“I told you, boss. It’s nothing. There’s nothing to worry about.” Tyler closed his eyes and let the flowing air wash over him. “Everything is absolutely fine.”

* * *

Sinead stood on the platform at Fort William train station, watching the 18:23 from Glasgow arriving.

It had started its journey almost four hours ago as four carriages, then split apart at Crianlarich so half the train could head to Oban and the other half could continue to Fort William, then west to Mallaig.

It was a journey that Sinead knew well. The train had always been her preferred means of travelling to and from Glasgow, whether it was for shopping, or gigs, or visiting friends from school. She’d spent more hours than she could recall just watching the world through the train windows, as hills and glens became high-rises and office blocks, or vice versa.

On almost every trip, she’d planned to spend a big chunk of the journey sleeping. Thanks in part to the view out of those windows, she was yet to manage it once.

The train stopped with some hisses and clacks, and Sinead stepped aside as a smattering of passengers disembarked. She recognised most of them as locals, and swapped a few nods and smiles with those she was most familiar with.

There were only a couple of passengers left in the closest carriage, both seated separately, and both swiping frantically at their phones, enjoying the few minutes of network coverage before the train continued on and they lost the signal again.

A man in a Scotrail uniform leaned out of the open doorway, looked in both directions, then spotted Sinead as she walked towards him.

“Hi. Are you… the policewoman?” he asked.

“Detective Constable Sinead… Bell,” she said, hesitating in her introduction just long enough for it to be noticeable, but only if you were paying attention.

The ticket collector was still standing just inside the train, giving him a considerable height advantage over Sinead. He peered down at her, though the expression he wore was hard to read.

“How old even are you?” he asked, then a little widening of his eyes suggested that he’d meant to keep that thought to himself. “Sorry, I just mean… You’re younger than I expected.”

“It’s fine,” Sinead said. “I was told you’d have a few minutes?”

The ticket collector checked his watch. “Not really. We’re running late. Meant to be making up time. We really need to get off.”

“It won’t take long.”

“Aye, but… We’ve got to stick to the timetable.”

Sinead grinned. “That’d be a first,” she said, but the joke was not well received.

“Yeah, well, all the more reason not to hang around here blethering.”

Sinead looked past him into the train, then back through the station to where she’d parked the car out front. “What about if I jump on, we have a chat, and you drop me at Banavie?” she suggested.