Douglas Lindsay - The unburied dead

On my way out, I bump into Sergeant Harrison. I hope I look human, and experience has taught me to keep toothpaste in the desk drawer, so I'm no longer setting fire to everything upon which I breathe.

She's pinning something on the noticeboard about a police charity evening early in the New Year. I hate those things. Stand and watch her for a second, before realising I'm staring.

'Eileen,' I say.

She turns, smiles.

'Rough night last night, Thomas?' she says.

I ignore it. 'I need some advice.'

She sticks in the last drawing pin, checks it's straight, and steps back.

'Don't drink so much, and get to bed earlier.'

Everyone hates a comedienne.

'Very funny. What do you know about twelve year-old girls?'

She smiles. I like Eileen Harrison. Not sure why. Maybe it's because I'm pretty sure there's no chance I'll ever get her into bed. Respect, you see.

'Well, I was one once, if that's any help.'

'I need an idea of what to get Rebecca for Christmas.'

'Your daughter?'

'Aye.'

She purses her lips.

'How much money are you spending?'

Not sure that I want to divulge that information to Detective Sergeant Harrison. Don't want to be judged.

'Fifty pounds,' I say anyway.

'She mature for her age?'

Feel like I'm under investigation. Imagine Sergeant Harrison viciously interrogating suspects.

'Not sure. I mean, you can't tell, can you? Who knows what she's like when I'm not there. She could be doing drugs and boys and all that stuff, for all I know.'

Purses her lips again, looks disapproving. 'You've been in the job too long, Thomas. Not all children are baby adults, doing dodgy deals and out for what they can get.'

'Aye, but some of them are.'

'Fine. Get her a piece of jewellery then. If she's older than her years that'll do her, and if she's not it'll make her feel mature, and show that you respect her. How's that?'

I look at her; she smiles and turns. Why is it that woman have so much more common sense than men? Must be genetic. We got testosterone, they got common sense and all those orgasms.

'What kind of jewellery?' I say pathetically to Eileen Harrison's back.

She turns, still smiling. Pitying smile, this time.

'Use your imagination, Thomas, for God's sake, she's your daughter.' And off she goes to chew the bollocks of hardened criminals.

Suitably chastened, I make my way out of the station.

*

Three down, four to go. This is going to be a long day. Sitting in the drab waiting area of a small lawyer's office in Tollcross as a result of a phone call from an Ian Healy, who says he saw our murder victim on Monday night. Sounds a little more plausible than the others, particularly the last one, a seventy-three-year-old man who claimed to have seen her in Woolworths in Rutherglen at half past ten yesterday morning. Get a life, you sad bastard, I said to him, and walked out the door.

I'm sitting under the watchful eye of a curious secretary, all ravenously curly hair and lipstick. Face like bread and butter pudding, the typical Glasgow police sceptic. I want to arrest her for something.

The door opens, out steps Mr. Healy, preceded by a small man in tears, who looks suspiciously at me as he walks by.

'Don't worry,' says Healy to him, 'we'll get her back for you.'

The man half turns, gives a watery smile and is gone. There goes an interesting little story, the details of which I couldn't want to know less.

I stand up, take Healy's outstretched hand.

'Detective Sergeant Hutton,' I say. Firm grip, the guy's young and doesn't look like an idiot. We're a couple of goals to the good already.

'Come in, Sergeant,' he says, and ushers me past the secretary.

Walk in, simple enough office, sit down.

'Sorry about Mr McKay,' he says. 'Problems with his dog.'

'Ah,' I say. I really don't give a shit about the dog.

'Very weird situation,' says Healy.

'I believe you might have seen Ann Keller on Monday evening?' I say, cutting to the business end.

He nods, looks serious, leans forward. 'Aye. Monday night, on my way home from the pub. So it would have been some time not long after eleven.'

'Was she alone?'

He nods, looks even more serious. I hate lawyers. 'No, well, kind of, but there was a guy walking just behind her. I didn't pay that much attention, but I got the impression he was following her, hassling her…'

'So why didn't you say anything? Give her some help?'

He swallows, looks guilty. The question wasn't fair — implied that the woman might not be dead if he'd done something. Doesn't do any harm to keep them on their toes, however.

'I don't know. You don't, do you? He wasn't speaking to her or anything. It was just an impression I got. I forgot about it until I saw the television last night.'

'Aye, fine.' Shuffle about in the pocket, produce a photofit picture, pass it across the desk.

He studies it, shakes his head. 'No, definitely not him.'

Good. That was a picture of Herrod, and the first two I showed it to already identified him as the killer. It'd be pretty funny if it was, but unfortunately he's got a hundred and fifty police witnesses as an alibi.

Pass over another picture. He looks at it, shakes his head again. Pass the third over, the real one this time. He studies it closely, then shakes his head again.

'No, not him either. At least I don't think so.'

I take it back off him, look at it, shove it back in my pocket. These bloody pictures are crap. It could be anybody. It could be this guy sitting across the desk.

'Do you think you'd be able to come down to the station later and make up one of these for the man you think you saw?'

Slight twitch, hesitation — just enough — then, 'Sure. Not for a couple of hours, but I could do it this afternoon.'

Don't betray your thought. 'That'd be great, thanks Mr. Healy.' Wonder. You never know what these headcases are going to do. It takes a mad bastard to invite the police in when you've committed murder, but then it takes a mad bastard to knife a woman over a hundred times.

Five minutes later I'm walking down the stairs, staring at the photofit. It's not right, but it's not a million miles away. And our witness only got a brief look at him, so who knows how accurate the picture is in the first place? There was never enough there to suggest Healy's our man, just a suspicion, and if I'd still been hungover I would have missed it. There's a lot said for gut feelings, but I usually find they come to nought or make you look like an idiot. Sometimes, however, they pan out and then you look like a genius, so you have to go with them. Let the guy come into the station and then see what we can make of him. Won't be hard. Find out what pub he was in, who he was with, check it out. Could have asked him in there, but didn't want to give anything away. If the guy suddenly disappears and another fifty murders are committed, I can take the time to feel bad.

Another check of the list. Four down, three to go.

Two o'clock — the time I fixed for Healy to pay us a call — came and went without a sign of the guy. Gave him some time to be late and then we all leapt into action. I had communicated my doubts about him to Bloonsbury, so when he didn't show, Jonah pissed in his pants.

Taylor and I went round there. The office had been closed up, but then it was Christmas Eve. Went to his house and he wasn't there, went to the secretary's house, found her up to the armpits in Christmas cooking and looking as miserable as ever. She told us that Healy had left the office not long after twelve for a lunch appointment and that as far as she knew he intended going to the station thereafter. Claimed ignorance as to where he was having lunch but the woman's his secretary for God's sake, she must have had some idea. Taylor persuaded me not to employ thumbscrews and we left without any further information.