already injured?’

‘I made the mistake of linking the scene in the woods with the scene on the beach,’ Rhona said. ‘And hoping they matched.’

‘You don’t normally make assumptions, Dr MacLeod, without careful thought.’

At that moment Rhona could have hugged McNab. Why, she wasn’t sure, except for the fact that his voice told her he had courage in her convictions, even if she did not.

McNab continued, ‘So we need to locate all the medics just to be sure. And –’ he paused for a moment – ‘someone got injured in those woods you checked out and, from your evidence, cocaine was involved. I for one would like to know who that was.’

That had been Rhona’s thought too. ‘The scalp residue and hair I retrieved from the birch tree needs to be compared to the body from the beach.’

‘Agreed.’

When the call ended, Rhona took her whisky through to the sitting room where the stove was now burning brightly. Her mood had lifted, especially after McNab had filled her in on his own current investigation and its possible links to the cocaine trail from Afghanistan.

‘The Sandman’s like bloody Amazon, delivering to your door throughout Scotland. Why would Portree not be on his delivery list?’

‘The medics were stationed somewhere in Afghanistan,’ Rhona had told him.

Now that did interest McNab. ‘As was the former soldier stabbed in the alley.’

At this point he’d revealed his plan for Prince Harry. As Rhona listened, she’d realized he was telling her something no one else knew, except Ellie.

‘That could land you in trouble,’ she’d said, concerned.

‘Ellie doesn’t take no for an answer.’ McNab didn’t add a bit like yourself, but it was there in his voice anyway.