Val McDermid - The Distant Echo

Ziggy put his arm round Alex’s shoulders. ‘That’s a hard one, Alex. Thing is, though, you’re older now. What we saw last night, that was as bad as it gets. There’s really nothing much your imagination can do to make it worse. Whatever you dream now, it’s not going to be half as bad as seeing Rosie like that.’

Alex wished he could take more comfort from Ziggy’s words. But he sensed they were only half true. ‘I guess we’re all going to have demons to deal with after last night,’ he said.

‘Some more practical than others,’ Ziggy said, taking his arm back and clasping his hands. ‘I don’t know how, but Maclennan picked up on me being gay.’ He bit his lip.

‘Oh, shit,’ Alex said.

‘You’re the only person I’ve ever told, you know that?’ Ziggy’s mouth twisted in a wry smile. ‘Well, apart from the guys I’ve been with, obviously.’

‘Obviously. How did he know?’ Alex asked.

‘I was being so careful not to lie, he spotted the truth in between the cracks. And now I’m worried that it’s going to spread out further.’

‘Why should it?’

‘You know how people love to gossip. I don’t suppose cops are any different from anybody else in that respect. They’re bound to talk to the university. If they wanted to put pressure on us, that would be one way to do it. And what if they come and see us at home in Kirkcaldy? What if Maclennan thinks it would be a smart move to out me to my parents?’

‘He’s not going to do that, Ziggy. We’re witnesses. There’s no mileage for him in alienating us.’

Ziggy sighed. ‘I wish I could believe you. As far as I can see, Maclennan is treating us more like suspects than witnesses. And that means he’ll use anything as a pressure point, doesn’t it?’

‘I think you’re being paranoid.’

‘Maybe. But what if he says something to Weird or Mondo?’

‘They’re your friends. They’re not going to turn their backs on you over that.’

Ziggy snorted. ‘I tell you what I think would happen if Maclennan lets slip that their best mate is a poof. I think Weird will want to fight me and Mondo will never walk into a toilet with me again as long as he lives. They’re homophobic, Alex. You know that.’

‘They’ve known you half their lives. That’s going to count for a lot more than stupid prejudice. I didn’t freak out when you told me,’ Alex said.

‘I told you precisely because I knew you wouldn’t freak out. You’re not a knee-jerk Neanderthal.’

Alex pulled a self-deprecating face. ‘It was a pretty safe bet, telling somebody whose favourite painter is Caravaggio, I suppose. But they’re not dinosaurs either, Ziggy. They’d take it on board. Revise their world view in the light of what they know about you. I really don’t think you should lose sleep over it.’

Ziggy shrugged. ‘Maybe you’re right. I’d prefer not to put it to the test, though. And even if they’re all right, what happens if it gets out? How many out gays can you name in this university? All those English public schoolboys who spent their teens buggering each other, they’re not out of the closet, are they? They’re all running about with Fionas and Fenellas, securing the succession. Look at Jeremy Thorpe. He’s standing trial for conspiring to murder his ex-lover, just to keep his homosexuality quiet. This isn’t San Francisco, Alex. This is St Andrews. I’ve got years before I qualify as a doctor, and I tell you now, my career is dead in the water if Maclennan outs me.’

‘It’s not going to happen, Ziggy. You’re getting things out of proportion. You’re tired, and you said yourself, we’ve all had our heads fucked up by what’s happened. I tell you what I’m a lot more concerned about.’

‘What’s that?’

‘The Land Rover. What the fuck are we going to do about that?’

‘We’ll have to bring it back. There’s no other option. Otherwise it gets reported stolen, and we’re in big trouble.’

‘Sure, I know that. But when?’ Alex asked. ‘We can’t do it today. Whoever dumped Rosie there must have had some sort of vehicle, and the one thing that makes us look less like suspects is that none of us has a car. But if we’re spotted tooling around in the snow in a Land Rover, we go straight to number one on Maclennan’s hit parade.’

‘Same thing applies if a Land Rover suddenly appears smack bang outside our house,’ Ziggy said.

‘So what do we do?’

Ziggy kicked at the snow between his feet. ‘I suppose we just have to wait till the heat dies down, then I’ll come back and shift it. Thank God I remembered about the keys in time to shove them into the waistband of my underpants. Otherwise we’d have been screwed when Maclennan made us turn out our pockets.’

‘You’re not kidding. You sure you want to move it?’

‘The rest of you have got holiday jobs. I can easily get away. All I have to do is make some excuse about needing the university library.’

Alex shifted uneasily on his perch. ‘I suppose it has occurred to you that covering up the fact we had the Land Rover might just be letting a killer off the hook?’

Ziggy looked shocked. ‘You’re not seriously suggesting … ?’

‘What? That one of us could have done it?’ Alex couldn’t believe he’d given voice to the insidious suspicions that had wormed their way into his consciousness. Hastily, he tried to cover up. ‘No. But those keys were floating around at the party. Maybe somebody else saw a chance and took it …’ His voice tailed off.

‘You know that didn’t happen. And in your heart, you know you don’t really believe one of us could have murdered Rosie,’ Ziggy said confidently.

Alex wished he could be so sure. Who knew what went on in Weird’s head when he was drugged up to the eyeballs? And what about Mondo? He’d driven that girl home, obviously thinking he was in there. But what if she’d knocked him back? He’d have been pissed off and frustrated, and maybe just drunk enough to want to take it out on another lassie who had knocked him back as Rosie had more than once in the Lammas. What if he’d come across her on his way back? He shook his head. It didn’t bear thinking about.

As if sensing the thoughts in Alex’s head, Ziggy said softly, ‘If you’re thinking about Weird and Mondo, you have to include me in the list. I had just as much chance as them. And I hope you know what a ludicrous idea that is.’

‘It’s insane. You’d never hurt anybody.’

‘Same goes for the other two. Suspicion’s like a virus, Alex. You’ve picked it up off Maclennan. But you need to shake it off before it takes hold and infects your head and your heart. Remember what you know about us. None of that matches up with a cold-blooded killer.’

Ziggy’s words didn’t quite dispel Alex’s unease, but he didn’t want to discuss it. Instead, he put his arm round Ziggy’s shoulders. ‘You’re a pal, Zig. Come on. Let’s go into town. I’ll treat you to a pancake.’

Ziggy grinned. ‘Last of the big spenders, huh? I’ll pass, if you don’t mind. Somehow, I don’t feel that hungry. And remember: All for one and one for all. That’s not about being blind to each other’s faults, but it is about trusting each other. It’s a trust that’s based on years of solid knowledge. Don’t let Maclennan undermine that.’

Barney Maclennan looked round the CID room. For once it was packed out. Unusually among plain-clothes detectives, Maclennan believed in including the uniformed officers in his briefings on major cases. It gave them a stake in the investigation. Besides, they were so much closer to the ground, they were likely to pick up things detectives might miss. Making them feel part of the team meant they were more inclined to follow those observations through rather than put them to one side as irrelevant.