‘I received a call on a Friday night that Kenny Cameron was in custody and about to be charged with the murder of his wife. Mr Cameron had no previous convictions, which was surprising because he’d hooked up with Senga Boyle. The Boyles are one of the top three criminal families of Edinburgh. There isn’t an illegal racket they don’t have their fingers in.’

‘Did you decide right away to run the battered husband defence?’

‘I didn’t know very much about it at that stage. I’d seen an expert on the syndrome talk on TV, and read a few articles that cropped up, but that was the extent of my knowledge.’

‘What was your first impression of him?’ she asked.

‘When I looked at that weak, downtrodden little man and at the pictures of what he had done to his wife, I knew that, given the right circumstances…anyone could kill.’

Patsy’s eyes lit up. ‘I like that,’ she said, ‘I can use that, definitely! Thanks,’ she smiled. ‘See–you’re practically writing this for me already. Are there other cases you’ve taken on that have been causes célèbres? Anything that has taken on a life of its own, perhaps?’

Christ, where would I start? Actually, I wouldn’t. I didn’t want this to be about my personal life, and so many of my recent cases had linked exactly that. I needed to make sure that Patsy would keep on the path I chose for her. ‘I’ll get my secretary to look out some material for you, some case summaries.’ I was already wondering what Lois was capable of–Lav would have done what I wanted in about five minutes and she would have protected me at the same time. ‘Lois will get in touch with you and I’ll clear it with past clients that they’re fine about any identification.’

‘Will that be a problem?’ Patsy asked.

‘I doubt it–although they’ll probably want some cash for it. I don’t necessarily deal with the salubrious legal clientele your TV character might be involved with,’ I smiled. ‘Now–shall we get another drink?’

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Did it ever stop raining in this city? As she walked along the cobbles, she felt different; not much, but there was a difference. She had hoped that it would get better. As it moved towards the end, she had thought there would be a feeling of either peace or success. She had done this, she had won–and, even if she was not there yet, she was almost at the end-point. That feeling hadn’t kicked in yet. Would it? It had to; she had to believe it would–otherwise what would all of this have been for?