“I had to strike a balance.” He took out his phone and dialed photos. “Want to see your competition? This is Burton Adams. But so far, I’ve only been meeting him at the dark of night outside his apartment or in the men’s rooms of restaurants.” He showed her the photo of a slim, thirtyish man with a receding hairline. He was wearing an elegant white jacket over a navy silk shirt. “Bohdan and Chiswick are stashed in safe houses in a small town in Wales and they move almost every day. Adams has his own apartment nearby, but he doesn’t hang out with them.” He shrugged. “He’s a bit on the nervous side, but he took Palik’s money, and I don’t think he likes Bohdan or Chiswick. We’ll have to see if it works out for us. He’s very slick, but he can sometimes come off as sincere and enthusiastic. He’s got a meeting with Bohdan tomorrow and we’ve got to hope he can convince him. I’m going to make him wear a wire so that I can hear if he’s going to be okay. I had him spin his story for me once before and he was very believable.”

“If he’s not, he may end up dead.” She shivered. “And I chose him.” She gave Rodland back the phone. “And what story did you give Adams to spin for Bohdan? Did you get any hints from tracing MacClaren?”

“Actually, I did. MacClaren had a life completely different from the one he lived when he was with Fiona. He rented a two-room shack near the main railway station at the border. He got to know all the engineers and people who ran the trains. He spent most of the evenings he wasn’t with Fiona in a bar sketching them. He loved the life. He liked the people. That’s where he got to know Kevin Saldaron.

“And that’s where Saldaron hired him to paint his murals for the train car. MacClaren thought he was going to be working up in the foothills, but Saldaron sent him up to a branch of the main line located in the Highlands. It had been paid for by a rich stockholder in the company, a procedure that wasn’t that unusual. Money was everything in getting a new railway started. Saldaron transferred the railcar up to the Highland rail yard so the measurements would be correct. He said it was quiet up there and MacClaren would be able to concentrate. That was fine with MacClaren. All he knew was that he’d be close to Fiona and be able to work. Life was good.”

“But the branch was bought and paid for by Graeme,” Jane guessed. “And he had a reason that he wanted that diversion off the main track.”