Thicker Than Water, Excerpt Two: Sarclet Broch, 2023
‘The road through Sarclet simply comes to an end at this widening here, with the turning area beyond it,’ said Geoffrey. ‘The tarmac parking area on the left means we can be sure we’re not getting in anyone’s way.’
‘I’m a little surprised to see no police presence here,’ said Callum. ‘It can’t be much more than 24 hours since the latest murder took place but there’s no sign of anything out of the ordinary.’
The sky was blue but there was a cold wind coming in from the sea. Callum decided that his gloves and fleece hat might come in handy. Having donned wellington boots they walked over to a stone plinth carrying two information boards.
‘The wooden fingerpost points to the left for the harbour,’ said Geoffrey. ‘If you follow that you take a sharp right this side of the house you can see over there then double back and follow an inclined track descending to the head of the harbour, the haven as it’s usually called.’
‘Would the house have been there in 1943?’ asked Callum.
‘It’s an old building but I suspect it was a ruin long before the war,’ said Geoffrey. ‘It was rebuilt by the estate in 2019 and is used as a holiday let for up to six people. It was occupied over Christmas but the family who were due to arrive on Friday for Hogmanay had to cancel because two of them got Covid. There’s still a lot of it about.’
‘So the house isn’t going to be any help providing witnesses in either 1943 or 2023,’ said Callum. ‘It was worth a thought. Presumably, that’s Sarclet Castle we can see in the other direction, on the skyline?’
‘That’s right,’ said Geoffrey. ‘It looks quite different from this side but you can make out the walled garden on the right with trees beyond it, and the walls and trees protecting the rear of the castle, with the rose garden walls on the other side of the castle itself. There’s a grassy path leading from the back of the castle directly to the corner of the haven. The castle is much closer to the coast than it seems when you’re in the gardens.
‘We’re going to follow the short path ahead, which comes out on grassy cliffs above the haven. We then follow the cliff path above the head and far side of the haven and around to the east towards Sarclet Head. The broch isn’t visible from here or from the castle because of the lie of the land.’
Callum followed Geoffrey to the path that ran around the top of the grassy cliffs that formed the haven.
‘Just along here is where we meet the path coming from the back of the castle,’ said Geoffrey.
Callum followed him past the junction of paths, then around the far side of the haven and beyond it. A short time later Geoffrey stopped walking. ‘From here, you can see Sarclet Broch laid out ahead of us in a slight bowl set into the top of the cliffs.’
Callum stopped next to him. ‘There’s a lot more to it than I’d expected.’
‘Yes, it was developed and redeveloped over a long time and the broch itself was surrounded by a large Iron Age village that was itself surrounded by defensive ditches and ramparts. After the broch went out of use, probably not long after AD 100, parts of the site were redeveloped to provide a farmstead for Pictish occupants and later still a residence during the Viking age.’
‘I assume Violet Bain would have come this way on the day she was murdered,’ said Callum.
‘I’d have thought so,’ said Geoffrey. ‘Her most direct route would have been via the path from the back of the castle to the top of the cliffs above the corner of the haven, and then along the route we’ve taken.’
‘What would she have seen of the broch itself when she reached this point?’ asked Callum.
‘I’ve seen photographs of how it was left after the 1933 dig. From here Violet would have seen a fairly broad grassy mound with a flat open top, where they’d dug down into the interior. Very little if any of the stonework you can see forming the outside face of the broch and the surrounding structures and defences would have been visible. It was all still buried. One further difference, of course, is that she wouldn’t have seen the massed ranks of wind turbines that are out there now.’ He gestured out to sea with his left arm. ‘Do you want to press on?’
They followed the path around the right-hand, inland, side of the curving outer defensive ramparts and ditches to the far end of the site. From there a path flanked by low stone structures led back at an acute angle to their left, directly towards the massive outer wall of the broch itself.
‘This is seriously impressive,’ said Callum.
‘It is,’ said Geoffrey. ‘Remember, though, that none of this was visible to Violet when she came here. She’d have simply found a cut in the side of the mound that led to the entrance passage that we see ahead of us. Mind your head and shoulders and be prepared to bend over. It’s not very dignified.’
Callum found it quite a squeeze.
‘You’re clear of the passage now, Callum.’
Callum stood up and looked around, taking in the interior of the broch. It was crowded with stone walls, formed from piled rocks or large vertical slabs, and a range of other features. ‘Is this what Violet would have seen?’
‘Up to a point. The 2019 excavators did a much more thorough job than their 1933 predecessors and that included their work in the interior. But I suspect that what we’re looking at now isn’t greatly different when seen by a non-expert from what Violet saw in September 1943. The 1933 excavation revealed the full depth of the inside of the walls and exposed the floor. They also exposed the dividing walls, bed platforms and the central hearth. They found the well but only dug out what we now know was the top half of it. Er, Callum, there’s a dark stain on the pentagonal area of red gravel forming the central hearth. Could that be what I think it is?’
Callum walked over to where Geoffrey was standing. ‘If you think it’s blood then you’re probably right.’
‘Would the police have just left it like that?’ asked Geoffrey.
‘At the end of the day, it’s usually down to the property owner to clean up after forensics have finished with a crime scene. Is that the Sarclet Estate in this case?’
‘It is,’ said Geoffrey. ‘Perhaps Police Scotland has been in touch this morning. If it is up to us, then I’ll get someone out as quickly as possible, though I’m not sure what we can do other than sluice it down with water. We’re planning to set up a clay pigeon shoot further along the cliffs tomorrow afternoon and I don’t want any guests wandering in here and realising what that is.’
‘I’m sorry Geoffrey. I suppose you get used to this sort of thing and I’d forgotten how much of a shock it can be. Is that the entrance to the well over there?’
Callum walked over to an irregular opening in the gravel-covered floor of the broch that was shaped a little like a map of Denmark, surrounded by a kerb of squared-off stones and covered by a substantial inset metal grille that matched the shape of the opening.
‘It is,’ said Geoffrey. ‘As you can see, we don’t want anyone getting in there. It’s got very steep stone steps and is full of water, so it’s an accident waiting to happen.’
Callum turned to face Geoffrey. ‘The 1943 police report said Violet’s body had been found by a Home Guard patrol. She was lying, partly clothed, on the grass bank that at that time formed the outside of the broch, on one side of the end of the entrance passage. A woven bag that was identified as hers containing food and a blanket was found within the broch near the end of the passage. From that and the pattern of blood stains, they concluded that she’d first been stabbed just inside the entrance, then dragged out through the passage, then raped and stabbed repeatedly on the grass bank. What an appalling end to such a promising young life.
‘Dragging an injured woman out of the broch was no mean feat. She was 5 feet 4 inches in height and of slight build, according to the police report. It strikes me that a small man might have had difficulty pulling her weight, especially if she was struggling. On the other hand, a large man would have had more strength but would have had to cope with the small size of the broch’s entrance passage. I found it hard enough and I wasn’t dragging a screaming woman I’d just stabbed.’
‘Whoever did it must have been covered in blood after the attack,’ said Geoffrey.
‘Very true,’ said Callum. ‘That would have made his getaway very difficult. Yet the police only found one witness who thought she’d seen anything of interest and they chose not to believe her. They also concluded that the attack had been done with a knife with a double-sided blade, but they were very common at the time and a possible weapon was never found. That’s a shame as it might have given them a set of fingerprints. They got no fingerprints or other useful forensic evidence from Violet’s body and found no traces of blood of a type other than Violet’s in or around the broch. And, as you heard Mark Cooper say, any physical evidence that was gathered was subsequently lost.’
Callum walked over to the inner end of the entrance passage and looked around. ‘We know that nearly two thousand years ago a young woman was stabbed and killed, then hidden in the well over there. Eighty years ago another young woman was stabbed just where I’m standing and then dragged out of the broch and killed. And yesterday a third young woman was killed here. Mark Cooper used the phrase “another young woman stabbed to death”. I’m guessing it happened where that bloodstain is. That’s three similar murders in a space that can't be more than a few metres square, yet widely separated in time. Let’s get out of here, Geoffrey, I’m getting shivers up and down my spine.’
‘I’m glad you said that Callum. This place is doing nothing for my nerves either.’