“I see you are two steps in front of me. This is Margo’s story. It’s going in tomorrow’s paper, together with a back story on the Sisters.”

“What’s the story about the Sisters?” Frankie asked urgently before the reporter could hang up.

“The Sisters of Holy Mercy have been associated with child abuse at a number of orphanages throughout the UK and Ireland. There have been successful prosecutions, both against individual nuns as well as visiting clergy and dignitaries who treated the orphanages as their personal hunting grounds. Nothing has ever been reported locally but if this follows the pattern elsewhere, we might expect anyone who has been abused to come forward after we publish. I thought you should know.”

XIV TUESDAY 11:05

XIV
TUESDAY 11:05

Frankie put the phone down and glanced towards Corstorphine’s office. He was bent over some paperwork, taking notes as he read. This couldn’t wait.

“Sir?” She stood at the threshold of the office, waiting for his permission to enter.

“What is it, Frankie? I’m expecting Hamish in any minute.”

“I’ll be quick, sir. I’ve just had the reporter from the Courier on the phone.” Corstorphine’s eyes performed a parabolic sweep of the office ceiling. “Margo was in with them yesterday, told them Oscar was sexually abused as a kid. They’re publishing her story and claiming staff at the orphanage were involved in some paedophile ring. She named the St Cuthbert’s minister specifically as one of the abusers.”

Corstorphine’s eyes locked with hers as he processed the information. “Hamish mentioned two days ago that Oscar had accused the minister of abusing him, he was just starting at school at the time. They treated it as a child’s fantasy, attention-seeking behaviour from a disturbed child, only Hamish wasn’t convinced Oscar was lying even though nothing came of it.”

“Is it the sort of thing a five-year-old child would invent, sir?” Frankie’s voice betrayed her outrage.

“Things are different now,” Corstorphine started to explain only to be cut short.

“He’d not have told Margo the same story if he’d made it up. How does that fit with his ‘big man’ image? It’s not something he’d mention unless…”

“Unless it was true?” Corstorphine finished the sentence for her. “Possibly. Or he’d made it true by dwelling on a false memory. Either way, the minister is beyond our reach now.” He rubbed his fingers across his temple as if attempting to alleviate a headache. “Hamish made the point, if Oscar was seeking revenge on the minister, who killed Oscar? Added to which it looks very much as if they were both killed by the same person.” He shook his head in frustration. “No, there’s more to this, but the link has to be investigated. What do we know about the staff at the orphanage?”

“The group running it were the Sisters of Holy Mercy.”