‘What was I supposed to say? That I’m taken? Which I’m not,’ Rhona added.

‘True.’ Chrissy contemplated this. ‘Maybe you could have said you didn’t want to be in a relationship right now?’

‘Who says I don’t?’ Rhona countered.

‘A steady relationship then,’ tried Chrissy, who wasn’t normally at a loss for words.

‘Dr Walker asks me out to a simple dinner and I turn him down by declaring I’m not ready for a steady relationship at the moment? I don’t think so.’

‘Okay, it’s a minefield, but he is dishy.’ Chrissy assumed a wide-eyed look. ‘Those blue eyes.’

‘Then he’s all yours to charm tonight,’ Rhona told her.

Chrissy, judging that the dating discussion was over for the moment, asked how the autopsy had gone.

‘Just the way we thought,’ Rhona told her. ‘Any developments here?’

‘Karen also wore the confirmation dress. The DNA results confirm this.’

Rhona nodded. She’d been expecting that. The girls were real pals. If Mary had a dress like that, Karen would likely have been allowed to try it on. It could be as simple as that, or it could mean something more. What that something was, she had no idea.

‘Also, McNab was looking for you. He’s headed back to Stirling.’

This was far more of a surprise. ‘Again? Why?’ Rhona said.

‘It appears they’ve finally located Karen Marshall.’

‘Did she come back to Rowan Cottage?’ That had always been Rhona’s hope.

‘No. It seems she was found by J. D. Smart and she’s currently at his house.’

Rhona could imagine McNab’s reaction to that. Much like her own, perhaps. Still, she was glad Karen had been found, and alive.

‘It seems she’s in a bad way mentally. She’s asked to see Marge, her friend, and Magnus,’ Chrissy said. ‘McNab’s just there to observe.’

‘Before he hears Karen’s story, he needs to be made aware of the soil evidence from Jen, placing Mary last alive near the girls’ den,’ Rhona said. ‘And the fact that both girls have worn that dress.’

54

The call from Rhona arrived just as McNab passed by the drive that led to Rowan Cottage. McNab listened to what she had to say regarding Karen having worn the confirmation dress, plus the startling news that the forensic evidence put the last location Mary had been alive and wearing the shoes at or near the girls’ den.

So Mary had gone there after the ceremony at the chapel.

‘I thought you’d want to know that before you speak to Karen,’ Rhona said. She followed that with a good luck, suggesting he might need it.

As he turned off the main road, McNab spotted Magnus’s vehicle already parked in front of the McCreadie villa. Easing his bike in behind, he removed his outer clothing and stored it with the helmet in his panniers. He had no idea what Karen Johnston felt about the biking fraternity in general, or biker-clad policemen in particular, but decided not to take the chance that it might be negative.