‘He was in the town on Friday night and I think he might still have been there the next morning.’

‘Fingers crossed, eh?’ Janey said.

Clare yawned. ‘Yep. We could really do with a break.’

Chris returned an hour later, having dropped Zac’s jacket off at the lab. ‘Raymond says he’ll phone soon.’ He stiffened as Tony appeared at Clare’s shoulder, a gesture that didn’t escape the DCI’s notice.

‘Easy, Tiger,’ he said to Chris, the hint of a smirk on his face. ‘I come in peace.’

‘Did you want something?’ Clare said, before Chris could respond.

‘Aye.’ Tony pulled a chair across the floor and eased himself down. ‘The Lamond Lodge folk – when can they go home?’

Clare checked her watch. ‘Depending on what SOCO say about a jacket we’ve sent over, it could be later today.’

‘How so?’

Clare explained about Zac Buchanan being in St Andrews on Friday. ‘We know he arrived with the car thief early evening on Friday, but it looks like he didn’t go back with him to Leven that night. And, given he has history with our victim…’

Tony drummed his fingers on the desk. ‘Seems pretty serious stuff for a low-life like Zac. I’d have thought a knife in the guts was more his style.’

Clare nodded. ‘I agree. But he has a motive and, to an extent, the opportunity.’

‘And the means?’ Tony said. ‘I’m not seeing it. Correct me if I’m wrong but ballistics thought it was a high-powered rifle.’

‘They did; and yep. Going on what’s been seized lately it’s probably a Dragunov.’

Chris shot a glance at Tony. ‘It’s a good point. Where would Zac get the money for a gun like that?’

‘Unless he didn’t pay for it,’ Clare said. ‘If he’d been hired to kill Russell Fox, the gun could have been provided.’

Chris frowned. ‘Would you hire the likes of Zac to shoot someone? It was a clean shot, remember.’

‘Don’t gang up on me, guys,’ Clare said. ‘It could easily have been Zac. For all we know he could have been practising somewhere. Middle of nowhere.’

Chris shook his head. ‘I still don’t see it. I mean that Drag…’

‘Dragunov?’

‘Yeah, that gun – it sounds like a pretty expensive bit of kit.’

‘Oh, it is,’ Clare said. ‘But a lot of guns aren’t sold outright. They’re hired.’

Chris stared at her. ‘Seriously?’

‘Think what you’d pay for a weapon like that, Chris? Thousands. But you can hire it for far less. Some guys don’t even want to fire it. They just use it for scare tactics. And,’ she added, ‘it costs less if you hand it back and it’s not been fired.’

‘Listen to Annie Oakley,’ Tony said. ‘She knows her guns.’