A Cult in The Woods: A DCI Cieran Black Scottish Crime Thriller by Ramsay Sinclair

Author:Ramsay Sinclair [Sinclair, Ramsay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-07T00:00:00+00:00

19

As the moon rose high above the trees, casting a faint, silvery light over the forest, the group of detectives, along with Fraser and Cara the forest ranger, pressed on throughout the night. Detective Black hung toward the back of the group, and his resolve was unwavering even as the ache in his old injured leg intensified with each and every step.

Cara had with her a torch, which gave off an intense light to guide her steps. The rest of the team had to make do with the far dimmer flashlights that were programmed into their phones.

The next dilapidated building that Cara guided them to appeared to be an old shed of sorts. It had been constructed out of wood and appeared to be a far more recently abandoned building than the last one they had come across.

“This used to belong to the old forest rangers,” Cara explained as they approached. “Before we stopped letting people go off of the trails, the old rangers needed somewhere to keep their things, first aid kits and stuff like that.”

Sure enough, once the detectives began to search, they discovered a few first aid kits in the old shed, which could not have been used since the turn of the century. There was also an old, rusted shovel leant up against one of the walls as well as a large, dark green plastic watering can, but other than that, the abandoned shed seemed pretty empty.

That was until Keogan noticed that there was a loose tile in the ceiling. After Hunter pushed the tile to the side, a bag made from the same deep brown, beeswax-treated fabric fell through the roof and onto the ground.

Detective Black looked through the bag, and in it found various airtight glass jars. One jar was filled to the brim with chestnuts, another contained something the dark-haired detective recognised to be hazelnuts, and a different jar had in it a bunch of dried out, black-blue, round berries.

“These are sloes,” Detective Keogan explained. “They would grow on bushes along the roadsides back home, every September, before…” He trailed off for a moment, sending a wary glance in Detective Black’s direction. Cieran could tell that Keogan was thinking about his mother, the woman who had passed away a few years after the case of his missing year. There was a fond, yet bittersweet, expression etched into his features.

Keogan cleared his throat, then he continued, “When I was a little kid, still living in Canisbay, my mum would ask me to go pick them. When she had some time off from work, she’d turn them into jam.”

“Would you be able to find them in the forest?” Detective Black asked.

“I don’t know, maybe…?” Keogan replied.

Detective Black turned to face Cara. “Do you know?”

Cara tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and said, softly, “Umm, yes, you would. Around the forest edges in autumn.”

They kept going through the bag they had found, finding more jars filled with food, all of which were apparently able to be foraged in Galloway Forest.

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