‘You said yourself the last action on the case was ten months ago. To be honest, the only motive to harm Jim that I can derive from this evidence would be envy.’

‘Envy? Of what? By whom?’

‘Retired cops and other private investigators. He appears to have cornered the market in getting paid by the day to look for people who will never be found because they’ve been dead for decades. Nice work if you can get it.’

Presented with that impassive face and that stare, it took Jasmine a few seconds to realise McDade wasn’t serious.

‘I’m just kidding, hen. Relax. You can leave it in our hands now. And I’d strongly request that you do leave it to the professionals. I realise you want to help, but when you don’t know what you’re doing, you can end up causing more harm than good. Tramp about where you’re not meant to, even with feet as dainty as yours, and without realising it you’ve contaminated the trail.’

Any reassurance Jasmine derived from having successfully got the police involved seemed to evaporate as soon as DS McDade departed and she was left alone in the office once again. It was as though the last hour had never happened, or at least that it might as well not have. She had this impression, this quite irresistible impression, that despite his parting pledges, she wouldn’t be hearing from McDade again. More than that, she had the unmistakable deflated feeling of having been dismissed. He’d all but patted her on the head, treating her like a daft wee lassie. Fair enough, when it came to this stuff she was just a daft wee lassie, but not so daft that she hadn’t noticed a jarring shift in his behaviour.

It was that change of manner, that stark contrast between the man who had entered the office and the one who had left it. As he questioned her, McDade had seemed formidable, an intense and intimidating presence, marked by that near-disapproving absence of levity that she had seen Jim train on people when he wanted them to know he meant business. Then all of a sudden he was making light of the situation and patronising her, treating her like a silly schoolgirl who shouldn’t be bothering her pretty little head.

She deduced that he had been there to satisfy himself about something, not to assist her. Once he had found out whatever that was, he was suddenly at ease.