“You know what Mr Pinnock said? When we came in and told him we were there to give him bad news?” Logan asked. “Mr Pinnock said, ‘Oh dear. That’s a shame.’”

“Bit weird,” Heather remarked.

“That’s what I thought,” Logan agreed. “Thinking back on it, I mean. I reckon that’s where the niggle started. No, ‘Is it my wife?’ No, ‘Oh God, what’s happened?’ Just, ‘Oh dear. That’s a shame.’” His chair creaked as he rocked back in it. “Very strange reaction. Very strange.”

“Please don’t tell me you brought us in here for that,” Mrs Maitland said. “If that’s all you’ve got, we’re leaving, and you can ask my client again tomorrow if he’d be willing to assist you with—”

“You read many women’s magazines, Billy?” Logan asked, cutting the solicitor short.

“Sorry, women’s… magazines?”

“Aye. ‘Heat.’ That’s one. ‘Bella.’ ‘Chat.’ They’ve all got names like that,” Logan said. “The one I’m most interested in is this one.”

He opened a folder and deposited a pristine, near mint condition copy of a glossy tabloid magazine on the table between them.

“For the record, DCI Logan has shown the suspect a copy of ‘Love It!’ magazine,” DCI Filson announced.

“Suspect?” Billy mumbled. “What do…?”

“You ever read this one, Billy?” Logan asked.

Billy considered the magazine over the rim of his glasses, then shook his head. “No. What do you…? No, I’ve never even heard of it.”

“Nor me. But then, we’re no’ the target audience, I suppose,” Logan said. “In fact, I’d say that none of us sitting around this table falls within the target demographic.”

Billy flicked glances at the other DCI and the solicitor. “They’re women,” he said, as if by way of correction.

“Well, aye,” Logan conceded. He turned the magazine so it was facing him, and started to flick through the pages. “But, I don’t think either of them has the time or the inclination to read about blood-sucking grannies, or dead twins communicating from beyond the grave, or…” He stopped at a double-page spread. “…which D-List Celebrities are currently shagging each other, or fighting in the street, or… Hello!” Logan looked up from the magazine. “You know you’re mentioned here, Billy?”

There was a high-pitched squeak from Billy’s chair as he leaned closer. “Me?”

“There’s a photo of you, and everything,” Logan said.

“Must’ve been a slow news week,” Heather remarked.

“You know what it says in the caption, Billy? Under the photo?”