The Assistant Chief marched in without acknowledging him, taking the interviewer’s chair. Corstorphine closed the door behind him, leaving them in relative privacy. His eyes flicked towards the voice recorder, left running without any indicator light announcing the fact it was still on record.

The ACC waited for Corstorphine to settle, his eyes narrowed to slits and his face an unhealthy colour.

“I don’t know where to begin, Corstorphine.” His hands slammed down on the table for emphasis before clenching and unclenching, mirroring his jaw. “What did you think you were playing at with that press interview? You know every press interaction is to be routed via Head Office. We have professionals trained for the job. You’ve made the whole Scottish police force look like a bunch of inept idiots. God knows, I was already making plans to relieve you of this murder investigation. How many are dead now? Three bodies, and you’ve driven Brian Rankin to suicide!” He shook his head, almost as if he couldn’t believe what he was saying. “And now I’ve had Lord Lagan telling me you’re bringing him in for questioning. Under your watch you’ve allowed some lunatic to kill this gamekeeper, a minister of the church, the bloody sheriff himself and now Brian’s dead! What the bloody hell do you think you’re playing at?”

“We’ve had serious allegations...”

“What allegations are those, Corstorphine? The fantasy ramblings of a bunch of inadequate homeless people who are looking for a bit of publicity, looking for a payout like all the other cases they’ve read about?”

“No, sir. These people have only provided signed statements because for the first time in their lives they aren’t scared. They aren’t scared of the sheriff or the local thug now they’re both dead, and they aren’t scared of us any more.”

“Preposterous. What do you mean, scared of the police?”

“They reported the abuse when it began. First to the nuns, who accused them of lying before punishing them for their imagined sins. Then they told the only other person who could help. They told Brian Rankin, who did nothing. Worse than that, he witnessed five children who died at the orphanage and allowed them to be buried in the grounds so that no pathologist’s report, no investigation, was ever made. That’s the link between the murders, sir. Both the laird and the minister have been accused of historic abuse and it’s my belief a former orphan is taking their revenge.”