‘Gearing, that’s right.’ He snapped his fingers, keen not to seem forgetful. ‘But it was cut and dried, wasn’t it … if you’ll pardon the expression.’

‘I’m not so sure, sir.’ Rebus watched the Farmer pour water into the teapot.

‘Well, let’s take this lot through to the lounge, and you can tell me all about it.’

So Rebus told the story again: the doll in Falls, then the Arthur’s Seat mystery, and the cluster of drownings and disappearances from 1972 to ’95. He’d brought the cuttings with him, and the Farmer studied them intently.

‘I didn’t even know about the doll on Nairn beach,’ he admitted. ‘I was back in Inverness by then. As far as I was concerned, the Gearing death was as closed as it was ever likely to get.’

‘Nobody made the connection at the time. Paula’s body had been washed ashore four miles out of town. If anyone thought anything of it, they probably took it as some kind of memorial to her.’ He paused. ‘Gill’s not convinced there’s a connection.’

The Farmer nodded. ‘She’s thinking of how it would play in a court of law. Everything you’ve got here is circumstantial.’

‘I know.’

‘All the same …’ The Farmer leaned back. ‘It’s quite a set of circumstances.’

Rebus’s shoulders relaxed. The Farmer seemed to notice, and smiled. ‘Bad timing, isn’t it, John? I manage to go into retirement just before you convince me that you may have stumbled upon something.’

‘Maybe you could have a word with Gill, convince her likewise.’

The Farmer shook his head. ‘I don’t think she’d listen. She’s in charge now … she knows fine well my usefulness is over.’

‘That’s a bit harsh.’

The Farmer looked at him. ‘But you know it’s true all the same. She’s the one you have to convince, not an old man sitting in his slippers.’

‘You’re barely ten years older than me.’

‘As I hope you’ll live to find, John, your sixties are very different from your fifties. Maybe that medical wouldn’t be such a bad idea, eh?’

‘Even if I already know what he’ll say?’ Rebus lifted his cup and finished the tea.

The Farmer had picked up the Nairn clipping again. ‘What do you want me to do?’

‘You said the case was cut and dried. Maybe you could think about that, see if anything at the time jarred – anything at all, no matter how small or seemingly incidental.’ He paused. ‘I was also going to ask if you knew what had happened to the doll.’

‘But now you know the doll’s come as news to me.’

Rebus nodded.

‘You want all five dolls, don’t you?’ the Farmer asked.

Rebus admitted as much. ‘It might be the only way to prove they’re connected.’