‘Next on my to-do list. Spent most of the morning going through CCTV footage.’ Chalmers tore the top off a sachet of salt and sprinkled it into her brown paper bag. ‘When I was little, Dad would load us all in the car and down we’d come from Inverness for a long weekend during summer holidays. Play on the beach. Go to Duthie Park. Eat ice cream and rowies.’

‘Maybe they’re not running away at all. Maybe they’re hiding? ’

‘Do they still have that petting zoo out by Hazlehead? ’

‘What if Anthony Chung isn’t just into smoking dope? What if he’s been selling it too? ’

Chalmers stuffed more fries into her mouth. ‘I used to love the llamas. Like mutant sheep on steroids.’

‘Run a PNC on the pair of them when we get back to the station.’

‘Already did it.’ She sooked her fingers clean, then pulled out her notebook and thumbed through the pages. ‘Here we are: Anthony Chung, done for drunk and disorderly behaviour twice, no jail time, just fines. One charge of driving without a valid tax disc. Two warnings for possession of a controlled substance, but they didn’t find enough weed to do him for intent to supply.’

‘Agnes? ’

‘Choirgirl, compared to him. She was given a warning the week before she went missing – local production company filed a complaint about her breaking into their film studio. A Mr Alexander Clark from ClarkRig Training—’

‘Wait: Alexander Clark. Zander Clark? ’

‘His name’s on the complaint. They had to get security to eject her three times, then she broke in.’

‘Why was she breaking into a porn studio? ’

Chapter 16

16

‘Porn? ’ DCI Steel’s mouth twitched at the corners, nostrils flaring, eyes widening. ‘Seriously? ’

‘Got thrown off the set three times. Then she broke in.’ Logan hung his jacket on the back of his chair, then settled in behind his desk. Some sod had dumped a big pile of interview transcripts in his in-tray, as if he didn’t have anything better to do. . .

Steel clapped her hands together. ‘Well, don’t just sit there: get us a pool car and we’ll go a-visiting!’

Logan stared at her. ‘“Being a DI’s no’ about running around”—’

‘Oh, don’t be such a whinge. You said this Andrea’s a suicide risk, right? ’

‘Agnes. Do you ever pay any attention to anything I—’

‘Be derelict in our duty if we didn’t follow up on an important lead that could save a young woman’s life. So get your arse in gear. I’ll come along and . . . supervise.’

‘I don’t need you holding—’

‘No, no,’ she held up a hand, ‘I insist. A good senior officer knows when to step in and lend a hand with the troops.’

‘How very team-spirited of you.’ He didn’t move.

Steel bounced up and down on the spot, like a horny terrier. ‘Porn, porn, porn, porn, porn!’

Like working in a kindergarten.