Gilchrist’s mobile rang again, and an unfamiliar number flashed up.
He made the connection with, ‘Gilchrist.’
‘Billy Whyte here. Did Mac speak to you?’
For a moment, the first name threw Gilchrist, then he placed it – DI Smith. ‘He did.’
‘Then you’ll be pleased to know we’ve found a link. With the shit getting flushed down the toilet, we sent uniforms to the remaining six addresses and got a hit.’
Gilchrist jerked alert. ‘Who is it?’
‘Charlotte Renwick.’
‘The woman who insisted on anonymity?’
‘Yes. Well, Amy Charlotte Renwick was Amy McCulloch’s full maiden name.’
Something cold and hard hit Gilchrist’s chest. ‘Jesus . . .’
‘Indeed,’ Whyte said. ‘When she filed her complaint she said she had too much to lose for her past to come out. Part of her attempt to maintain anonymity was to give her sister’s address in Perth. Her sister – Siobhan Renwick – never married, so Renwick was on the Council Tax records, and the phone number was registered under that name—’
‘Which helps explain why no one picked up on it during investigation of the complaint.’
‘Exactly,’ Whyte said. ‘Although I’ll be looking into that. It’s not good enough.’
‘So did Amy/Charlotte claim she was sexually abused by Magner?’
‘She did.’
‘Details?’
‘Forcible rape, like all the others.’
‘And she kept this from her husband?’
‘She must have, I’d say.’
‘What about the others?’ Gilchrist asked. ‘Are they still pressing forward?’
‘You tell me.’
Gilchrist was puzzled by Whyte’s comment, and did not miss the chill in his voice. He did not have to wait long for an answer.
‘You visited Vicky Kelvin,’ Whyte said. ‘Didn’t you read her statement?’
‘Curiosity got the better of me, Billy. But before we get into a personal battle, as Amy was murdered, and the others are dropping like flies, have you given consideration to providing protection—’
‘What the fuck d’you think we’ve been doing?’
‘I’m thinking of Vicky. She was the first to come forward, the instigator—’
‘Listen, Andy, I’ve been more than fair with you, but don’t go working behind my back. We’re meant to be on the same side here.’
Gilchrist pushed back his chair, and closed the door. Then he turned to the window and almost cursed as he saw Greaves reversing his Hyundai into his reserved space in the Office car park below.
‘How many sisters did Amy McCulloch have?’ Gilchrist asked.
‘Two. Why?’
‘Siobhan Renwick and Janice Meechan.’
‘Yes.’
‘Any brothers?’
‘No,’ Whyte said.
Outside, Greaves slammed his car door hard enough for the sound to reach Gilchrist. He turned from the window. ‘I haven’t had this confirmed yet,’ he said, ‘but rumour has it that Meechan and Magner have been having an affair since late last year.’
Whyte remained silent for several seconds, as if thinking through the possibilities. ‘That could be significant,’ he said at length. ‘The timing I mean. Vicky Kelvin filed her complaint against Magner in January, but she’d been digging around for months beforehand.’
Gilchrist smiled at Whyte’s logic, and cocked his head at the sound of a door slamming on the floor below, its hard echo reverberating along the empty corridor.
‘Have you interviewed Janice Meechan yet?’ Whyte asked him.
‘Not personally. But DI Davidson did.’
‘What’s his take?’
‘She denied it at first, but caved in the end.’
‘Did Magner ever assault her?’
‘She didn’t say.’
‘I’d like to talk to DI Davidson.’
Gilchrist’s door burst open, and Greaves pointed at him. ‘You. My office. Now.’
Gilchrist cupped his hand over the mouthpiece and nodded.
‘I said now.’
Gilchrist turned to the window. ‘Can Stan reach you at this number?’ he asked.
‘Yep. Sounds like you’ve got company,’ Whyte said.
‘Regrettably. Let me know how you get on,’ Gilchrist said, as the echo of another door slamming reverberated along the corridor.
Gilchrist killed the call. For one tempting moment, he contemplated just walking from the building, letting Greaves stew in his office. But the dragon would have to be faced at some point, so why not now?
He knocked on Greaves’s door and pushed it open. ‘You wanted to see me, sir?’
Greaves stopped pacing behind his desk and stared at Gilchrist as if his question were a personal insult. ‘Close the door.’
Gilchrist stepped into the office, the door shutting behind him with a firm click.
‘I don’t intend to beat about the bush,’ Greaves said. ‘Have you been screwing Maxwell Cooper’s wife behind his back?’
Gilchrist raised his eyebrows. ‘I wouldn’t put it that way, sir. I’d say I’ve been seeing Dr Cooper and, yes, we’ve been sleeping together. But certainly not behind Maxwell Cooper’s back. He’s been out of the country for the last several months.’
‘For God’s sake, man. Don’t twist my words. Do you know who he is?’
‘Dr Cooper’s husband.’
Something seemed to settle behind Greaves’s eyes at that moment – the realisation that a less senior officer was making a fool of him. His lips quivered, as if undecided whether to scream or say nothing. They seemed to choose the latter, for he looked down at his desk, pulled out his chair, and sat down.
Then he glared at Gilchrist. ‘Sit.’
Gilchrist obliged, taking one of the two chairs in front of the desk. For some strange reason, he almost felt sorry for Greaves, although prudence warned him to listen rather than offer sympathy. Greaves watched him with tight eyes that must surely hurt, and for a moment Gilchrist wondered if the man was just hungover.
‘How long’s it been going on?’ Greaves said.
‘What did Cooper say?’
‘That you’ve been screwing his wife since Christmas.’
‘His exact words?’
‘But with more venom.’
‘Which year?’
Greaves froze, except for his eyes, which danced in their sockets. ‘I’m in no mood for any of your lip, Andy. This is bloody serious.’
‘Why?’
Greaves glared, as if stunned. ‘Why?’
‘Yes, Tom, why is my personal life anyone’s concern—’
‘You’re the SIO in the biggest murder investigation to hit Fife since the Stabber, for crying out loud. Jesus Christ, Andy, we can’t afford to have the press picking up on the fact that you’re fucking around on the side, instead of working your bloody arse off.’
‘Fact?’ Gilchrist pressed his hands on the desk. ‘The only people who know any facts about my relationship with Rebecca Cooper are the two of us.’ He sat back. ‘And that includes her husband.’
Greaves stared hard. ‘He’s had you followed.’
‘So he says.’
‘You don’t believe him?’
‘Do you?’
Greaves seemed about to explode.
Gilchrist tried to lower the temperature by saying, ‘I don’t give a toss about Maxwell Cooper. And I couldn’t care less about the papers. They print what they like anyway.’
‘Quite.’
‘And rest assured, Tom, that my personal life is just that. Personal. I don’t go around kissing in public.’
‘Holding hands, then?’
‘Too old for that,’ Gilchrist said, but a flurry of anxiety fluttered through him.
When Cooper and he first became involved, showing affection in public had been of no concern. Mr Cooper had fled the matrimonial home, while Becky was toying with the idea of divorce. Then, as if in some silent joint New Year’s resolution, they made a subconscious decision to refrain from affection in the open, for professional appearances. It now worried Gilchrist that if Cooper had known of his wife’s affair since Christmas, then it was indeed possible that evidence of the pair of them cuddling up to each other did exist.
‘You’ve been seen together in public,’ Greaves told him.
‘We work together in public.’
‘In restaurants?’
‘We have to eat,’ Gilchrist said.
Greaves pursed his lips.
‘And I can assure you, Tom, that we’ve never ripped off the tablecloth and gone for it,’ he added, although it did trouble him that in the early days of their affair, they used to have the occasional grope under the table. He tried to reassure himself that they had always been discreet, but with alcohol involved you could never be sure.
‘Do you intend to continue?’ Greaves asked, one gentleman enquiring of infidelities of the other.
‘Whatever I decide to do will not affect the investigation in any way, sir. Unless you plan to suspend me again.’
Greaves flinched at the emphasis, then gave a tiny shake of his head.
Gilchrist had the best investigation record in the country. And ACC McVicar liked to make others aware that his blue-eyed boy was second to none. Greaves would not dare suspend him from such a high-profile case over something like this. He was just flexing his muscles, reminding Gilchrist who was boss.
So Gilchrist pressed on. ‘The investigation is making significant progress, with or without me screwing Cooper’s wife on the side.’
Greaves seemed to welcome the invitation to change the topic, if only for a moment. ‘So there’s some good news?’
‘It’s early days.’
Greaves nodded, temper on hold for the moment. ‘How the hell do we keep this out of the papers, Andy?’
‘Don’t tell them.’
‘Do come along. You know better than that. They’ll find out everything. They always do.’
Gilchrist waited several seconds, then said, ‘You’ve never told me, Tom, how you heard about Rebecca and me.’
‘Maxwell phoned.’
‘So you know each other?’
‘That’s really none of your business, Andy. But since you ask, yes, we golf together from time to time.’
‘Well, it seems to me that the simplest way to keep this out of the papers is for you to tell your golfing buddy to keep his mouth shut.’
‘It’s not as simple as that.’
‘It’s as simple as you want to make it.’
Greaves returned Gilchrist’s stare with a look that could chill blood, then he slapped a hand on his desk. ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake, just get out of here and get on with it.’
Gilchrist pushed his chair back and stood.
‘And stay away from Cooper’s wife,’ Greaves ordered.
‘You’re forgetting she’s the forensic pathologist on my investigation.’
‘You’re doing it again. Twisting my words. End it, Andy.’
‘Got it,’ Gilchrist snapped.
Greaves smiled up at him, as if at last seeing the funny side of an awkward situation. ‘You always seem to walk on thin ice, Andy. McVicar’s on the phone to me four times a day, and I keep telling him you’re on top of it.’ He shook his head, as if at the absurdity of the conversation. ‘As far as I can make out, the only thing you’ve been on top of is Cooper’s wife.’
‘Cooper’s wife has a name,’ Gilchrist said, struggling to quell a surge of anger that fired with a ferocity that troubled him. ‘And Rebecca doesn’t need to see her private life spread across the pages of any newspaper. You tell your friend, Maxwell fucking Cooper, that if he ever mistreats her again, I’ll come to his front door and arrest him personally.’
‘I’ll pretend I never heard that, Andy.’
‘Pretend all you like, Tom.’
‘Get out.’
Gilchrist closed the door gently behind him.