White Nights - Ann Cleeves [124]
‘Don’t you have a PC at home?’ Everyone did now. Most Shetlanders shopped online. One time, when you went south, people gave you a list of goodies unobtainable in the islands to bring back. Now people bought their CDs, books, clothes and even household items on the internet.
She turned, startled by his voice, then smiled, reassured, when she recognized him.
‘The hard drive’s crashed,’ she said. ‘I’ve only had the bloody thing for six months. It’s a real nuisance. Martin used it for work. Even Aggie had become a convert – she’s really interested in family history and there’s loads you can do online. I’ve just sent it back to the manufacturer. It was still under warranty and I couldn’t get anyone to come out to fix it.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I’ve a few more questions.’
She stood up and leaned against the desk so she was facing him. Something about his expression seemed to panic her.
‘Is anything wrong, inspector? What’s happened now?’
‘There’s nothing new,’ he said. ‘Just questions.’
‘We’re all so jumpy. I heard you’d found another body down the Pit. It’s horrible, unbelievable. What do I tell Alice? I hoped she’d be protected, growing up here.’
Perez thought of the bullying he’d endured when he moved from the small Fair Isle school to the hostel in Lerwick. Kids were cruel wherever they lived. He didn’t think people were so different because they lived in Shetland. Not the children or the grown-ups.
‘It’s about the television documentary on Roddy Sinclair. You remember it?’
‘I’ll never forget it,’ she said. ‘You won’t believe the excitement it caused, the BBC coming to the school. They were here for three days and in the end the scene only lasted for about five minutes. The kids loved it.’
‘Roddy was never a pupil here, though, was he? He lived in Lerwick when he was in the primary.’
‘Dramatic licence, I suppose. Middleton’s a bit more scenic. And I think he did come here for a few weeks when he was very young. It was when his father was first diagnosed and had to go away to Aberdeen to hospital. His mother went too and Roddy stayed with Bella. He has come in to do some music with the kids since he started recording. They loved him, of course. There was enough of the rascal in him to appeal to them.’
‘How long did the BBC spend filming in Biddista?’
‘Quite a lot longer. More than a week. In the end the documentary was as much about the community as about Roddy himself.’
‘What did the Biddista folk make of that?’
‘Oh, they all pretended to be very cool, but they made sure they were out and about whenever the BBC were filming.’
‘Everyone?’
‘Well, Aggie’s always been a bit shy. She got Martin to stand in for her the day they did the bit in the shop. We persuaded her to pretend to be one of the customers, so the whole community was captured.’
‘Was Willy still living in Biddista then?’
‘He was. He was there on the film. Although it’s not long been shown on the television, they shot it last spring.’
‘So it was before Peter Wilding moved into his house?’
‘Yes, it was. Willy was managing quite well on his own then.’ She looked directly at Perez. ‘What is all this about? You can’t think one of us is a killer.’
He didn’t answer. He stretched and felt the tension in the muscles in his back. I need a bath, he thought. A long hot soak. Real food. Why do I think I enjoy doing this job?
‘I’m really sorry to have troubled you at work again,’ he said.
‘Is that it?’ she demanded. He saw that her nerves were tattered and she was having trouble holding things together. ‘No explanation for all these questions?’
‘Sorry,’ he said again.
He could see she wanted him to leave, but he