Then he’d hung up.
No mention of Mungo. No way surely of tying his brother to the body in the loch. No way of connecting Col to the phone call.
Klaus would be found. He would be lifted from the dark waters he was so afraid of. He would be sent home to his mother and his sisters. Buried in his homeland.
It was the best he could do for Klaus, and it was the most difficult decision he ever had to take.
He shook himself back from the memory. ‘You won’t be connected to it, Mungo.’ He assured him. ‘But I just couldn’t leave him down there.’
Suddenly, Mungo lifted him by the shoulders. ‘Him? You talk as if you know him personally.’
Mungo’s eyes were exactly the same colour as Col’s, but there was an ice in them that Col hoped he didn’t have. How could he possibly tell him? It was too unbelievable.
‘I know how scared I was in that water, Mungo. I just wanted out. How could I let anybody else rot in there for ever? I couldn’t do it. Not even for you.’
And that, at least, was true. He could never have let Klaus stay down there, lost, alone, unknown, for eternity.
‘You leave Col be!’ Mam bounded back into the room. Col had never heard her so angry. Never heard her so angry at Mungo.
Mungo sprang back, released Col. It had taken him aback too. ‘You don’t know what he’s done, Mam.’
Suddenly, she sprang at Mungo. ‘I know he’s your brother.’
Mungo’s eyes flashed with anger. ‘He’s no brother of mine!’
Mam screamed. ‘He’s a better brother than you deserve. I’ve let you off with too much, Mungo. Just like I let your daddy off. But not any more. I want Col to have a better life. He could have a better life. And I won’t let you ruin it for him.’
She was yelling at the top of her voice so frantically and with such anger that Col started shaking again. But Mungo was angry too. Suddenly, he lifted his hand and—
‘That’s right! Hit me! Just try it!’
Mungo stepped back. Afraid of his own fury. Afraid, too, of his own mother’s anger.
Mam wrapped the warm blanket around Col’s shoulders. ‘Come on, son,’ she said softly. She didn’t look at Mungo. ‘You should never have done what you did to that nice family, Mungo.’ She led Col upstairs, and didn’t answer, didn’t listen as Mungo tried to protest, tried to put all the blame on Col.
She thinks it has something to do with the burglary, Col thought. His mother could never imagine that her son, bad as he was, could ever do anything as evil as murder.
But it would be all right now. Col was sure of it.
It had to be.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Over the next few days the papers were full of the story. The body dragged from the loch. The mysterious, anonymous phone call that led the police to the grim discovery. There were pleas for the caller to come forward, but no mention, no connection to Col, or Mungo, or the McCanns. Col heard it all through a haze, wrapped safely in a cocoon of fever brought on by his night in the storm.
The police didn’t come to the house when they found the body, and Col rested easier after that. No one came for Mungo, and with Klaus identified, he would soon be at rest in his own land. Mungo was safe.
The police still didn’t come.
Col was off school all that week. He and Mungo were barely speaking.
Almost the whole week had passed before the police came.
Four of them. Two in uniform. Two in plain clothes.
Col sat in the kitchen while they questioned his brother in the living room. His heart was thumping wildly inside him.
‘What’s this got to do wi’ me?’ he heard Mungo snarl. ‘You’ve got nothing on me!’
The policeman’s voice was calm. ‘We’d like you to accompany us to the police station, Mr McCann.’
Suddenly, Mungo’s voice was shrill and loud. ‘Mam! Phone my lawyer!’
Mam was in the kitchen with Col, apparently intent on shredding cabbage. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then wiping her hands on her apron she hurried into the living room. ‘I will, son.’
Col got up too, and stood at the kitchen door and watched as Mungo was led from the house. He wanted to run to him, to let him know how much he still loved him, but he was too afraid to move. Mungo turned as he passed him, his eyes ablaze with anger. ‘Satisfied noo, wee man?’ And before Col could say a word Mungo spat in his face. Col reeled back, shocked.
‘I don’t know why you’re mad at your brother, Mr McCann,’ one of the uniformed policemen said. ‘It’s your mates you should be angry with.’
Now Mungo turned on him. ‘What?’
The policeman couldn’t help but look smug. ‘Seems your mates don’t have any loyalty at all. First chance they got they spilled their guts out, making sure you got most of the blame. They’re not going to carry the can for this one.’