‘Heard the latest? They made an arrest in the McCulloch case.’

Grace’s smile dropped and she stared at him. ‘Seriously? Who?’

‘Watkins.’

‘The Greenie?’ Grace knew about Geoff Watkins from all the fuss in recent months over the Highland Manor project. He and some of his fellow ecowarriors had set up a tipi camp near the main gates of the development site and resolutely vowed to remain dug in there for as long as it took to force the contractors to pull out once and for all. Watkins had specifically come to the attention of the local police due to the extensive criminal record he’d accrued pursuing his ideological crusade back in his native England, which included everything from scuffles with officers during rowdy climate protests to attempted arson attacks on butcher’s shops. It seemed that some people just had nothing better to do. He’d spent a couple of months in jail in 2016, following a particularly nasty hunt saboteur incident in which a horse had been badly injured and its rider nearly killed. Since his arrival on the local scene, Watkins had been suspected of taking part in the vandalism of construction equipment at the Highland Manor site but there’d been insufficient evidence to charge him with criminal damage.

‘I shit you not,’ Finnigan said with a smirk, pleased by the look of amazement on her face. ‘Brought him in early this morning, after our officers hit the camp in a dawn raid led by none other than the heroic DI Macleod himself, with his wee lapdog Coull scurrying at his heels.’ Finnigan should have been a small-town reporter instead of a police constable. He glanced around in case any of the office tattle-tales were listening.

Grace said, ‘I’d no idea that Watkins was a suspect in the investigation.’

‘Kind of a no-brainer, really. It was common knowledge that McCulloch & Campbell were the surveyors for the Highland Manor project. Makes perfect sense for a nutcase like him to target the firm director for intimidation. With his form, you wonder why Macleod and Coull didn’t jump on him sooner.’

‘Is motive all they’ve got on him? Is there any direct evidence?’

Finnigan shrugged. ‘Just telling you what I know, Cap’n. Not like we shit-kicking bottom feeders in the lower ranks have the inside track on what the brass are up to, is it?’

Grace was frowning. ‘What about Ross Campbell?’

‘What about him?’

‘If the Greenies had motive for assaulting one member of the McCulloch & Campbell firm, then that works for both.’

‘Aye, I suppose so, but as far as I know, the thing with Ross Campbell is still down as an accidental drowning.’

‘Seems like a bit of a coincidence, don’t you think?’