She stood there for a few moments longer before turning slowly and walking back to the car, noticing with some satisfaction that the nosy neighbour from across the street was still watching through her own window.
‘Who do you think he was phoning?’ Winter asked as Rachel slid back behind the wheel.
‘Don’t know; don’t care. I’m just happy he was spooked enough to have phoned someone.’
‘Maybe you should care. If he was phoning the cops, then you’re in the shit. You do know that, Rachel, right?’
‘He might just have been bluffing,’ she pondered, paying him no attention. ‘Either way, I think we can safely say he’ll remember that we were here.’
‘Fine, Rach. Ignore me if you want but you’re walking the line here. Now is there any chance we can get back to civilisation? This country living is starting to wear me down.’
‘Sure, let’s go. I think I’ve stirred up enough shit for one week. I’m not finished though.’
‘I was afraid you were going to say that.’
CHAPTER 14
‘Yes, she’s gone… Of course I’m sure. I saw her drive away.’
‘And you’ve no idea who she was?’
‘I told you. None.’
‘What did she look like?’
‘About five foot four, dark brown hair tied back. Pretty. Wearing a white coat.’
‘And you’d never seen her before? What about the guy in the car?’
‘I’d never seen either of them in my life.’
‘Okay.’
‘Okay? It’s not okay.’
‘Look, just keep calm.’
‘That’s easy for you to say. It wasn’t your house she was standing outside. It wasn’t your window she was staring into.’
‘It could be nothing. Just a coincidence.’
‘Don’t tell me it’s a coincidence. I know it’s not a bloody coincidence. Not this weekend.’
‘You have to stay calm. It’s vitally important you don’t lose focus. Not now.’
‘I just can’t take this any more. I’ve lived with it for far too long.’
‘Exactly. You’ve come this far. You’ve gone through too much to crumble now.’
‘Who the hell is she though? What does she want?’
‘It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t know anything. That’s all that’s important.’
‘You can’t be sure of that. You don’t know.’
‘Hold it together. Stay strong.’
‘I don’t think I can. I just… it’s too much… I’ve got to go.’
‘Laurence… Laurence. Hello?’
CHAPTER 15
‘You do know that both Paton and the neighbour across the road probably took your registration number?’
Tony and Rachel were in her flat in Highburgh Road, she in a dressing gown and he with his shoes kicked off, lying back on the bed. Rachel was sitting at the computer and working her way through a search engine. It had been three days since they’d returned from their visit to Wallace Place but it was still dominating their conversation.
‘I’m counting on it,’ she called back over her shoulder.
‘What?’
‘Look, if Paton has nothing to hide…’ She let her reply fade.
‘Then the first thing he would do is get on to the police and tell them about the crazy woman outside his house the other day,’ Winter finished for her.
‘Right. Or maybe the second thing. The first would have been to open his door and ask what the hell we wanted. So if we don’t hear from Central Scotland cops, then that tells me I’m on the right track. In this case, no news is definitely good news.’
Winter fell quiet, not as convinced by Rachel’s argument as she was. The truth was, he wasn’t convinced by any of it. He was fascinated by the horror of what had happened in Inchmahome, there was no denying that, but he doubted the good that could come of trying to investigate it after all these years. He could see the strain her dad’s condition was placing on Rachel and he was worried where it would lead — not that he voiced any of his reservations. He knew her much better than to think that was a good idea.
‘So what do you think you’re going to find on the internet?’
Rachel shrugged without looking back at him.
‘My dad’s files are still held by Central Scotland Police because the case is still open, officially at least. I know most of what’s in them. I’ve spent enough time talking to him about it. So… I’m searching everything I can find on here in case it offers something new.’
‘Think it will?’
‘Probably not but you never know. There is just so much of this stuff,’ she waved her hand at the screen. ‘And it’s as full of as many rumours as old Dick Johnson or the public bar in The Waverley.’
‘Gypsies?’ he asked her.
‘Yeah. Romany princesses and honour killings. There’s plenty of that. Witchcraft, kidnap gangs and links to every known nutter in the country.’
‘The internet’s great but there’s so much shite masquerading as fact that you can’t trust any of it. Anything useful?’
‘Maybe, although not directly about what happened. I’ve been reading about a forensic anthropologist at Dundee University who has done some great work in facial reconstructions from skeletal remains. I was thinking she could help us out.’
Winter let the ‘us’ pass without comment.
‘Recreate an image of the girl’s face, you mean?’
‘Yes,’ she spun to look at him. ‘Professor Kirsten Fairweather. It was her team that reconstructed the medieval knight that was found under the floorboards at Stirling Castle. You remember it? They produced a computer-generated image of him. And that guy had been dead for nearly 700 years, so a twenty-year-old body should be a piece of cake.’
‘Well, obviously, if you found out who the girl was, then it would make it a hell of a lot easier to find out who killed her,’ he conceded. ‘Think they’ll go for it?’
‘That’s a slight problem. They’d need a skeleton to work on. The hard bit is going to be to persuade Central to give the go-ahead to dig her up.’
Winter looked at Rachel doubtfully. He had that familiar feeling of knowing full well he shouldn’t say something but was going to do it anyway. It was like some form of Tourette’s.
‘Look, I don’t want to be negative here but…’
‘Course you don’t,’ she interrupted, immediately irritable.
‘It’s just that if you want Central Scotland Police on side to exhume this girl, then your case isn’t exactly going to be helped by being reported for harassing a one-time suspect.’
Rachel shook her head wearily.
‘He’s still a suspect as far as I’m concerned. Anyway, that’s just a chance I’ll have to take. The reconstruction is probably a bit down the line. I need something to work with first. But thanks for your encouragement.’
‘For fucksake, Rachel, I’m only pointing it out. You’re going out on a limb here and that’s not like you. You’re normally by the book, sensible and level-headed — the ice queen investigator.’
She glared back at him, indignant at his response, as if he’d been disloyal.
‘I’ve got to do this off the books because I’m the one who has to do it,’ she argued. ‘Don’t you understand, it’s got to be me who sorts it for him.’