Alex Gray: Never Somewhere Else

The last Lorimer saw of Davey Baird was his descent from the dock. His head hung down as he looked towards his feet. Again Lorimer was struck by his slight frame. Who would have thought, looking at such a poor creature, that he’d be capable of all that bloodshed?

Lorimer stood as the judge left the Court then gathered up his raincoat. There were other crimes waiting to be solved, other prisoners awaiting trial, but he would be unlikely to see anything like this one again in his career. Still, you never knew. And the shades of fate cast long shadows.

EPILOGUE

RETROSPECTIVE DRAWS IN THE CROWDS

The opening of TIMES PAST at Glasgow School of Art is by any standards a huge success. This retrospective exhibition of the work of two talented young artists seeks to show the world the unfulfilled promise of each before their untimely deaths. Janet Yarwood’s sensitive paintings of children were hailed by many as a new dimension in portraiture. Her protégée, Lucy Haining, demonstrated Yarwood’s influence in her own child drawings, the striking luminosity of the eyes being a particular feature. Haining’s jewellery was also on show, including her final-year portfolio, which, of course, she never had the opportunity to present. The exhibition was officially opened by Mr Norman Yarwood, who expressed his delight at the recognition given to his daughter and her pupil. Glasgow School of Art will host the exhibition until the end of this month, when it will be taken on tour to art colleges throughout Scotland and England .

Review by Jayne Morganti

BOOKS

Offender profiling is not by any means a new topic written about by our eminent psychologists. Nevertheless, a recent publication by Glasgow University Press has taken the scientific world by storm. Dr Solomon Brightman, whose expertise was used in the investigation into the notorious St Mungo’s Murders, has revealed some astonishing new techniques in what is still a fairly young branch of psychology. Using the case as a model, Dr Brightman puts forward theories about criminal behaviour that seek to promote a holistic approach to criminal investigation . Alternative Methods uses statistical studies of over three hundred urban murders in recent times and deals with the patterns of criminal behaviour that reveal deep-seated psychophysical motives. The book has already met with some controversy from the establishment, notably from Dr Gifford Gillespie, who accused the author of ‘Seeking sensationalism at the expense of scientific rationale’. Channel 4’s Science Now will feature the two psychologists in a debate that promises to be lively. See Reviewer’s Choice page 22 for details .

NEW FACES

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Mitchison has been promoted to Superintendent following the retirement last year of Divisional Commander, Superintendent George Phillips. Superintendent Mitchison has declared his intention to pull all senior officers into a new management strategy in the light of the latest round of Home Office budget cuts .

KILLER WINS MAJOR AWARD

Exclusive by Jack Pettigrew, Home Affairs Correspondent

The Special Unit, HM Prison, Shotts, has been the focus recently for a series of artistic and literary works by its inmates. The latest of these to gain public renown is David Baird, the St Mungo’s murderer. Baird’s photography was already well established in the Glasgow art world but won increased notoriety during and after his trial .

Since his imprisonment, Baird has been encouraged by the regime at Shotts to continue his creative work. Sales of his existing work have risen dramatically, and now the one-time freelance photographer for the Gazette has added considerably to his prestige by winning The Times’ annual award for best photographer of the year. Prison officers are reported as saying that they are impressed by the prisoner’s behaviour in the year he has spent in Shotts, one officer even going as far to claim that Baird is a model prisoner. This can only augur well for Baird’s solicitor who has now lodged the appeal against his sentence. If Baird were to serve the full sentence, he would never be eligible for release. It would then be at the discretion of the Home Secretary to offer any hope of eventual change in his sentence. With the Government’s current white paper on rehabilitation of offenders under discussion by Parliament, the timing of Baird’s award may prove to be fortuitous for the man who claimed insanity as a defence for multiple killing and mutilation of young girls .

Leader Comment page 12 .

Light was flooding down from the stained glass above him as Lorimer approached the familiar sweep of stone steps. He’d been coming to Kelvingrove Art Galleries and Museum since boyhood when he’d first revelled in the dinosaur skeletons and cases full of stuffed animals. Eventually that same small boy had found the paintings and he’d been looking at them ever since.

As he turned an angle of the staircase, Lorimer gave a cursory glance towards the people’s choice of paintings ranked row upon row against the varnished panelling. It was a place full of contrasts, he mused, considering the brightness of the modern glass work followed by these dark corridors: just like the Rembrandt he had come to visit.

Lorimer slowed down as he entered the room. The natural light gave warmth to these walls and each painting glowed within its heavily gilded frame.

This was the one.

He sat down on the bench, sensing a stillness within himself as he looked at the painting. Everything else was forgotten as he took in the rich browns and reds, the elegant brushwork, that quality of light on helmet and eye; the chiaroscuro that was the artist’s trademark. He knew it so well and yet it never failed to amaze him. How many people had sat, as he did now, seeing Rembrandt’s Man in Armour ? How many more would marvel at the artist’s genius in years — no, centuries — to come?

As Lorimer continued to gaze he felt almost invisible before the work of the great master. It was as if his own life suddenly lacked any significance. Perhaps he’d make superintendent some day, perhaps not. Did it matter very much? One day he’d be gone. Other feet would always find their way to this bench; other eyes drink in this masterpiece. Lorimer’s gaze took in the face in the painting. Was it only great art that endured or was there something in the human spirit that survived this frantic tilt at life?

His thoughts were broken as he felt a thump on the bench beside him. From the corner of his eye Lorimer could see a child of about seven perched on the bench, swinging his legs. Noticing the boy’s sticky hands clutching the edge of the seat and his sweetie-reddened mouth, he moved instinctively aside. The boy didn’t seem to notice, absorbed in his own study of the Rembrandt.

‘Hey, mister,’ the child asked, turning to Lorimer. ‘Is he a sojer?’

Hiding a smile, Lorimer replied, ‘That’s right, son. He’s called Man in Armour .’

The wee boy looked back at the picture, considering.

‘And did he kill anyone, like?’

Lorimer’s eyebrows shot up, then he followed the child’s gaze to the grave face of the knight. What was the boy seeing? The shield? The knight staring towards a shadowy sword clutched in one gauntlet-clad hand? He was only an artist’s model, Lorimer knew; some fellow got up in cloak and armour for Rembrandt’s studio. He could tell the child all this and more besides. Yet no one knew who the man in the armour really was.

‘Here, Billy. What have I told you about talking to strangers? No offence, pal.’

A young woman in jeans and cropped top was pulling the child off the bench and making an apologetic face at Lorimer. He watched them as they made their way towards the door, the child protesting as he was escorted firmly from the room. As Billy turned for one last wistful look at the famous painting, Lorimer was painfully reminded of another small boy who had talked to a stranger and another man who had dressed up to play a part.