She grinned at him. 'I'm not a complete ignoramus in that science. I did some studying while I was pregnant with Seonaid, and I've talked to Joe Hutchison about it. I couldn't build you a new head yet, but I'll give you some thoughts that are a little more than guesses… if only a little.'
As he turned to go back into the van, she laid a hand on his arm. 'Andy.' She was suddenly, untypically, tentative. 'Can I say something?'
'Always.'
'It's about you and Karen.'
He smiled gently. 'Bob's been filling you in on the office gossip. Or was it Alex?'
'No. You know Bob wouldn't do that. And what would Alex know? He mentioned something, that's all. I just wanted to say… and this is where it gets difficult… that if you like her… and I can tell you do… you shouldn't hold back from getting involved because of anything that's happened in the past… to Bob and me.'
He took her point at once. 'Listen, Sarah, one thing I like about Karen is that she doesn 't want to get involved. We're good friends away from the office, and -1 only say this because it's you — we've danced the occasional dance together, but it is a friendship rather than a relationship. Happily, that suits us both. It's a bit like Alex and I are now.'
She surprised him by frowning. 'As her step-mother, I have to tell you I'd be worried about you and her sleeping together just for old time's sake. Unless you were getting back together unconditionally, that wouldn't be good for either of you.'
He laid his big hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. 'We couldn't do that; we want different things from life and we both know it. As for the other, I hear what you're saying and I'll make sure that doesn't happen. Promise.' He laughed, suddenly. 'Christ, my love-life's chaotic enough as it is.'
'Then maybe Karen is what you need. Friendship should always come first, you know.'
'Ah, there's a slight impediment in the way of that at the moment.'
'Not Ruth McConnell, by any chance?'
He stared at her amazed, confused and guilty all at once. He had forgotten, completely, his date for the following Saturday night. 'No,' he said, 'not Ruth.' He paused. 'Well…'
She stood up on her toes and kissed him, gently, on the lips.
'Andy Martin, you are a one-off. Take a tip from Auntie Sarah. Find a nice girl, one you like and respect, settle down, have lots of babies, and get on with becoming a Chief Constable.'
'That's all wonderful theory, Auntie, but when you find three at the same time it becomes completely buggered up.'
She shook her head, smiling, and pushed him back towards the mobile headquarters. 'I give up. Go on, get back in there.'
She was almost gone when he remembered. 'Hey, Sarah,' he called after her. She turned. 'The floater p.m. this afternoon: would it be all right if a girl I know sat in on it? Her name's Rhian, she lives next door and she's a final-year medical student.'
'If you're vouching for her and you tell her to keep her voice off the tape, that'll be okay.'
'Great. Thanks. I'll tell her to ask for you at the Royal.'
Maggie Rose had continued the briefing in his absence. 'I've just been summarising the door-to-door results, sir. Nothing, I'm afraid.'
'… but you're not surprised.'
'No. Not really. It fits the man.'
'What do you mean?' he asked
'I mean that no-one knew who he was. Alec Smith is the most private man I've ever encountered. It's as if he was born to do the SB job.
'Everything we've been able to find out about him bears that out. We've interviewed all his neighbours in North Berwick; not one of them, not even the man who saw the dog and found the body could tell us anything about him. The woman two doors along didn't even know what he looked like.
'I've spoken to former colleagues of his. They all said the same thing. "Oh aye, Alec." But they couldn't recall any stories about his career, or even any anecdotes. You know what I mean; Dan Pringle got pissed at a CID dance a few years back and folk still talk about it. But Alec Smith never even went to the CID dance… not ever.
'The Chief's even been to see his ex-wife… his widow, I should say. They were never divorced. She told him that he was courteous, a good provider, not mean in any way; but she said that he was a remote man, quiet to the point of coldness, and that no-one — not even she, not even his children — ever really got to know him. Eventually she decided that she didn't like living alone, so she found someone else.'
'Someone knew him, though,' Martin countered. 'Someone got to know him well enough to want to burn his eyes out and spill his guts out on to his living-room carpet. We're going to have to find the real Alec for ourselves. I'm pretty sure that's the only way we're going to find out who killed him.'
'I agree with you. That'll have to be Mario's job. There are places he can go and things he can look at that are closed to us ordinary coppers. He's asked for Stevie as back-up.
'As for the rest of us; we'll follow up the only lead we've had so far; Sarah's post-mortem report. The DCs, Faxon, Morrow and Braid, have been told to get round all the vets in East Lothian.'
'We should check out Edinburgh too,' said the Head of CID. 'I'll have Sergeant Neville and DC Pye from my staff get that done and report back to you.'
He called across the room. 'You hear that, Karen? You and Sammy do the Herriot round in the city. See if you can find out what sort of weapon might have been used to shoot Smith.'
13
'Calling Andy! Calling Andy! Where are you?'
He blinked and looked up, across the dinner table. 'I'm sorry, Rhian,' he said, sincerely. 'You're right, I was off somewhere… although I couldn't say for sure where it was. This has been an absolutely surreal weekend, in all sorts of ways. What a mixture; I've seen pure bloody horror… yet in the midst of it all there's been you. An island of beauty in a sea of ugliness, you might say.'
She grinned, dispersing the gloom which had begun to gather around him. 'I might indeed,' she murmured, 'but I prefer it when you say it.' She angled her head looking through the glass wall of Daniel's Bistro at the big modern Scottish Office building.
'My mum works in there,' she said, idly. 'She's quite important; a Grade-something-or-other… Damn! I always forget the number… they used to call it Assistant Secretary. Her division has something to do with Home Affairs… a family speciality, you might say.'
A smile flicked his mouth in acknowledgement of her small joke. 'Everyone's important, Rhian. From the foot-soldiers through to the field officers like me to the generals on horseback like Big Bob and Proud Jimmy, we've all got our part to play in the service we give the public. If one link breaks the chain's goosed, and it doesn't matter where it happens.
'That's true of every organisation… including the Health Service. You'll be a better doctor if you remember it.'
'I'll be a better doctor for watching Sarah do that postmortem this afternoon. She's terrific. Thanks for fixing it for me. Talking to her afterwards, listening to her talk about the way her career developed, has given me a different perspective on medicine.'
'Think long and carefully before making any decisions,' he warned her. 'There aren't many Sarahs about. You have to play to your own strengths, not those you see in others.'
'Andy: about that chain of yours. What do you do if you find a weak link?'
'You mean me? Personally?'
'Yes.'
'I cut it out.'
'Isn't that a bit brutal?'
His vivid green eyes fixed on her. 'It's necessary. I'll do anything that's necessary. I learned that from Bob.'
'What's he like, that man Skinner?' she asked him.
'Different. Inspiring, intimidating when he has to be. He has a tremendous analytical mind. Sum it all up, he's a great detective and a great leader.'