Yeah, he was going to end up with a broken nose, like her old boss in Edinburgh.
24
‘Here we go, son. You want any sauces or mustard wi’ that?’ The woman in the black shirt and red waistcoat — both of which were too small for her — clinked the plate down on the table in front of me. Then brushed the grey hair from her eyes and leaned in, dropping her voice to a whisper. ‘And I’ve got the chef to do a cheeky sausage for yer dug, too.’ Wink.
‘Thanks. This’ll be great.’
She squatted down to pet Henry. ‘Who’s a lovely wee boy, then? Oh, you’re just pure gorgeous, so you are.’
Our table was next to the window, with a view out over the castle’s remains, moat glinting in the golden light as the sun sank lower in the sky. More seagulls strutting about on the pavement, looking for an unsuspecting tourist to mug.
One more ruffle, then the waitress straightened up, beaming down at the lad. ‘Oh, he’s smashing.’
I dipped into my pocket and came out with the printout — Peter Smith and the unknown woman, standing together on the putting course. Passed it across. ‘Don’t suppose you recognise either of them, do you?’
‘Hold on...’ She produced a pair of reading glasses and perched them on the end of her nose, peering at the photograph. ‘Shell suits? Before my time, son, I’ve only been here thirty years. I can ask the chef, though? She’s been here since the dawn of time.’
‘That would be great.’
She plucked Henry’s sausage from the plate and tossed it to him. Smiling like a proud granny as the wee lad snatched it out of the air. ‘Clever boy!’
Then she was off, taking the printout with her, while I dipped a chip in my tiny dish of mayonnaise and Henry scarfed his cheeky sausage.
Sitting on the tabletop, my phone dinged and buzzed.
RHONA:
Chased up E Division — they’ve done
posters.
Beat cops & cars keeping an eye out.
Maybe they’ll get lucky & find Leah?
Doubt it though.
So did I.
Bit awkward: poking out a reply one-handed, but it left the other one free to scoop up my burger with chargrilled halloumi and mushrooms. Chewing while I texted.
Thanks Rhona. How’s Shifty holding up?
SEND.
Good burger. Have to make sure and tell Franklin all about it. She’d like that...
Having a late lunch with Henry: very nice
food.
Have you punched Sergeant Campbell in
the face yet? Twat that he is.
SEND.
I’d barely managed another bite before the phone ding-buzzed again.
DS FRANKLIN:
WHAT AN UTTER WASTE OF TIME!
They’ve brought every missing person file
out from storage going back to Noah’s Ark.
It’ll take DAYS to go through this lot!
Buzz-ding.
DS FRANKLIN:
And I’m starving. They haven’t even
offered me a cup of tea, and we’ve been
here for ages!
Turned my back for 2 minutes and
Campbell had my other cake slice!
Yeah, he’d looked the type. Still, I’m sure I could make her feel better:
If it’s any consolation, Henry’s eaten that
sausage I was going to buy you. He says
it was delicious.
SEND.
Sometimes, it was the simple things in life that gave you pleasure.
I was halfway through my burger before the next text came in.
RHONA:
Chief Super’s in giving Shifty a pep talk
now.
Can hear it through the wall.
Lots of shouting & swearing.
Apparently we’re an incompetent bunch of
arseholes.
Kid’s mother was all over the lunchtime
news saying the same thing.
Which is great when we’re the ones
slogging our guts out trying to find her kid
before some sicko strangles him.
Chief Superintendent Angus McEwan, the gift that kept on giving.
As if the team didn’t know how important it was to find Toby Macmillan. As if they didn’t know the first twenty-four hours were the most important. As if they didn’t know Toby was probably already dead. Because, let’s face it, Gòrach wasn’t really about the delayed gratification, was he? Well, except when it came to strangling his victims. That he liked to take his time over.
Crunched my way through a couple of chips.
Unless that was part of his evolving MO, of course. Andrew Brennan is a victim of opportunity: no planning involved, dumped where he was killed. Oscar Harris: abducted, killed and the body hidden. Lewis Talbot: abducted, taken deep into the woods, killed over a long time, then hidden so well we didn’t find his body for nearly two months.
Maybe Gòrach had got himself a hideaway: somewhere he could keep a small boy for a few days? God knew there were enough abandoned buildings and shacks in the thick swathe of forest that ran from Camburn Woods to the Murders. Moncuir Wood alone was big enough to lose a small town in.
Might be worth chasing up.
Shifty,
Got an idea for you: get a thermal-imaging
camera and a helicopter. Do a sweep of
the woods. See if you can pick up Toby
Macmillan’s heat signature.
SEND.
Another bite of burger. Chewing as I stared out the window at the castle.
Wonder what Alice was up to...
Look at me: sitting here; shoving fried food into my face, one-handed; crouched over my phone like a braindead teenager. Supposed to be a grown man.
Rhona tells me you’ve been puking your
ring all day. Perhaps it’s time to lay off the
booze for a while, before we have to have
an intervention?
Henry says “Hi.”
SEND.
You know, an intervention might not be such a bad idea. Maybe it’d help Alice live to see her thirty-third birthday.
‘So this is where you’ve been hiding.’
Wonderful.
And Mother thought the universe hated her.
I looked up and there was Jennifer Prentice, hauling out the chair opposite and sinking into it.
Big glass of red wine in one hand. A tight smile that barely dented her frozen face. ‘Wasn’t hard to find you, in case you’re wondering. Your pretty little detective sergeant girl said you’d both skipped lunch, so I looked for the nearest restaurant to the police station, open on a Sunday afternoon, that lets dogs in. And there you were, sitting in the window.’
I went back to my burger. ‘Sod off, Jennifer.’
‘She’s quite something, isn’t she? DS Franklin? Bet she’d be great in a threesome. That lovely dark skin of hers, all naked and glistening. It’d look very sexy next to mine, wouldn’t it? Our limbs intertwined, lips and tongues exploring each other. You’d like that.’
And with that delightful image, the burger curdled in my mouth.
I dumped the rest of it back on the plate. ‘Whatever you want, might as well bugger off right now, because you’re not getting it.’
Ding-buzz.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
I’m sorry
Odd...