She froze, the screen seeming to shimmer. He was here! Right outside! She walked quickly to the window. Down below, a car was parked, headlights still on.

Grant Hood’s Alfa.

He waved up at her. Cursing, she ran to the front door, down the stairs and out of the tenement.

‘Is that your idea of a joke?’ she hissed.

Hood, easing himself from the driver’s seat, seemed stunned by her reaction.

‘I just had Quizmaster online,’ she explained. ‘I thought you were him.’ She paused, narrowed her eyes. ‘Just exactly how did you do that?’

Hood held up his mobile phone. ‘It’s a WAP,’ he explained sheepishly. ‘Just got it today. Sends e-mails, the lot.’

She snatched it from him and studied it. ‘Jesus, Grant.’

‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I just wanted to …’

She handed back the phone, knowing damned well what he’d wanted: to show off his latest gadget.

‘What are you doing here anyway?’ she asked.

‘I think I’ve cracked it.’

She stared at him. ‘Again?’ He shrugged. ‘How come you always wait till late at night?’

‘Maybe that’s when I do my best thinking.’ He glanced up at the tenement. ‘So are you going to invite me in, or do we go on giving the neighbours a free show?’

She looked around. It was true that heads were silhouetted at a couple of windows. ‘Come on then,’ she said.

Upstairs, the first thing she did was check the laptop, but Quizmaster hadn’t replied.

‘I think you scared him off,’ Hood said, reading the onscreen dialogue.

Siobhan fell on to the sofa and picked up her glass. ‘So what have you got for us tonight, Einstein?’

‘Ah, that famous Edinburgh hospitality,’ Hood said, eyeing the glass.

‘You’re driving.’

‘One glass can’t hurt.’

Siobhan got up again, uttering a slight groan of protest, and headed for the kitchen. Hood reached into the bag he’d brought with him and started pulling out maps and guidebooks.

‘What have you got there?’ Siobhan asked, handing him a tumbler and starting to pour. She sat down, drained her own glass, refilled it, and placed what was left of the bottle on the floor.

‘You’re sure I’m not disturbing you?’ He was teasing her – or trying to. But she wasn’t in the mood.

‘Just tell me what you’ve got.’

‘Well … if you’re absolutely sure I’m not …’ Her glare brought him up short. He stared down at the maps. ‘I got thinking about what that lawyer said.’

‘Harriet?’ Siobhan frowned. ‘She said hills are sometimes called laws.’

Hood nodded. ‘“Scots Law”,’ he recited. ‘Meaning maybe we’re looking for a word that means the same thing law does in Scots.’

‘Which would be … ?’

Hood unfolded a sheet of paper and started to read aloud. ‘Hill, heights, bank, brae, ben, fell, tor …’ He turned the sheet towards her. ‘The thesaurus is full of them.’