One of them, Magnus realized, he’d met before. Tall, in her thirties, with a blonde ponytail, Magnus remembered the woman as being a recovery development officer for a group he’d visited in Raploch, Stirling.

‘Pat?’ he tried as he emerged from the scanner.

‘Magnus,’ she said in surprise. ‘What are you doing in Bar-L? Not on remand, I hope?’ She gave the throaty infectious laugh he remembered.

‘Carrying out some research,’ Magnus told her.

‘Can I ask what about?’

‘Education and the Sexual Offender,’ Magnus admitted, with a wry smile.

Pat grinned. ‘So you know they’re the ones who take all the education classes?’

‘You have a theory about why that is?’ Magnus said.

‘Interview me sometime and I’ll tell you all my theories on the subject,’ Pat promised.

‘I may well take you up on that.’

Recovery development officers like Pat had their own experience of addiction. Pat had been quite open about hers – alcohol, with a good measure of cocaine thrown in. Her back story was as varied as any of the other women he’d met in the sessions he’d attended. What had struck him most during his visits was the mutual and safe support system the women had created for one another. This had given them the confidence to speak out and the stories of how they’d ended up in addiction were informative, if rarely pretty.

Many had involved manipulative and often violent men. Not dissimilar to the men Magnus had been interviewing for his current research. Watching Pat depart with the group’s allotted prison officer, he found himself contemplating giving her a call. Barlinnie wouldn’t be the only prison she’d visited, so her opinions on the uptake of education facilities could be useful.

At that point in his thoughts, Archie appeared.

‘Hey, Prof, you ready for the fray?’

‘Morning, Archie. I am.’

‘So it’s Old Alec this time?’

When Magnus nodded, Archie said in a serious voice, ‘Just remember, Old Alec’s a highly intelligent and skilled liar. That’s how he managed to rape and sexually abuse weans for years before he was caught.’

Archie wasn’t normally as blunt as that about his charges, so Magnus decided to take his warning seriously.

‘Thanks for the reminder,’ he said.

‘One other thing. He’s at the end of his sentence. Out in a couple of days. As a criminal profiler, you know all about modus operandi and the fantasy worlds men like Alec create for themselves.’ Archie looked Magnus in the eye. ‘In my opinion, McLaughlin won’t change his sexual habits, despite his age or all the qualifications he’s managed to acquire while inside.’

Passing the educational unit, Magnus saw the long line of men waiting to go in for the morning sessions, the majority of them wearing the red fleeces indicating they were convicted prisoners. The blue signified those on remand.

‘I’ve got a room for you in another block. As you can see, the Ed unit’s pretty full this morning.’

A few minutes later, Archie ushered Magnus into a small and sparsely furnished room where he found an elderly man waiting for him.