The Satchel Read online

  G R Jordan

  The Satchel

  A Highlands and Islands Detective Thriller

  First published by Carpetless Publishing 2021

  Copyright © 2021 by G R Jordan

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  G R Jordan asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  G R Jordan has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

  Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within the book have endorsed the book.

  First edition

  ISBN: 978-1-914073-11-3

  This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy

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  Contents

  Foreword

  Acknowledgement

  Novels by G R Jordan

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Read on to discover the Patrick Smythe series!

  About the Author

  Also by G R Jordan

  Foreword

  This story is set in the area of Inverness. Although incorporating known cities, towns and villages, note that all events, persons and specific places are fictional and not to be confused with actual buildings and structures which have been used as an inspirational canvas to tell a completely fictional story.

  Acknowledgement

  To Susan, Jean and Rosemary for your work in bringing this novel to completion, your time and effort is deeply appreciated.

  Novels by G R Jordan

  The Highlands and Islands Detective series (Crime)

  Water’s Edge

  The Bothy

  The Horror Weekend

  The Small Ferry

  Dead at Third Man

  The Pirate Club

  A Personal Agenda

  A Just Punishment

  The Numerous Deaths of Santa Claus

  Our Gated Community

  The Satchel

  Culhwch Alpha

  The Contessa Munroe Mysteries (Cozy Mystery)

  Corpse Reviver

  Frostbite

  The Patrick Smythe Series (Crime)

  The Disappearance of Russell Hadleigh

  The Graves of Calgary Bay

  The Fairy Pools Gathering

  Austerley & Kirkgordon Series (Fantasy)

  Crescendo!

  The Darkness at Dillingham

  Dagon’s Revenge

  Ship of Doom

  Supernatural and Elder Threat Assessment Agency (SETAA) Series (Fantasy)

  Scarlett O’Meara: Beastmaster

  Island Adventures Series (Cosy Fantasy Adventure)

  Surface Tensions

  Dark Wen Series (Horror Fantasy)

  The Blasphemous Welcome

  The Demon’s Chalice

  Chapter 1

  Detective Inspector Seoras Macleod gazed along the rippling water, a certain uneasiness in his stomach. It hadn’t been his choice on a cold March morning to come to the park in the middle of Inverness. Even less was it his choice to take a boat and row it around the small course with an island in the middle. The woman opposite him was responsible, and he was doing his best not to look her in the eye because he knew she’d be disappointed.

  ‘Am I going to have to get those oars? Come on, Seoras, make an effort. This is no way to treat a lady.’

  The lady in question was Jane, Macleod’s partner. They’d been together for over a year now, and normally there was no one in the world he was closer to. Yet, at the moment, he felt as distant from her as he was from the moon. Things had just been rough lately, so much bleakness, so much evil in the world. He’d seen it up close in his job. He’d seen colleagues hurt and injured. Even Alan Ross was battered, still unable to come and be part of the team; such was his mental trauma at the incident on the Monach Isles.

  ‘Well, that’s it, Seoras. I’m bloody rowing. Shift your arse to the back of the boat and let me take over.’

  The day itself was dreich, overcast with a few spits of rain, and Macleod was surprised that the boats had even opened up, but he guessed after the winter they’d had, they probably needed to make whatever money they could when they could. No doubt after they finished boating, Jane would insist they get drinks from the cafe. When he said cafe, it was more just a small shop, and Macleod knew the coffee would be that instant, thick black sludge that he so detested. He needed to lift himself, he knew that. He needed to see better things. After all, he was fortunate. He did have this woman at the end of the boat, who for some reason seemed to want to stick around in his life.

  As they manoeuvred themselves around each other and Jane sat down to take the oars, Macleod thought about the other woman in his life. Hope would be at the station today, and he realised just how much he’d come to lean on her over the last couple of years. After starting out in Glasgow, he had moved to Inverness and she had followed. The team he had around him now, he considered being as good as any. Along with Ross and DC Stewart, they got to the bottom of some of the darkest cases he’d been involved in. As much as he had a pride in everything they did, he was also aware of the toll it was taking on them all. But they were young—they could recover easily. The scars seemed to sit longer on him.

  ‘Twice around we’re going, no less, Mr Macleod. You hear me? You better get a big smile on your face.’

  ‘It’s blooming cold, Jane, cold as anything. How does someone from Cornwall manage in this sort of weather? It’s all sunshine down there.’

  Jane smiled. ‘Don’t you believe it,’ she said. ‘Anyway, I’m working now.’ With that, she unzipped her fleece, took it off, and put it behind her in the boat. ‘If you just sit and ogle at me, you’ll be back in these oars, mister. Get your head somewhere else and get a smile on that face.’

  Macleod stared around him at what was a busy scene for the time of year. The children’s play park off to the side looked like a nest of ants with tiny kids everywhere, winging their way down slides, hauling themselves up climbing frames, and bouncing on trampolines set in the ground. It made Macleod smile after all. This is what life was meant to be like, joy, freedom. If only he could get that into his head. He saw a number of young mothers gossiping on a bench while their kids played in front of them, dads running back and forward to get sweets and crisps from the shop, and in the distance, he heard a small steam train.

  Jane had insisted on going on that train the first time they’d come here. She was new to the area, and he told her they’d look daft, two oldies on a train fit for a four-year-old. It was miniature gage, and the man had laughed seeing the two of them, especially when Jane insisted he put his arm around her and described him as the last of the Romeos. One thing Macleod had never been described as was a hot Italian lover. His team would have collapsed in laughter at such a reference.

  Here he was, watching his woman row him around what was a reasonably picturesque lake with two small islands in the middle. His eyes swept up and down, looking at the trees with their leaves, the evergreens that stayed through winter. Was that him? Was he an evergreen? He’d seen plenty of people in the forest, derailed when the horror got too much, and family life had been ripped apart. But in some ways, it had been his crutch, the thing he could do. When he was on a case, nothing else mattered. The mind focused. He became sharp. He certainly had a talent for it. That was true.

  His sergeant, Hope McGrath, was quite different, more the plodder. She chased down leads, she gently pulled the evidence to the surface until it was set in front of your face, and you couldn’t miss what was happening. Macleod had instinct on his side, saw what was happening before everything was in place, and just sometimes, that meant he was ahead of the game and actually prevented a killing.

  Maybe that was the thing, always being at the back end, not able to stop the horror, but simply bring to justice those who committed it. Well, he should stop mulling about that now. He was out with Jane, and in truth, she was looking splendid.

  He ran his eyes across the woman in front of him, watching the brunette hair blow lightl
y in the wind. The top was starting to become wet with little patches of rain. It couldn’t be described as a drizzle yet, but there was certainly rain in the air, her blue T-shirt becoming flecked. He saw her eyes clock him watching her, and then he saw the smile.

  ‘Well, at least, something’s got your interest here,’ Jane said. ‘You all right?’

  Macleod nodded. All right was such a relative term, and at the moment, yes, he was all right, not good, and in many ways pretty poor, but at this moment, he was all right. He couldn’t take her stare for too long and instead glanced off at the island that she was rowing past. A line of thick trees ran from one side to the other, and he could just about see underneath where the leaves stopped, maybe three feet from the ground. Kids would run in and play in there because there were bridges along from each island, but at the moment, no one seemed to be heading that way. Maybe it’s better in the summer to take a picnic and lie there when it was cooler. In March, the kids seemed to prefer the play park and keeping active.

  Something is hanging just underneath that tree. Macleod stared, trying to focus his eyes on what it was. It looked like a bag, but it was older, not the modern-day rucksack, something else. What was it doing hung over there? He should go and retrieve it, return it to the lost property, at least hand it in to those who ran the boats. That would make sense.

  ‘Jane,’ he said, ‘sorry, but can we go over to that island? Somebody’s left something on it. I just want to take it back, leave it into the lost property.’

  ‘Now? Right now? We could go around these islands for a bit, then go back and get it.’

  ‘Yes, but I will probably have lost sight of it by then. It will take us another twenty minutes to find it. No, go over to the island. I’ll get out and grab it. We can leave it in the back of the boat, hand it in when we’re done.’

  ‘Ever the policeman. I know what I’m shacked up with.’

  He watched her grin before she manoeuvred with one oar and brought the small rowing boat alongside the island. Macleod reached, grabbed hold of the grass, and jumped out. Looking up, he could see that it definitely was a bag now, underneath the tree. It had buckles on it, two to be precise. Striding forward, he was with it in a matter of seconds and reached up to pull it down from the tree. It felt heavy, and he wondered what was inside.

  ‘Would you get back in the boat?’ said Jane. ‘Come on, stop investigating it. It’s just a bag somebody’s left behind.’

  Macleod, taking the bag in both hands, walked back to the boat, placed it at the far end and then resumed to his seat. He pushed the boat off from the edge of the island, and Jane let it drift until they were well clear and allowed the oars down to take the strain.

  Macleod looked around him again and realised that instead of the odd blob of water from the sky, a drizzle was setting in.

  ‘Jane, do you want your fleece back on,’ he asked.

  ‘No, I’m working hard,’ she said. ‘It’s nice and cool in this top, but if it gets heavy, we can run back onto that island and hide in the trees. You can keep me warm then.’ Again, there was that cheeky grin. She was a perfect foil to him, always there for a laugh, always there grinning. She had sustained him in these recent times, and thank God. He really meant that. He did thank God. Although recently, the two of them, Macleod and the man upstairs, were having difficulties. When he was growing up, God was always a very definite figure. Now, Macleod had a lot more questions, and sometimes, God didn’t seem to answer.

  Macleod saw a couple of boats ahead and indicated to Jane she should slow down. They had to sit there briefly for a few seconds, waiting for others to pass. Macleod glanced back at the satchel behind him. That was it, a satchel, like an old school one they’d have taken back in the day. It was very heavy though, he thought, too heavy. It couldn’t have been a lunch. Well, if it were, it was a heck of a lunch, and we’d have to look for somebody rather large or a family of six. Something inside him was curious as to what was in it.

  ‘If I’m halted now, why don’t you have a look? I know you want to see what’s in that bag, Seoras. Mr Detective all the time. Just open it up and have a look.’

  ‘I shouldn’t really,’ said Macleod. ‘Somebody else’s stuff. Just hand it in and see if somebody comes for it.’

  ‘Open it up. You’re a detective. It’ll tell you whose it is. I trust you’re able to do that. You got the brainpower for that.’

  Macleod turned around and grabbed the satchel, pulling it towards him. As he did, he noted that the bottom of it seemed to be of a much darker colour. His hand touched it briefly, and then he looked at it. Each finger was now covered in a pale red.

  ‘Jane, row to the side.’

  ‘What. Why? Just open it up here.’

  ‘Don’t. Row to the side like I’ve asked.’

  ‘Seoras, stop being daft. Just open it. I am not going over there to come back out again just because you’re wondering what’s inside.’ Placing the bag beside him, Macleod undid one buckle and cautiously lifted up the bag’s cover. Inside, he could see something that looked pale, maybe white skin.

  ‘Jane, to the side now, please. I’m not kidding around.’ He saw her face become concerned, but she knew what he was like. The detective had taken over.

  Without hesitation, she rowed to the side, and Macleod stepped off onto the island again and walked inside the tree cover with the satchel.

  ‘Just stay in the boat,’ he said. Under the cover of the trees, Macleod undid the second buckle, pulling back the cover fully. He gave a little shudder as he saw the contents. It was only the years of having seen gruesome sights that allowed him to steel himself, and he was glad now he brought the bag away from Jane.

  ‘Jane, I need you to go and tell the man with the boats that DI Macleod says he needs to get everyone back in and to close this pond. We’re probably going to have to clear the entire area.’

  ‘Why? What’s up, Seoras?’

  ‘Can’t say out loud. Just do it for me, please. I’m just going to get on the phone to Hope.’

  Looking over, Macleod saw the worry in Jane’s eyes, but he tried to give a reassuring smile before he looked back down into the bag. With his spare hand, he picked out his mobile and pressed the picture of his red-headed colleague.

  ‘This is DS McGrath.’

  ‘Hope, it’s me. I’m in the park in Inverness, the one with the rowing boats. You need to bring the team, Jona as well.’ Jona was the forensic investigator.

  ‘Seoras, you’re on your day off. What do you mean I need to bring the team?’

  ‘I’m calling something in,’ said Macleod. ‘I may need some uniform to keep the park clear.’

  ‘Why? What’s the matter?’

  ‘Well, I’ve just found an old satchel. I’m on the islands in the middle of the pond. I thought nothing of it, was going to return it to lost property, but I had a peek inside. There’s a number of hands looking back at me.’

  ‘Hands?’

  ‘Yes, Hope, hands, all severed at the wrist. I can count at least six. I think there’s more. I don’t want to go into it any further until Jona’s here.’

  ‘On my way, sir.’

  Macleod knelt under the trees and closed the bag back over, leaving it on the ground. He looked down to the far end of the pond. There was nobody on the islands, thank goodness, but he needed to stay here in case anyone tried to get on. He saw Jane rowing as quick as she could towards the hut where the man who looked after the boats had been sitting, reading his paper. ‘This will be a new one for him,’ thought Macleod. ‘I only wish it was a new one for me.’

  Chapter 2

  ‘Seoras, I take it this is what you call recreation.’

  Macleod looked up and saw the black leather jacket of his colleague. Her red hair was tied up in its usual ponytail, and the white skin contrasting with the black jacket always meant Hope could turn heads. But Macleod was glad she was here for a different reason. She was his ferret, the one he set loose to go and find things out. He was the brains of the outfit, but the woman was relentless. With her two juniors, Ross and Stewart, she could help him get to the bottom of most things.