The following morning Farrell dropped Lind off in town to avoid any raised eyebrows at them arriving together. He went looking for DS Stirling and found him heading for DI Moore’s office with DC Thomson. Both were still attired in their farming gear and looked tense.
‘Mind if I sit in, Kate?’ he asked, poking his head round the door. ‘It’s hard to see where one investigation ends and the other begins at the moment. Safest if we all have an overview of what’s going on.’
‘I couldn’t agree more,’ she said, smiling. ‘In you come, everyone. Love the clobber, guys. You never know, it might catch on.’
Stirling and Thomson exchanged rueful glances.
‘Got your mobile switched on?’ she asked DC Thomson.
‘Yes, ma’am, always.’
‘I decided to pull them both back to Dumfries,’ she said to Farrell. ‘We can’t have two such experienced officers stuck out of the way in a remote farmhouse when we’re undermanned as it is. They’ll still sleep on the farm for the time being but spend their mornings here doing normal duties. That way, DC Thomson can still be seen out on his tractor.’
‘What if there’s a tail on Thomson?’
‘He goes shopping for small agricultural supplies. All the kind of things you might expect. We bring him here lying down in an unmarked police car.’
‘Did Shaun Finch give any idea as to how often deliveries were being made?’ asked Stirling.
‘It averaged out at one a week but not at a predictable day or time. If a phone call comes in when Thomson’s down here, he’ll take off straight away. The officers in Kirkcudbright have their instructions. Assuming the exchange takes place in the same manner as before, we should have people ready to tail the pick up next time.’
‘Are you planning to lift him at that point?’ asked Stirling.
‘No, we want to keep him or her under observation in the hope that they’ll lead us to the actual forger. Lackeys are two a penny. It’s the forger we need to put behind bars. That kind of skill isn’t easy to find. It would shut the whole operation down here.’
‘It’s possible that Monro Stevenson may have been involved,’ said Farrell.
‘It could explain why he was murdered. Maybe he wanted out and threatened to cut a deal and blab,’ said Stirling.
‘He also left The Collective around the same time Ailish did,’ said Farrell. ‘His breakdown came a few months after she went missing. He was obsessed with her. Perhaps he went after her and she rebuffed him. He could even have killed her?’
‘A crime of passion is one thing,’ said Stirling. ‘Dragging her body up to the Dundrennan Firing Range and painting it is a whole different level of crazy.’
‘I still feel that the announcement of the shortlist to the Lomax Prize has got to figure in there somewhere,’ said DI Moore. ‘Could Monro have been so elated by his inclusion and the promise for the future it held that he refused to forge anymore paintings, for example?’
‘The Prize Committee have agreed to let us view the shortlisted works,’ said DC Thomson. ‘They’re being held at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh.’
‘Excellent. I’ll ask them to send down slides,’ said DI Moore.
‘Lionel Forbes is already familiar with the work of the artists we’re interested in, all apart from Paul Moretti. Strangely, he’s never seen any of his work. Rather odd, now I think about it?’
‘I’ve been wondering about him,’ said Farrell. ‘Given that Kirkcudbright is a small town and all the artists seem to know each other, isn’t he a bit too much of an enigma? There was also that throwaway comment by the gallery owner, Janet Campbell, that he paints dead things.’
‘You’re liking him for Ailish Kerrigan’s murder?’ asked DI Moore.
‘Too early to say.’
‘What about his medical condition, sir?’ asked DC Thomson.
‘He’s able-bodied, just allegedly allergic to sunlight. He could paint her by the light of the moon or even take a hurricane lamp with him.’
‘You think he might be faking it?’ asked Stirling.
‘Possibly,’ said Farrell. ‘To what end though?’
‘DC Thomson, I left you in charge of the CCTV footage of Broughton House before you were given your present assignment. Have you passed it off to someone else to take forward?’ said Farrell.
‘Yes, sir. PC Green was at a loose end with the family not needing her so much now. She’s organized a team to go through it all.’
DC Thomson’s phone suddenly vibrated, making them all jump. He snatched it up and looked at the text.
‘It’s a go,’ he said. ‘I’m to collect the package by two o’clock and drop it off in the same place as before.’
‘Right,’ said DI Moore taking charge. ‘You and Stirling drive back to the farm. We’ve already filled the boot of your car with farming supplies. I’ll contact the officers we have standing by in Kirkcudbright to get into position.’
‘Hopefully, this time we’ll manage to stick a tail on the pick-up guy and get the next chain in the link,’ said Farrell.
‘Can’t I be there at Dundrennan as a tourist or something? Give the lad a bit of extra cover? None of them have ever met me,’ said Stirling.
‘As far as you’re aware,’ said DI Moore. ‘They may have had the farm under surveillance and know what you look like. I get that you want to help Dave, but it’s simply too risky, Ronnie.’
‘I wonder if someone has already dropped off the parcel at St Cuthbert’s Kirkyard?’ said DC Thomson. ‘I take it we have surveillance in place?’
‘Yes, but further away than we would like. Hopefully, they’ll be able to follow the person depositing the canvas back to their point of origin. There are multiple access points,’ said DI Moore. ‘The drive from there to the graveyard at Dundrennan Abbey is around six miles.’
DS Stirling and DC Thomson got to their feet, looking tense but resolved.
‘Off you go then,’ said DI Moore. ‘Stay alert, DC Thomson and, remember, no heroics!’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ he said, and they both turned and rushed out the door.
DI Moore sank back into her seat. Farrell didn’t envy her. It was never easy sending junior officers into what could be a dangerous situation.
Farrell waited patiently while she phoned her contact in Kirkcudbright.
‘DI Moore, speaking. The operation is a go. Collection by two o’clock and drop off at usual site … yes … keep me updated, please.’
Farrell stood. He’d hoped to bend her ear about Lind but now clearly wasn’t the time.
‘Let me know if you need a hand, Kate.’
‘Thanks Frank, will do,’ she said, reaching once more for the phone with a distracted look on her face.