Perez had walked a few hundred yards when he heard the sound of an engine behind him. He moved to the side of the road. He was tempted to flag down the car and get a lift into the village. Now that he had an idea what might have happened here in Stonebridge, Perez wanted the case finished as soon as possible. He longed to be on the ferry back to Shetland. He was missing his daughter, Cassie, and his house by the water. He could never be truly happy when he was away from the sea.

Perez put out his hand to wave at the car. In Shetland people were used to giving lifts, and in more remote places they always stopped for walkers. Surely it would be the same in a village like Stonebridge, a village that claimed to be friendly?

But the car showed no sign of stopping or even slowing down. Perez thought perhaps the driver hadn’t seen him, and resigned himself to walking back to the hotel. After all, it couldn’t be that far. He stood on the verge to allow the car to pass safely. The road was very narrow here.

Then he saw that instead of passing carefully by, the car was heading straight towards him.

All Perez could see was the glare of headlights as he jumped from the grass bank into the ditch that separated the road from the trees. There was a screech of brakes as the car careered away from him. It all happened so quickly and it was so dark that he couldn’t even make out the type of car. There was no way he could see who the driver was.

Perez stood shaking by the side of the road. He felt angry, not just because the unknown driver had tried to kill him, but because he’d been foolish enough to put himself in danger.

He had Cassie to look after now, and he should be more careful. He’d bruised his leg jumping into the ditch. It was full of snow, his feet were soaking wet, and his hands were still bleeding from the fall onto the road. He thought his dis-comfort served him right and he started limping back to the village.

14

The Confession

At the hotel, Perez managed to get to his room without being seen by the nosy landlady, Elspeth. He would have struggled to explain the torn trousers and the muddy footprints left on the lobby floor. Jimmy jumped into the shower and changed into clean clothes and at last he stopped feeling cold. Then he phoned Robert Anderson, the local cop, with whom he’d worked in Aberdeen.

‘Is there any chance you could get over to Stonebridge this evening?’

‘You think you’ve solved the case for me, do you, Jimmy?’ Anderson’s voice made the question sound like a joke.

Perez answered seriously though. ‘I think so.’

Now Anderson sounded surprised. ‘You’re telling me you’ve got enough evidence to make an arrest?’

‘No physical evidence yet, but I’m sure there’ll be fingerprints on the note I found in Anna’s bedroom.’ Perez paused. ‘Besides, I think the culprit might be ready to confess.’