‘You tried to make a name for yourself, all right. You fabricated evidence against my client. You were alone with him for a few moments. Alone. No tape recorder. You made up his confession. Deliberately. Wickedly. Cynically. Then, not satisfied with that, you leant on Sammy McPhee. Your twisted mind wasn’t prepared just to do Mr Gallagher for one murder, you wanted to do him for two. You didn’t just pervert the course of justice. You came into this court and lied and lied and lied again. You committed perjury. You deny that Mr Taylor?’

The whole court waited for the reply.

The whole court waited – in vain. ‘We’re waiting – patiently.’

‘It’s not true.’

‘Well, I think we’ll leave that to the jury, shall we?’

When Grant McAllister entered the witness box he could tell from the atmosphere in court that something dramatic had happened. He had passed Taylor in the corridor on his way out. His face was ashen. He turned his eyes away from his superior. Just as well. McAllister shot him a look which would have knocked him flat on his back.

McAllister’s appearance was essentially a formality. He described what he had seen when he arrived at the scene of the shooting, the various measures he had instructed to set the inquiry in motion and his decision to have Gallagher brought in for interview. The officers conducting the interrogation had kept him advised of Gallagher’s answers. In consultation with the Procurator Fiscal he had taken the decision to prefer the charge of murder.

He described Gallagher’s reaction to the news that he was to face such a charge but expressed the view that this was neither unusual nor unexpected. As with his colleagues, he would not hold it against a man that he became upset when charged with such a serious matter.

‘You did not charge Mr Gallagher with the murder of the man, Clark.’

‘That is correct, Mr Muirhead.’

‘Indeed, at no time did you put such a charge of murder to Mr Gallagher’

‘That is correct.’

‘When did you discover that Mr Gallagher was to be charged with the two killings?’

‘Before the indictment was served, I was telephoned by Mr Harris, the Procurator Fiscal, and told that this was the decision of Crown Office.’

‘So, the decision was taken in Edinburgh, at the Crown Office, the office of the Lord Advocate?’

‘Yes.’

‘But you, the officer in charge of the investigation, did not deem it appropriate to charge Mr Gallagher with Clark’s murder?’

‘Correct.’

‘Did you know Kevin Boyle, in a professional capacity?’

‘I knew of him.’

‘Did the police believe him to be involved in criminal activity?’

Muirhead felt a tug at his gown.

‘If I may have a moment, my Lord?’

His Lordship nodded, none too graciously.

‘What is it, Jack?’