Free Thin Air: (Shetland book 6) by Ann Cleeves Page A

never been teamed with a better detective. But that wasn’t what I asked you.’ She should have been tired, but her brain was still fizzing. It was almost like having jetlag. Two island groups and you’d think they’d be similar, but arriving in Shetland she always felt that she was in another, more distant country.
    He shrugged, a kind of apology for being so sensitive. ‘There are good days and bad days. More good now.’
    ‘And you’re OK with working on this? Eleanor Longstaff would be about the same age as Fran when she died.’ She looked at him, wondering if she’d overstepped the mark again, trespassed into his personal grief.
    ‘Yes,’ he said and smiled at her. ‘There’ll be no tantrums this time, I promise. I’ll behave myself.’
    Willow wasn’t sure how to answer that. They stood and climbed the impressive stairs and at the top turned to go their separate ways.
    The next morning she returned to Sletts. Perez’s colleague Mary was still there. She’d made up a bed for herself in a small boxroom that had been advertised in the holiday brochure as being ideal for children. ‘It was quiet all night,’ she told Willow, ‘but I’m not sure how much sleep they had. They all look exhausted this morning.’
    ‘Where are they?’ The house seemed empty. ‘Are they out?’
    ‘No, they’re having breakfast outside. Not quite sure why when there’s a perfectly decent table in here. But they’re English. A thing about fresh air maybe. I guess they don’t have so much of that in London.’
    Willow found them on the deck. They were arranged much as they had been the night before, with Polly and Marcus on either side of the white picnic table and Ian in the middle, staring out at the water. She thought he was built like a bull, with all the weight in his shoulders and neck. His legs and feet were almost dainty.
    ‘We don’t know what to do,’ Polly said. ‘We were thinking that we might go home.’
    ‘That’s what you were thinking.’ Ian Longstaff’s words were brutal, even cruel. It was as if he despised the woman. ‘I’m staying here until I know what’s happened.’
    There was a moment of shocked silence. ‘Then we’ll stay too,’ Polly said. She seemed close to tears. ‘Obviously. We won’t leave you here on your own.’
    Ian put his head in his hands. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘That was rude. But I can’t think straight. Everything’s so crazy and out of control. We came for a party, and now Eleanor’s gone.’
    To Willow the words didn’t sound entirely convincing. She’d had him down as a strong, silent type and wouldn’t have thought it was his style to apologize.
    ‘We’d be grateful if you’d stay for a couple of days,’ she said mildly, ‘until we have more information about Eleanor’s death. We’ve set up a base in Springfield House on the island here and I’d like to start taking statements there this morning, if that suits you. You haven’t made any other plans?’
    ‘I keep expecting her to appear.’ Ian said. ‘Like those ghosts that seemed to fascinate her in the last weeks of her life. She’ll wander down the beach in the dress she was wearing on Saturday night, and she’ll pull me by the hand and expect me to dance with her.’ There was a moment of silence and then he turned to Willow. ‘Of course we’ll all help you if we can. Who do you want to speak to first?’
    ‘Mr Wentworth.’ She turned to the dark man. ‘If you wouldn’t mind, sir.’ She’d thought about it on the way to Sletts and had decided that he’d be the most objective witness. He might be shocked that a woman he’d known had died, but he wouldn’t be as emotional. They’d been almost strangers. ‘In half an hour, if that would suit you. Would you need a lift?’
    He shook his head and said he had his own car. She gave him directions, and when she left the English people were still sitting in silence.
    He arrived at Springfield House at exactly the agreed time.