‘What?’ J. D. said, seeing her expression.

Rhona shook her head, indicating she’d been absorbing what he’d just told her.

‘So,’ J. D. said, ‘it looks like it’s up to you, Dr MacLeod.’ He assumed an apologetic air. ‘Let’s hope you have more luck than I did.’

J. D. said his goodbyes then, reminding Bill that anything more they needed from him, they only had to ask. Rhona stayed, keen to get Bill’s feelings on both the strategy meeting and their tête-à-tête with J. D. Smart.

‘So,’ Bill said, ‘what do you think?’

‘The new information on Mary’s clothes was important,’ Rhona said. ‘When I taped the body in situ, I picked up a lot of peat, but mixed with it were tiny bits of hair. I couldn’t think what that meant, but then I remembered a case from way back, in England. The murder of a young girl. She was found naked, but there were microscopic stubby hairs which turned out to come from her killer, who’d recently had his hair razor cut. Are there any photos of the suspects taken at that time?’

Bill shook his head. ‘It’s as if the case files disappeared just like Mary McIntyre did.’

‘J. D. mentioned Sir Peter White as being his superior at the time. Is he still alive?’

‘No. We’re trying to chase up anyone else involved in the case, or with knowledge of it. Our best sources of information at the moment would seem to be former DI McCreadie and the siblings of Mary, and Karen herself of course.’

Rhona wondered if J. D. was also keen to keep it that way.

‘What?’ Bill said, reading her expression.

‘Does it strike you that he only tells us what he wants us to know, and at a time of his own choosing? It’s like dropping clues in a crime novel,’ Rhona said.

‘In which we’re the players and he’s directing the plot?’ Bill suggested.

‘Exactly.’ Thinking on from that, Rhona added, ‘I’ll take a bet he’s writing a book about the Mary McIntyre case. One in which J. D. Smart leads us to the killer.’

‘You think our former DI may already know who killed Mary?’

‘I think it’s a distinct possibility,’ Rhona said.

34

‘What took you so long?’ McNab enquired when Janice appeared. ‘Don’t tell me, Professor Pirie had loads to say about McLaughlin’s interview, mainly featuring how shite we were at doing it?’

Janice bestowed a look on him that would have curdled milk.

‘Okay, okay, what did our friendly forensic psychologist have to say then?’

Janice relented. ‘He thought the interview with McLaughlin went well, and we could meet sometime and talk about it further. Plus he would email us his notes.’

McNab raised an eyebrow but kept his mouth shut, because his partner’s expression defied him to do otherwise.

‘Also,’ Janice continued en route to the vehicle, ‘he thinks he’s located Karen Marshall, married name Johnston, via a recovery cafe in Raploch, Stirling.’

‘Jesus!’ McNab said, coming to an abrupt halt. ‘That’s good news.’