Karen nodded. ‘And I don’t know if what I remember is true or if my mind’s going, just like Jack’s.’

There. She’d said it.

The silence that followed her announcement almost convinced Karen that she was right, until Marge said with conviction, ‘You’re talking rubbish, my girl. You’re not losing your mind, but if you don’t deal with what’s going on, you just might.’

What Marge said was true. Karen knew that, and Jack’s silent voice in her head confirmed it.

‘What if I do know what happened to Mary? There were things I didn’t realize back then because I was just a wee girl and I didn’t understand.’

‘You didn’t understand what?’ Marge said.

How to tell the bad men from the good.

13

‘That’s it,’ Chrissy confirmed as she handed Rhona the last bag of soil from the grave. ‘Now we have to sift through that little lot.’

The layer of soil below the victim, just like that which had covered the victim, would be examined in detail in the lab, along with the clothing and the plastic bag. They also had a full recording of the excavation to pore over, including details of the tool marks from the sides of the grave.

As Chrissy made a move to climb out, Rhona asked her to wait, because she’d just spotted something else.

‘Where?’ Chrissy said.

‘There.’ Rhona pointed at the side nearest the lochan. It was most likely the end of an exposed root, of which there had been many already, but they should check just in case.

Chrissy turned and crouched for a better look.

After a moment’s study, she said, ‘Can you hand me down the tweezers?’

Rhona’s view was obscured as Chrissy worked to extract whatever it was from the side wall of the grave.

‘Well, well, well!’ Chrissy said as she examined the small object caught in the forensic tweezers.

‘What is it?’ Rhona demanded.

‘See for yourself, boss.’ Chrissy dropped the object in an evidence bag and passed it up.

Rhona glanced inside, and then she too broke into a grin. She’d known by Chrissy’s expression that it had to be good. But it was better than good.

‘Well spotted,’ Chrissy said, extending a hand for help in getting out. ‘Assuming it was discarded by whoever dug the grave, we might have a lead on the killer.’

Whoever had shovelled the soil over the child’s body had smoked a cigarette during the burial and tossed the end into the grave. Someone who, fifty or so years ago, had no fear of leaving behind such evidence of their presence, because DNA fingerprinting hadn’t come into existence until 1986.

As Rhona and Chrissy emerged from the tent, they discovered the sky had darkened considerably while they’d been working.

‘Forecast was for heavy rain later today,’ Chrissy said, glancing at the sky. ‘It looks like it’s early.’

‘Let’s get the remaining soil bags to the van before we get caught in it,’ Rhona said.

Spotting them beginning their trek to the vehicle, the crime scene manager came to assist.