Only a handful of witnesses claim to have caught a glimpse of the man who shot Alistair Wilson dead on his own doorstep in cold blood.
And little or nothing is known about the elusive killer who managed to evade CCTV cameras, left no forensic evidence and escaped town without trace.
However, one local man is convinced he boarded a bus with the gunman – and even saw him disappear in the direction of Mr Wilson’s house.
Tommy Hogg has been interviewed by police numerous times over the last 10 years, and says he will “never forget” the face of the stranger he saw that night.
The 65-year-old and his wife had been travelling back from a wedding at Perth on November 28, and were dropped off at Inverness bus station.
As they boarded the bus to Nairn, Mr Hogg recalls being disturbed by a “strange” man who sat next to them.
“I said to myself as soon as I got on the bus, that guy is weird,” he said.
“I kept looking at him, and he kept looking away. Every time I caught his eye, he would pull his collar up.
“I remember saying to my wife that I thought he was up to something. She agreed.”
Mr Hogg said the man got off at the bus stop before Mr Wilson’s house, and headed in the direction of Crescent Road.
However, as he turned the corner out of sight, the stranger continued to play on Mr Hogg’s mind.
And after the couple returned home, their unsettling encounter was brought sharply back into focus.
“Later on my wife went to the local chippy to get us some dinner, where she was told that someone had been shot,” said Mr Hogg.
“She came back and said to me – ‘you’re not going to believe this, but there’s been a murder in Nairn’.
“The place was swarming with police.”
By the end of the night, the community was buzzing with rumours that a local man had been executed on his own doorstep – and that the culprit was still at large.
Mr Hogg and his wife realised they might have vital clues to his identity.
“I’ll never forget his face – I can visualise him now,” said Mr Hogg.
“He was incredibly clean shaven, as if he had just stepped out the bath.
“He was so well groomed too – short, short hair, almost too pristine. He had a peaked cap on.
“He reminded me of someone in the armed forces, he was built like a tank. He was big and strong, you could see the muscles in his neck.
“I’ll never forget him – he was so striking.”
The description Mr Hogg gave the police was remarkably similar to the profile issued to the public using information from Mrs Wilson.
But officers could not understand why the man was not captured on CCTV at the bus station at Inverness.
“The police are emphatic he was not seen on camera. It’s the strangest thing,” said Mr Hogg.
“There are blind spots at the bus station. He obviously knew exactly what he was doing.”
Mr Hogg said the suspicion surrounding the case had changed the close-knit community of Nairn forever.
He was one of hundreds of local men who were swabbed and DNA-profiled to eliminate them from the case.
“Nairn was never the same after that,” he said.
“From the rumours to the gossiping to not knowing why Mr Wilson was killed, it all got so mixed up.
“I feel for his wife and kids. What they must go through each day does not bear thinking about.
“It’s something that will never leave them, and it’s something that will never leave this town.”