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McGregor! I told you, she needs to do your appraisal.’

      Damn. ‘How pissed-off is she?’

      A wee dog barked and barked and barked as they passed, pogoing up and down behind a little wrought-iron gate.

       ‘You said you’d be back here by twenty-to. And it’s nearly five.’

      ‘We’re …’ Another lick of lolly, catching an ice-cream tear. ‘We’re in the middle of something here, Maggie. Can’t we reschedule for tomorrow?’

      Silence.

      Around the corner and onto Low Street with its bars and shops and cafés.

      ‘Maggie?’

       ‘You want me to dignify that with an answer? And you’re supposed to put in a word for me – how are you going to do that if she’s in a foul mood?’

      ‘OK, OK. Tell her … half past five.’

      Past the Cats Protection League and the whisky shop.

      ‘All right. I’ll try. But make sure you’re not late.’ Maggie signed off.

      The gift shop next door had obviously started selling papers, because a little folding placard thing sat on the pavement outside it: ‘LIVERPOOL SHOOTING ~ PICTURES EXCLUSIVE’.

      He’d barely got the Airwave back in its twisty holder when the handset bleeped again. ‘Sarge? Aye, it’s Dean. Safe to talk?’

      ‘Deano. You and Tufty finished at the hospital yet, or are you planning on skiving the whole shift?’

       ‘Still there, Sarge. Got a missing person for you.’

      Another road led off to the right. Long, thin, dark, and claustrophobic. Rows of terraced buildings on either side, tall enough to block out the sunshine and leave the patchy tarmac blanketed in shadow. Raw grey walls and dark slate roofs. The occasional one painted with aging whitewash – standing out like a filled tooth in a broken mouth. ‘Do you mean you’ve found someone who’s missing? Or that someone else has disappeared?’

       ‘Aye. One Neil Wood, owns a B-and-B on the Shortgate Lane, Peterhead. His dad says Wood’s been gone for three, maybe four days.’

      ‘So take his details.’ A bite of lolly, before it collapsed off the stick, then Logan froze. Pointed with his other hand.

      Up ahead, loitering in the doorway of a boarded-up shop was a stick-thin woman in a baggy T-shirt and pink tracksuit bottoms. Filthy Ugg boots on her feet. Roll-up cigarette cupped in her hand as if it was going to give away her position to snipers in the enemy trenches.

      Nicholson squinted. ‘You jammy sod.’

      ‘Not jammy, Constable, skill.’

       ‘Sarge? You still there?’

      ‘Look, Deano, you’ve been doing this longer than I have. You know the drill – you take his details and fill out a misper form. And maybe we find him, and maybe we don’t. It’s not—’

       ‘The old boy who got a kicking in Whitehills is Neil Wood’s dad. Seems the guys did it because of who his son is. Turns out Neil Wood’s a stot. Did eight years for abusing kids in Tayside. Got out of Peterhead, couldn’t go home, settled here. Bought a B-and-B and moved his dad up from down south to live with him,’cos the old guy’s got heart problems.’

      ‘And now he’s disappeared.’

       ‘Which is why I’m not just filling in a form.’

      ‘That’s all we need.’

      The woman turned her back, one hand scratching away at the crook of her arm, making the cigarette smoke curl and coil around her fingers. Couldn’t be long until she spotted them.

      ‘Deano, get onto the Offender Management Unit. Find out who’s meant to be monitoring Wood, and tell them to get their finger out. We do not want someone like that running around our patch with no idea where he is. Tell them to get a lookout request on the go.’

       ‘Will do.’

      ‘Right, now bugger off, we’ve got a druggie to spin.’

      A nod to Nicholson and they ditched the ice creams in a bin and marched down the road.

      ‘Anything?’ Logan shifted his grip on the skeletal arm as Nicholson rummaged her way through the leopard-skin-print handbag. Big enough to take a breezeblock or a small child.

      A delivery van grumbled by, the Tesco Logo emblazoned down one side, trailing a cloud of dust behind it.

      Warm golden light washed the gap between two buildings.

      It was big enough to fit another house, but if there had been one on the site, it was long gone. Now it doubled as a dirt-floored car park and access through to the garages and lock-ups that ran along the rear of the gardens.

      Weeds jungled at the base of the five-foot wall that formed either side of the gateless entry to the secret land beyond. Shutting the three of them off from the street.

      Nicholson held up a golden pen thing in one blue-nitrile-gloved-hand. ‘This is a bit fancy, isn’t it, Kirstin? Touche Éclat? I’ve seen it in Boots – stuff costs a fortune.’

      Kirstin Rattray shrugged one bony shoulder. The motion caused the neck of her baggy T-shirt to slip far enough to expose a bright-green bra strap stretched taut over semi-skimmed skin. ‘Found it, didn’t I?’ A small flock of purple lovebites perched in the crook of her neck. Eighties hair and dark circles under her eyes. Cheekbones you could peel tatties with.

      ‘Right. Course you did. What about these?’ Nicholson pulled out two lots of Chanel No. 5, still in their boxes, then one of Paco Rabanne. ‘You find them, too?’

      Kirstin’s bottom lip disappeared between her teeth. Eyes down to the left. ‘You planted that. Never seen them before.’

      ‘Don’t be a spaz, Kirstin. Did you rob them yourself? Or did someone do it for you?’

      ‘I should get a lawyer and that. Sue you for false thingummy.’

      ‘Ooh and a brand new iPhone too.’ Nicholson wiggled it at Logan. ‘When I was on the dole it was a red-letter day if I could afford to buy chips and pants the same week. Now it’s all smartphones and perfume.’ Back to their new friend. ‘Let me guess: you found it?’

      Kirstin’s head fell back so she was staring up at the warm blue sky. A breath hissed out. Her knees sagged an inch or two. ‘What do you want?’

      ‘World peace for me. Sarge?’

      Logan frowned. ‘I’m partial to Maltesers, myself.’

      ‘Look, I’ve got a little girl. Amy. She’s three, I swear on her life I never nicked nothing.’

      ‘Really? Then how come you match the description of the woman who pilfered a heap of perfume and makeup from Fisher’s the Chemists? And how come your handbag’s full of the stuff that got robbed?’

      ‘Told you, I found it.’ She stuck her hand out. ‘Now can I get me bag back?’

      ‘Sarge?’

      Logan let go of the thin pale arm. ‘Police Scotland thanks you for your cooperation, and for handing in the items you “found”. Very public spirited. We’ll try to return them to their rightful owners.’ He scribbled out another receipt. ‘Now, we’ve got to make a quick stop at the station – prior engagement – but after that, why don’t we all pop over to yours and see if we can’t turn up anything else you’ve “found” recently? Voluntarily.’

      Kirstin’s head drooped back again. ‘Sodding hell …’

      

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