‘There’s a farm with a telephone about two miles from here, near the road,’ she said quietly. ‘I know the people.’ Carrick nodded. Down on the beach, when he’d told her what he’d found, he’d seen the horror on her face. But only for a moment. Then her nursing background had swept into place like a protective professional shutter. ‘I’ll stay. Get hold of the police at Portree and try to raise Captain Shannon at the same time.’ He saw a protest forming and thumbed towards the setting sun. ‘At the earliest it’s going to be near enough dark before they get here. I’ll take a look around while there’s still some kind of light.’ She didn’t like it, but didn’t argue. Taking a deep breath, she glanced at the cottage again, nodded gravely, and went over to the car. Left alone, Carrick stood for a moment, then began a methodical search of the ground around the tumble-down cottage, gradually working back towards it.
