Hacker replied, ‘I think you need to call Macleod back right away and feed him the registration number for the black Mercedes. It’ll take him exactly two seconds to provide us with its owner’s name. Then he can get his brother-in-law, or whoever, to access the guy’s military record, like he did McCulloch’s. Then we’ll see if our theory is right, and we’ll know exactly what we’re dealing with. Once we know who this bastard is, he’ll be much easier to catch.’

‘You hope.’

‘It’s a start,’ Hacker said.

‘What about Kirk?’ Stuart asked him.

‘Your bent copper will have her home address, right? So get it. When she gets home from work tonight, we’ll be waiting for her.’

Stuart considered the new plan, then took his phone back out and dialled.

‘Macleod? It’s me again. There are two more things I need you to do for me, so listen carefully.’

Chapter 36

The snowfall was coming back with a vengeance and the early winter dusk was already beginning to descend as the Mercedes reached the lochside track, where Grace’s Land Rover was slowly disappearing under a covering of white that filtered through the pine tree canopy like flour through a sieve. As Ben pulled up behind her vehicle, Grace said, ‘You still haven’t told me who this person is you think can help us.’

Ben replied, ‘I don’t want to get our hopes up. It could be a dead end. We’ll find out soon enough, after I get back to the cottage and make a couple of calls.’

‘If you’re going back to the cottage, then I’m coming too.’

Ben knew there was no point arguing. She’d only threaten to arrest him again. He opened his door and slid out of the driver’s seat, leaving the engine running and the heat blasting. ‘You drive. I’ll take the Landy and meet you there.’

Grace clambered across the centre console and got behind the wheel. She had to adjust the mirror and rack the seat forward for her shorter legs. Then she shoved the transmission into reverse and backed away down the track. When she was out of sight, Ben ran back to the trees by the lochside where he’d left his things earlier. He carried them back to the Land Rover and tossed them in the back. The ice on the windscreen had solidified into rock-hard rime that he had to scrape away before clambering into the frigid metal box of the cab and firing up the engine. No traction control, no anti-lock brakes, no fancy onboard electronics of any kind. But there was nothing better in the world for driving in deep snow, if you knew how to handle it. He took off and followed Grace’s tracks back towards the Gunn cottage.