The Graveyard Bell: A completely gripping Scottish murder mystery (Private Investigator Teàrlach Paterson Book 3) by Andrew James Greig

Author:Andrew James Greig [Greig, Andrew James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Storm Publishing
Published: 2025-02-24T00:00:00+00:00

FORTY-ONE

THE DEAD

Teàrlach stood in the open doorway, looked out across the sheltered waters of the bay and felt as if the last twenty years had never happened. Nothing much had changed from when he’d first arrived here as a young boy – the same view of the outer islands; the same sounds of birdsong and sheep; familiar smell of bracken and salt on the air. Chloe was active in the kitchen, hunting for pots and plates. He could imagine his aunt was still there with him, making breakfast or taking out a freshly baked loaf; saw himself exploring the foreshore, swimming in the freezing sea. The fiction provided comfort in the same way morphine dulls the senses. An escape from harsh reality.

But nothing ever remains the same. The land had grown new homes and new scars; the sea now home to salmon farms and microplastics. His aunt now gone, like the generations of people before her, and her only legacy the four stone walls at his back, an abandoned grave and his fading memory of her.

Dee had left the cottage as soon as it was light enough to do so. She’d been monosyllabic in response to his greeting, likely still worrying about the wisdom of tracking down her parents. He’d listened to the sound of her motorbike being erased by distance whilst he wandered down the pasture to linger on the view, judging the day was set to be overcast and threatening a storm. Teàrlach returned inside to find Chloe frying up a breakfast.

‘I’m making bacon and eggs,’ she announced as he entered. ‘Assume you want some?’

‘Aye. There’s coffee as well.’ Teàrlach reached for a cupboard only for Chloe to indicate the cafetiere already full on the kitchen table.

‘Call yourself a detective,’ she said scornfully.

Teàrlach gave a wry smile in response, poured them both a cup.

‘So, what are we going to do about the missing fisherman and the two drowned guys?’ Chloe’s tone was businesslike as she spooned the contents of a frying pan onto two plates.

‘The dead can wait.’ Teàrlach picked up his cutlery, cut into a rasher. ‘I want to prioritise the search for Calum Donald, the missing fisherman.’ He thought of the young man’s father, dying in a hospital bed in Craignure; the way he’d spoken as if he knew his son was already dead. Siobhan had claimed to have seen Calum recently – had promised Dee that she’d tell him about his father and the urgent need to visit him in hospital, but he’d heard nothing since Friday evening. Something wasn’t right and Siobhan’s family were involved, one way or another. Fraser Donald only had so long left to live, and his son was still missing. His sense of urgency increased with each passing hour Calum remained undiscovered.

‘What can I do? I may be on holiday, but I’d rather be doing something useful.’ Chloe’s chin was raised in defiance.

‘OK. This is what we’ve got.’ Teàrlach prepared to count each relevant piece of information on his fingers.

‘He’s alleged to have gone out fishing on the Morning Dew first light 6th.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.