‘Where children’s stories were not treated as truth. Where the rights of the child were not protected. Where domestic abuse was considered the norm rather than a deviation from it. Where the sectarian divide was wider and deeper, and the control of the Churches more significant in people’s minds.

‘Despite all of this, Mary McIntyre appeared to have been a lively, happy child, whose best friend, Karen Marshall, was from across the sectarian divide.’

McCreadie described the two families in some detail. Mary’s father, who controlled his family via a leather belt. Karen’s father, a detective constable, who couldn’t conceive of hitting his children. However, in his opinion, Mary’s father loved his daughter and was destroyed by her abduction. The power he thought he wielded in the protection of his family proved to be worth nothing after all.

‘Mary was in effect in the hands of the Church when she disappeared. She had joined her classmates to walk to the chapel for confirmation. However, there were around eighty children that day, more girls than boys, all of whom wore white dresses, and many who were wearing veils, covering their faces.

‘Mary’s teacher believed Mary was among them, although Miss Stevens couldn’t say she had spoken directly to Mary. The children had amassed in the school playground. They’d had a roll call, then walked in lines to the chapel.

‘The priest, Father Feeney, said he could not say for definite that Mary had been one of those who had been confirmed.

‘There were no sightings of Mary after the service. Her best friend, Karen, being Protestant, wasn’t with Mary . . . an unusual occurrence. It was said during the investigation that they were joined at the hip outside school hours. Karen was in a state of shock and withdrew into herself, not speaking at all. The child was severely traumatized, we can recognize that now, but back then there was little to be done about it.

‘During my time with her, she was literally terrified. I always believed that Karen knew something that frightened or horrified her so much she had shut down because of it. Nowadays Karen would have had the psychological care and attention she required, much like officers affected by frontline duties. Back then, that wasn’t an option.

‘I understand that the historical evidence taken, i.e. the police notebooks and interviews, have been destroyed or lost over the intervening years. However, I kept personal notes on the interviews I conducted, including my suspicions and questions regarding the disappearance of Mary McIntyre, which I have now handed over to DS McNab and DS Clark. I believe my illegible script has been transcribed and they are to be made available to those involved in the case.

‘I thank DI Wilson for responding to my offer to relate what I know. I am, of course, open to any questions and am happy to help in any way I can.

‘However, I should also say my own involvement in the case was cut short as I left the force, or was asked to leave. The Chief Constable, Peter White – Sir Peter White, as he later became – did not agree with the direction I was taking with the investigation, his prime concern being that I paid heed to the fears of Mary’s fourteen-year-old brother, who had accused their local priest of sexually abusing young boys. We are, of course, talking of a different era. One in which homosexuality was a crime and the Church held much sway in public life and institutions. Those in power in Scotland were not yet ready to face what was to eventually become by the eighties a worldwide scandal of biblical proportions.