Farrell walked briskly to the front of the MCA room and took his seat beside Lind and Moore. Lind gestured for him to proceed. Only the core investigative team were present. As he was about to speak the door at the back flew open and DS Byers rushed in, looking frazzled. Normally someone who prided himself on his appearance, he was sporting non-designer stubble and his shirt was stained at the armpits. Lind motioned to a chair beside him at the front in recognition of the ridiculous amount of work Byers had been doing coordinating the information flow in the various enquiries. Thus far he had been exceptional.
‘Things have been gathering pace in all three investigations,’ said Farrell. ‘We now have a fourth investigation, the suspicious death of Poppy Black, the housemaid at Kincaid House. It’s likely she has been involved in passing information pertaining to the security of some valuable paintings there, which might or might not link back to the forgery ring in Kirkcudbright. It also bears similarities to Monro Stevenson’s murder. Premeditated and staged to look like an accident in the home. The preliminary post-mortem results indicate she may have put up a fight. Tissue samples were obtained from under her nails, but they don’t appear to be a match for any DNA samples in the database. Given these circumstances I have been appointed SIO.’
‘Any relatives in the picture?’ asked DS Byers.
‘She has no known relatives, as she was abandoned into the care system in Glasgow as a baby. It is essential that we keep this on the down-low to avoid tipping off the perpetrator that we’re on to him. I’m going to get Andy Moran to stick it in the local paper as an accidental death meantime.’
Farrell felt momentarily light-headed. Events were spiralling out of control. With an effort he brought himself back to the room. Had he taken his lithium this morning? He couldn’t remember. With everything going on he was running on fumes. He sat down heavily in the front row. Lind stepped up.
‘Kate, did you liaise with SOCO in relation to the marks found beside the body of Ailish Kerrigan?’ he asked.
‘Yes. They confirmed that the marks were wholly consistent with an easel placed alongside the deceased.’
‘This makes it likely that she was murdered by someone within the local art community. And not just anyone,’ Lind said, his face sombre. ‘A crime of passion is one thing, but it’s staggering to think that having murdered her and disposed of the body, the person then saw fit to take the risk of returning to paint beside the remains. Possibly a number of times.’
‘It would take a fair amount of strength to haul a dead body out to that location and then up the hill,’ said Byers. ‘Would you say that points to a male perpetrator, sir?’
‘More likely than not, unless two people were acting in concert; but I’d like to keep an open mind on gender for the time being. A woman could have managed it with a quad bike and trailer,’ replied Lind.
‘Didn’t that woman in the art gallery, Janet Campbell, say that Paul Moretti paints dead things?’ asked Mhairi.
‘Yes, she did,’ said Farrell. ‘It’s something we should look into but the other artist, Mike Halliday, didn’t seem to put much store by it. He thought it might be Moretti’s way of getting her to stop poking her nose into his business.’
‘Maureen Kerrigan has thankfully been keeping a low profile. I’d worried that she might try and get too involved in the investigation, possibly putting herself in harm’s way,’ said Lind. He motioned to DI Moore.
‘DS Byers, I hear you’ve been burning the midnight oil,’ she said. ‘Are we any closer to finding a match for the seal and wax that was used for the package?’
‘Not yet, ma’am. I consulted a specialist antiques auctioneer in Edinburgh, and they confirmed that it was similar to an old notary public’s seal. Apparently, this area is littered with them. Virtually every legal firm in Dumfries and Galloway will have these dotted around as ornaments or gathering dust in their safes. Modern notaries don’t use them much.’
‘What about the Latin words?’
‘Qualis artifex pereo.’
‘Have you had a chance to dig into that yet?’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ he said, running a hand through hair you could fry chips on. ‘It means, “What an artist dies in me”.’
‘DS Byers has been doing sterling work across these diverse operations, but I’d like a volunteer to assist him with further work, as required?’
Mhairi stuck her hand up.
Byers nodded and shot her a grateful look. They were really missing the input of DS Stirling and DC Thomson. Who knew how long they would be stuck out in the sticks on special assignment?
DI Moore swiftly concluded the briefing, and the team filed out looking pale and tired. Even with additional officers from the outlying stations, they were severely under resourced for these investigations. Everyone was feeling the strain.
Lind approached Farrell as he was gathering up his papers.
‘Can you hang on a minute, there’s something I need to ask you?’
‘Sure,’ said Farrell. ‘What’s on your mind?’
Lind waited until the last of the stragglers had left and then turned to him.
‘This thing about the easel,’ he said. ‘I don’t like it. It has all the hallmarks of a complete nutter.’
‘It rather sounds like it,’ said Farrell. ‘Hopefully, the press won’t get wind of it; they’d have a field day.’
‘I was thinking of reaching out to Clare Yates and asking her to consult on this one.’
‘I see,’ said Farrell.
‘She was tremendously helpful with that case last year, but I wanted to make sure having her around again wasn’t going to cause any difficulty for you?’
‘Water under the bridge,’ said Farrell. ‘No point going to the hassle and expense of getting someone down from the Central Belt, when we’ve got her expertise on our doorstep.’
‘Great, I’ll give her a call then.’
Farrell nodded in what he hoped was an enthusiastic manner and left the room.
In truth, he was less than enthralled at the prospect of having Clare Yates around again. Last year they had become deeply involved, and when he was at his most vulnerable, she had completely bailed on him. It had cut deep. He would have to maintain a professional distance and hope for the best.