The car park, as usual, had been a bloody nightmare. Had Ben been here, everyone within earshot would’ve been subjected to his rant about city centre shop and office workers using the car park “like a bloody park and ride!” and thereby reducing the number of spaces available to actual visitors to the hospital.

Logan had heard it so often now he could practically recite it word for word. And, as he watched the five-fifteen bus pull in at the stop and a dozen men and women in business clobber come swarming out, he had to concede that the DI had a point.

His tea had almost fallen to a temperature where it wouldn’t melt his lips off when his phone buzzed on the table. Ben’s name appeared, and for a moment Logan wondered if the old bugger had somehow read his thoughts, and was calling to complain about the parking situation all over again.

“Benjamin,” he said, tapping the screen and bringing the mobile to his ear. “What’s up?”

“Where are you?” Ben asked. “You on the way back down the road yet?”

“Not yet, no. Still waiting to go in and get the PM results. Why, what’s up?”

“Hamza’s been…” Ben began, then he switched tracks. “So, you’re still at the hospital?”

“Aye,” said Logan, sensing what was coming next.

“You get parked alright?”

“Fine,” Logan lied. “Straight in.”

“Well, that’s a bloody first!” Ben retorted, then he forced himself to get back on topic. “Anyway, Hamza was out talking to a…” There was the sound of a page being turned. “…Pete Hill.”

A single line on Logan’s forehead became a little more defined. “Hamza was talking to a peat hill?”

“No’ a peat hill. I don’t mean a hill of bloody peat. Why would he be…? Pete Hill. That’s his name. The taxi driver who picked up the victims from the station.”

“Oh, right. Aye,” Logan said. “Thought you’d finally lost your marbles there. And? What happened?”

Ben drew in a breath. “You were right, Jack. There were five of them came off the train,” the DI said. “Two adults, two kids…”

“And a baby,” Logan concluded. “Jesus.”

“Looks like we’re no’ just dealing with a homicide now,” Ben said. “We can throw in kidnapping, too.”

“God. Right, we need to—”

“We’re on it, Jack,” Ben assured him. “We’re on it right now. You just get done up there, then get down the road, and we’ll hopefully have more for you by then.”

Logan groaned. This complicated things. Which was actually quite impressive, considering what they’d already been dealing with

“Right. I’ll be as quick as I can,” Logan said, then he hung up, took a swig of his tea. The, “Fuck!” he ejected when it all but blistered his tongue earned him dirty looks from one end of the coffee shop to the other.

* * *