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Hamish followed her, his mind turning over thoughts about Blair. Then he mentally shrugged. It need not have been anyone as high up as Blair. It could have been anyone at police headquarters, down to the cleaners. If Josie was right, and there was underaged drinking usually at the disco, then it stood to reason that Barry had been tipped off.
The day was fine and cold. He slowed down on the shore road. Men were working on the seawall. The tide was out. They were working hard. He stopped and rolled down the window. “Got your funds?” he called to the foreman.
“Aye, but we can only work when the tide’s out, otherwise we get battered wi’ the waves.”
Hamish drove on until he reached the quiet street where A
Hamish wondered at first if everything in the living room was new and decided he was looking at terrifying housekeeping. The sun shone through the glittering windows onto a glass coffee table where magazines were arranged in exact precision to line up with the edges of the table. The three-piece suite was in red leather, and the hair-cord brown fitted carpet was covered in hooked rugs. Hamish reflected she had probably made them herself. He had seen many like them at church sales. One bar was lit in an electric heater in front of the fireplace. The mantel was covered in little glass figures: he noticed a Bambi and a Snow White along with the Seven Dwarfs.
On a round table by the window was a cut-glass vase full of silk flowers. To one side of the fireplace was a large flat-screen television.
Hamish removed his cap and sat down on the sofa. The leather made an embarrassing fart noise. Cora stood in front of the fireplace. She was a stocky woman with bright blonde hair set in tight curls over a pugnacious face. She had small blue suspicious-looking eyes.
“Well, Constable?” she demanded.
Hamish repressed a sigh. From his experience councillors like Jamie Baxter, no matter how easy-going, often had wives who considered themselves a cut above the local community.
He stood up and approached her, looming over her. It had the desired effect.
“Oh, do sit down,” said Cora. Hamish went back to the sofa, which welcomed his bottom with a loud raspberry. Cora sat in one of the leather armchairs, but the chair, no doubt knowing what was due to her dignity, did not make a sound.
Hamish opened his notebook. “I am making enquiries about A
“Yes?”
“Did you phone Mrs. Freemont and tell her that her husband had been seen going into A
“Well, I felt it my duty,” said Cora truculently.
“Do you know if this happened more than once?”
“I only saw him the one time.”
“And when was this?”
“About a month ago.”
“Any other men?”
“Just once. An unsavoury-looking character. He had gelled hair and one of those black leather jackets. I would say he was around thirty years old.”
Jake, thought Hamish bitterly. That’s a dead end in every sense.
“What did you think of A
“First, I did mention both visits to her parents. Her father was furious with me. He said his daughter was pure and I was a malicious woman who would burn in hellfire. A
“Why didn’t you tell the police any of this?” demanded Hamish. “You’ve been withholding vital evidence.”
“I wasn’t going to sully her memory until after the funeral.”
“But you did just that by phoning Mrs. Freemont, and by trying to blacken the girl’s name with her parents. Is there anything more?”
“No, but I don’t like your attitude. Do remember my husband is a town councillor.”
“Which means damn all in a murder investigation,” said Hamish, and warned her he would be back to ask her more questions later.
Outside, he phoned Jimmy. “Any news about the murder?”
“Nothing. That old woman might have been left there till she died o’ shock and starvation if we hadn’t searched all the flats opposite and found her. She’s in hospital for observation but she’s a game auld bird and I think she’ll survive the shock all right. He never took the balaclava off but she said he was pretty well built and wearing a black sweater and black trousers.”
“Surely someone saw a man with a rifle ru
“From the initial SOCO report, he went down the stairs, out the back way, and over the wall. There’s a lane that runs along the back. Neighbours heard a motorbike roaring off.”
“If I were you I’d check out those two pubs of Barry’s. See if Blair’s been seen drinking in either of them. He likes his free booze.”
“Aw, c’mon, Hamish. I don’t like the pillock but this is going a bit too far. Don’t worry. We’re checking up on everything we know about Barry. Talk to you later.”
Hamish wondered whether to interview the parents and then decided it was a bit early to subject them to more questioning. Blair would already have had a go at them.
He was about to get into the Land Rover when he heard someone calling, “Officer!”
He turned round. Mrs. McGirty was standing on her front door step waving to him. He went up to her. “Have they found out who did this terrible thing?” she asked.
“Not yet.”
“You must find out. A
“Maybe I’ll be having a word with the minister.”
Josie, meanwhile, was interviewing A
“A
“Were they ill in any way?” asked Josie.
“No, that’s what was odd. They are both hale and hearty.”
“Was Josie well liked at school?”
Mrs. Gallagher hesitated.
“I know you don’t like to speak ill of the dead,” said Josie, “but it is a murder enquiry and one of her boyfriends was shot dead this morning outside the sheriff’s court.”
“This is terrible. Just terrible,” gasped Mrs. Gallagher. “To be honest, Josie did not have many friends amongst the girls. Looking the way she did, she was a great favourite with the boys but then even they began to shun her.”
“Do you know why?”
“I’m afraid not. It’s a terrible thing to say about the poor lass, but she almost seemed to enjoy her unpopularity, as if it gave her a certain power, as if she was looking down on all of them. I did send her to the school councillor.”
“Why?”
“When a beautiful girl like A
Miss Haggerty was a thin, frail woman with grey hair, spectacles, and a tired face. “Oh, A
“Did you think she might be a bit of a psychopath?” asked Josie.