Detective Superintendent Overbeck sashayed in, spike heels clacking loudly on the tiled floor.

‘Ma’am,’ Baarda managed.

‘Don’t “ma’am” me, Detective Inspector. I’m up to my ridiculously expensive breast implants in paperwork. A freelance profiler apparently climbed into a coffin with a serial killer who you let get the better of you. A woman and child barely made it out of the same coffin alive. I have a forensics team sifting through a pile of bones, not to mention the semi-decomposed body. By the time this is over, I’ll have won an Oscar for the most impressive shitfest in policing history.’

‘All three kidnap victims are still alive,’ Baarda reminded her.

‘Harris Povey is dead,’ Connie shrugged. ‘No messy trial, no psychiatric reports. I’d say that was a decent result.’

‘Quite.’ Overbeck’s response was serpentine. ‘That was an ending I hadn’t anticipated. Tell me, Dr Woolwine, do you always wear that belt, or was it just blind luck on the day?’

Baarda stared from Connie to Overbeck, then back again. ‘Is there a problem?’ he asked.

‘There had better not be,’ Overbeck said. ‘Very fortunate indeed that you had such a resourceful and strong-stomached partner, DI Baarda.’ She stepped closer to look Connie directly in the eyes. ‘Takes a while for an adult to die by strangulation. Not much oxygen, tight space. He must have been kicking wildly. And the noises he’d have been making, the horror. I can barely imagine it.’

‘Really?’ Connie smiled. ‘It seems to me you’re having no problem imagining it at all.’

‘It pisses me off when I underestimate people,’ Overbeck said. ‘Leaves me feeling vulnerable.’

‘You can get psychotherapy for that. I’d probably diagnose you with trust issues. I can recommend you a good psychologist, if you like?’

‘I think I’ve had as much psychology as I can tolerate for a while,’ Overbeck said. ‘Baarda, get better quickly. There’s paperwork to do, and if you’re considering making a personal injury claim against Police Scotland, think again.’

‘I actually wasn’t going—’ Baarda started.

‘Other than that, officially, I’ve been sent here to say congratulations to you both, so we’ll pretend that’s what I did.’ She spun on a heel to leave.

‘Wait, what about the other victims?’ Connie asked.

‘We’re working on identifying the bodies. There are at least twelve dead. The theory is that they were buried alive in the coffin then dug up each time Harris needed the coffin for his next attempt at creating a so-called family. He cleaned the bones and hid them beneath the floor. He either got sloppy with the woman only partially decomposed, or was in a hurry to move on. Her, we’ve identified.