Sunderland set down their drinks, neither of which stayed on the table for a full second. Catherine took an immodest few gulps of beer, feeling just a little better by the time she had swallowed.

She knew Sunderland was doing this as a courtesy, an acknowledgment of what they had been through. The likelihood was that he hadn’t even been working today, which added to his personal solicitousness and the gravity with which such an incident was treated. What didn’t add up, however, was his admitting he had blocked her order to bring in the chief suspect.

‘So I gather you had a wee encounter with the not-so-late Glen Fallan,’ he said.

‘An encounter?’ Catherine snapped back. ‘That’s not the word I’d use.’

‘I was talking about your breakfast meeting.’

‘Oh. Well, forgive me, Graeme, if my impressions were superseded by more recent events. Why is he not being huckled, right now?’

Sunderland took a long pull on his pint, a little froth adhering to his top lip. Catherine vaguely recalled a moustache misadventure of a decade back. It hadn’t suited, though in Catherine’s opinion the list of men it did was about the same length as the list of great Scottish cricketers. The guys in Drew’s office all grew them for ‘Movember’ last year, but Catherine did a deal to match her husband’s sponsorship if he didn’t join in.

‘Because it wasn’t him.’

‘Wasn’t him? He was in that girl’s car. And he’d taped over the plates too, my own stupid fault for letting slip it was how I’d found them.’

Sunderland shook his head.

‘On a wee hunch, I made some inquiries as soon as I heard. Turns out a red M-reg Honda Civic was stolen from an address in Rutherglen overnight. Jasmine Sharp’s motor is an N. That’s why the plate was taped. It wasn’t Glen Fallan shooting at you this afternoon, but somebody wanting you to think it was.’

‘The theft of a red Civic isn’t hard proof. It could be coincidence.’

‘This is why you need a drink, Catherine. Get the shock and anger out your system and think rationally. It would be a hell of a coincidence.’

‘Okay, so what was the rational basis for this wee hunch?’

‘I knew Glen Fallan. Not well, but well enough to know he’s never made an attempt on anyone’s life.’

‘You’re denying he was a killer? He all but admitted as much to my face.’