Sensing Grace’s presence behind him, he stood and turned to face her. She looked grim and sickened, but then he figured that a cop who had worked the mean streets of the big city had seen plenty of blood before and wasn’t about to start puking or fainting on him.

Ben shook his head. ‘He’s done.’

‘Yeah, I think I can see that.’

‘Is it Jamie McGlashan?’

She nodded. ‘I haven’t seen him in a long time. He’s put on a lot of weight. But I recognise that scar on his lip. It’s Jamie.’

They left the trailer and descended the steps. Silence had returned. The gentle whistle of the wind blew the falling snow into their eyes and hair. Ben walked over to the body of the first guy, crouched down next to him and started going through pockets. The shotgun blast had torn him wide open and the snow all around him was stained pinkish-red.

Grace stood watching what Ben was doing. She shook her head. ‘You know, when I asked if you were planning on shooting anybody, that was kind of meant to be a joke. I didn’t realise you actually were.’

He stopped and looked at her. ‘You think I planned this?’

‘You’re carrying a sawn-off shotgun. I don’t think you brought it along for crows.’

‘Are you going to ask where I got it from, officer?’

‘No.’

‘Are you going to arrest me for possession of a prohibited firearm?’

‘No.’

‘Sorry that I shot the bastard?’

She folded her arms, thought for a moment, and then shook her head again. ‘I’m not sorry that he’s dead and we’re not. And I’m still not sorry that I asked you to come here with me. In fact right now I’m feeling pretty damn glad. But before long I’ll be thinking about all the stuff I should be sorry for. Like holding back information from my superiors. Inviting a civilian to participate in an unauthorised independent inquiry. Colluding in the illegal killing of a suspect.’

‘And fleeing the crime scene,’ Ben said. ‘That is, unless you want to call this in and wait for your colleagues to turn up.’

She gave a dark laugh. ‘Whatever. I don’t care. I just want to understand what the hell happened here.’

‘What happened is that we got here too late. A few minutes sooner, Jamie McGlashan might have had something useful to tell us. But now we’ll never get to hear it, because the other people who’ve been hunting for him got to him first.’

‘But this says something,’ Grace said, pointing at the blood and the dead guy.

‘Damn right it does. It says I’m pushing on with this. What about you?’

‘What about me?’

‘You don’t have to do this, Grace. It’s not too late.’