Death of a Chimney Sweep (Hamish Macbeth Mystery)

In the south of Scotland, residents get their chimneys vacuum-cleaned. But in the isolated villages in the very north of Scotland, the villagers rely on the services of the itinerant sweep, Pete Ray, and his old-fashioned brushes. Pete is always able to find work in the Scottish highlands, until one day when Police Constable Hamish Macbeth notices blood dripping onto the floor of a villager's fireplace, and a dead body stuffed inside the chimney. The entire town of Lochdubh is certain Pete is the culprit, but Hamish doesn't believe that the affable chimney sweep is capable of committing murder. Then Pete's body is found on the Scottish moors, and the mystery deepens. Once again, it's up to Hamish to discover who's responsible for the dirty deed--and this time, the murderer may be closer than he realizes.

In the south of Scotland, residents get their chimneys vacuum-cleaned. But in the isolated villages in the very north of Scotland, the villagers rely on the services of the itinerant sweep, Pete Ray, and his old-fashioned brushes. Pete is always able to find work in the Scottish highlands, until one day when Police Constable Hamish Macbeth notices blood dripping onto the floor of a villager's fireplace, and a dead body stuffed inside the chimney. The entire town of Lochdubh is certain Pete is the culprit, but Hamish doesn't believe that the affable chimney sweep is capable of committing murder. Then Pete's body is found on the Scottish moors, and the mystery deepens. Once again, it's up to Hamish to discover who's responsible for the dirty deed--and this time, the murderer may be closer than he realizes.

Here is a lesson in how not to use an exhaust jack. The exhaust jack
is a strong plastic cylinder-shaped bag that is inflated with the
exhaust. It lifts a car up. A one way valve stops it deflating while
you are changing the tyre, or digging out a bogged car. The jacks
have a big "footprint" and are useful on soft or very uneven ground.

I had not used one before - but I had read the instructions. I
unpacked it, got the spare ready, chocked the tyres as recommended and
loosened the wheel nuts. I put the jack under the rear diff housing
least likely to puncture the bag. I started the engine and put the
jack's hose funnel on the exhaust. Pressure built up. I was not
holding the funnel on the exhaust and when I was checking the bag's
progress the funnel blew off the exhaust pipe. A huge cloud of diesel
soot blasted me in the face and settled all over the ground as if I
had just cleaned out a chimney.

Next problem was that the jack was not inflating vertically. It was
kinked in the side, and moving away from the flat tyre. The Landrover
started to raise and twist a little, shifting the chocks. I tried to
reach the bag's valve to let the Landrover back down. It was squashed
because of the bag's angle and I could not reach it without crawling
under the car - which I was not going to do. The flat tyre was still
not raised high enough to change. I ended getting out the normal jack
which unfortunately was in the centre of the second spare tyre, right
in the middle of the gear in the back of the Landrover. However, once
I had it, in two minutes with no sweat, the car jacked straight up and
I had changed the tyre. The exhaust jack was still a problem. After
failing to untwist the valve by prodding at it with the normal-jack's
handle. I ended up driving forward slightly, which rolled the bag on
its side. Now I could reach the valve and deflate (more diesel soot)
the bag.

Those of you that have been on a photoshoot with me will know that I like to "tidy up" a scene after composing the image. This may take the form of removing rubbish, grass stalks, old sticks and even re-arranging elements in the image, in this case rocks. I was alone in this deserted valley, my car was the only one in the car park so i set up the camera and tripod and was busily moving rocks around when two walkers passed by. They looked at me disdainfully without saying a word, not even replying to my "Good afternoon"! rude pair, or perhaps they thought I'd escaped from somewhere!

Any way, this bit of rough ground is actually the footpath down the centre of Trevellas Coombe, a route which takes you down the valley to the sea at Trevellas Coombe.