It had been a long day. Mhairi peered at her haggard reflection in the staff toilets and reckoned it was going to take more than make-up to make that face fit for human consumption. The last few weeks had been gruelling. She was still haunted by the sight of those two little boys in the church. It could all have gone so terribly wrong. If it hadn’t been for Farrell who knows what might have happened? He might have his foibles but when push came to shove she could think of no one else she would rather have in her corner.
She should probably have agreed to take a few days off afterwards but Mark was still missing and she felt she owed it to the parents to keep going. When she’d been round at the house this afternoon, Elspeth had just sat listlessly in a chair while Barry talked to her. Her eyes looked like nobody was home. Jamie had seemed very subdued, which was hardly surprising, given that the room conveyed all the joy of a funeral parlour. Not a healthy atmosphere for the youngster.
Mhairi looked in on DI Moore to see if she could help her with anything else and noticed that even her well-groomed boss was looking somewhat wispy and dishevelled. How long could they keep this up?
‘Any further developments, Ma’am?’
DI Moore shook her head, closing her eyes in frustration.
‘Nothing so far. The only meaningful DNA recovered was that of the two boys and Farrell himself. His blood was all over the place. The abductor was canny enough to wear gloves, so no prints either. Not even on that damned Mickey Mouse mask. We didn’t find any DNA in relation to young Mark so he’s almost certainly never been held at that location. That’s if he’s still alive, poor mite,’ she said with a sigh.
‘I’ve been through the data so many times but I still can’t work out how he is selecting his victims. There are no points of intersection, apart from St Aidan’s, and that congregation is huge,’ said Mhairi with a sigh.
‘If only DI Farrell hadn’t rung that number before we had a chance to set up a trace. I still can’t believe he did that. With his years of experience to boot!’
‘Are Paul and Andy able to be questioned, Ma’am?’
‘No, given their age and the danger of re-traumatizing them the child psychologist felt it would be too risky; same with Jamie.’
‘Are you sure there’s nothing else I can do before knocking off for the night, Ma’am?’
‘Away home, Mhairi, get some rest.’
On her way out she popped into the MCA room to pick up her briefcase. Byers, DS Stirling, and PC Thomson were huddled together talking in low voices. They stopped as soon as she opened the door, looking unaccountably furtive.
What was all that about, she wondered?
The tension still hovered in the air as the three men split apart and went their separate ways.
Casually, she sauntered after PC Thomson, then picked up speed once she was through the door. She caught up with him at the end of the corridor and dragged him into a nearby interview room.
‘OK, Dave, spill! What the hell is going on?’
‘Mhairi, it’s more than my job’s worth. I’m not allowed to say anything. They said the consequences would be dire.’
Mhairi thought for a minute, her body blocking the door. Whatever it was they were deliberately leaving her out of the loop. Suddenly she had it.
‘This is about DI Farrell, isn’t it?’
His guilty expression told her all she needed to know.
‘At first I didn’t believe it, but now I’m not so sure,’ he muttered.
‘They’re fingering him for something, aren’t they? Well?’
He knew her well enough to know she wasn’t going to let it go.
‘DS Byers and DS Stirling reckon he might have murdered Boyd. They’ve been gathering evidence to present to DCI Lind.’
Mhairi was stunned into silence. This couldn’t be happening.
‘Promise you won’t tip him off, Mhairi. If this gets out they’ll blame me and bang goes any chance of making detective.’
‘Relax, I won’t let on. And don’t you blab that you told me. It won’t do either of us any good.’
Mhairi left the room and walked to her car. Her head felt like it was buzzing with bees. Just how far was she prepared to stick her neck out for Farrell? And what about DCI Lind? Surely she owed him some loyalty too? If she tipped off Farrell she could be compromising a murder investigation.
She would sleep on it, she decided.