‘That explains it,’ Callanach said, making a note. ‘I’m very sorry for your loss and I apologise for asking you to come to the station to speak with us. I know it’s the last thing you’ll have wanted.’

‘Actually, it’s good to talk about him. Because we’d already split up, some of my friends and family have been telling me how lucky I was to get out of the relationship and how much better off I am. None of them seem to understand that I left him because I couldn’t stand the idea that he might kill himself. Now, I spend every day wondering how I could have stopped it. If it was a murder, at least I can be sure there’s nothing I could have done.’

‘Whichever it was, there’s nothing you could have done. You’re not responsible. We all walk a thin line between coping with life and it becoming too much for us. Stephen sounds like a good man. The last thing he’d want is to think he’d left you feeling guilty about his death, however it happened.’

‘You’re right,’ she smiled vaguely. ‘Thank you for saying that.’

‘I’ll find an officer to show you out,’ he said. ‘When there’s an update, we’ll be in touch, whatever our conclusion.’

He walked to the door and opened it just as Ava appeared on the other side.

‘Hey,’ she said. ‘If you’re done, we need to talk.’

‘I am,’ he said. ‘Your office or mine?’

‘Neither,’ Ava said. ‘We’re going out to lunch. I’ll meet you at Pret on Shandwick Place in an hour, okay?’

‘Okay,’ he said, wondering why she looked so pale.

Lack of sleep, he suspected. Ava never had been very good at looking after herself. He asked Tripp to take care of Rosa then made his way back to his office to write up his notes. His laptop showed new emails in his personal account. One was from Lance, the other from his mother. He started with Lance’s.

Luc, a food bank in Inverness has been in touch, reporting a woman who matches Alice Hawksmith’s description as being a regular visitor. She has the Saltire flag tattoo on her left shoulder as shown in the photo you gave me. I’ve forwarded their email, below. Hope this is what you were looking for. Also, I understand Tantallon Castle has been closed to the public and is being treated as a crime scene. Anything you can share with me?

Callanach scrolled down to read the email from the food bank then picked up the phone to Inverness police and gave them the details. They’d have to station an undercover officer in the area until they could talk with Alice Hawksmith. If nothing else, she needed to know what had happened to her mother.