"What would my duties be?" asked Hamish.

"Cleaning up the place, helping to repair the fabric of the building. I would like the inside here painted green for a start. Green is a restful colour."

Hamish's mind worked at great speed. He was due two weeks' leave. He could demand it immediately for family reasons. Sergeant McGregor at Cnothan could take over his beat.

"When would you like me to start?"

Barry beamed. "Tomorrow is as good a time as any. Are you collecting the dole?"

"Yes."

"Oh, well, go on collecting it and I'll pay you seventy pounds a week."

"That's very kind of you," said Hamish, privately thinking it was an encouraging sign of villainy that Barry should be prepared to cheat the government, forgetting that cheating the government out of its dues was considered in the Highlands as a legitimate occupation. "Could you tell me when you started this… what is it, church or order or what?"

"I started a year ago. There's a wee room at the back. Come along and have a dram and I'll tell you about it."

Hamish followed him through a door at the far end of the hall. It was a lean-to kitchen with a table and four hard chairs. Dirty dishes were piled up in the sink. Barry saw Hamish looking around and said, "You can see why I need help. The place is a mess."

"I thought some of your ladies might help."

"Women, brother, women-these days we do not talk about ladies. They're all women and they are apt to get a crush on me."

Poor souls, thought Hamish. He accepted a glass of whisky.

"I notice you did not take up a collection," he said.

"We do that as they come in the door at the beginning. I teach them to have minds above material things and urge them to give generously. Money given to the church is never wasted."

"So how did you get the idea?" asked Hamish, sipping his whisky and noticing it was a very expensive malt.