Part 7 (2/2)
”Which means d.a.m.n all in a murder investigation,” said Hamish, and warned her he would be back to ask her more questions later.
Outside, he phoned Jimmy. ”Any news about the murder?”
”Nothing. That old woman might have been left there till she died o' shock and starvation if we hadn't searched all the flats opposite and found her. She's in hospital for observation but she's a game auld bird and I think she'll survive the shock all right. He never took the balaclava off but she said he was pretty well built and wearing a black sweater and black trousers.”
”Surely someone saw a man with a rifle running along the street?”
”From the initial SOCO report, he went down the stairs, out the back way, and over the wall. There's a lane that runs along the back. Neighbours heard a motorbike roaring off.”
”If I were you I'd check out those two pubs of Barry's. See if Blair's been seen drinking in either of them. He likes his free booze.”
”Aw, c'mon, Hamish. I don't like the pillock but this is going a bit too far. Don't worry. We're checking up on everything we know about Barry. Talk to you later.”
Hamish wondered whether to interview the parents and then decided it was a bit early to subject them to more questioning. Blair would already have had a go at them.
He was about to get into the Land Rover when he heard someone calling, ”Officer!”
He turned round. Mrs. McGirty was standing on her front doorstep waving to him. He went up to her. ”Have they found out who did this terrible thing?” she asked.
”Not yet.”
”You must find out. Annie was a saint and a good member o' the kirk.”
”Maybe I'll be having a word with the minister.”
Josie, meanwhile, was interviewing Annie's former head teacher, Mrs. Gallagher.
”Annie was a very bright pupil,” said Mrs. Gallagher, a small, motherly-looking woman. ”I thought she would be going on to university and interviewed her parents but they said that their daughter wanted to be at home and look after them.”
”Were they ill in any way?” asked Josie.
”No, that's what was odd. They are both hale and hearty.”
”Was Annie well liked at school?”
Mrs. Gallagher hesitated.
”I know you don't like to speak ill of the dead,” said Josie, ”but it is a murder enquiry and one of her boyfriends was shot dead this morning outside the sheriff's court.”
”This is terrible. Just terrible,” gasped Mrs. Gallagher. ”To be honest, Annie did not have many friends amongst the girls. Looking the way she did, she was a great favourite with the boys but then even they began to shun her.”
”Do you know why?”
”I'm afraid not. It's a terrible thing to say about the poor la.s.s, but she almost seemed to enjoy her unpopularity, as if it gave her a certain power, as if she was looking down on all of them. I did send her to the school counsellor.”
”Why?”
”When a beautiful girl like Annie Fleming goes on the way she was doing, I begin to wonder if there might not be a certain trace of the psychopath there. If you go along the corridor, you'll find Miss Haggerty's name on the end door. I will phone her and tell her you are coming.”
Miss Haggerty was a thin, frail woman with grey hair, spectacles, and a tired face. ”Oh, Annie,” she said in reply to Josie's questions about what she had thought of her. ”I could not get anywhere with her. It was during her last year. She said she was looking forward to leaving the school because she found the other pupils too young for her. That was all she would say. She had good marks and seemed cheerful. Bright children often feel isolated, and Annie was very bright.”
”Did you think she might be a bit of a psychopath?” asked Josie.
”Oh, no, simply highly intelligent.”
”Manipulative?”
”I do not think she could manipulate me in any way.”
Josie left the school feeling downcast. Her phone rang. It was Hamish. ”I'm not getting anywhere,” said Josie.
”I'm going to see the minister, Mr. Tallent. Like to come?”
”Where are you?”
”Outside her house.”
”Be right with you.”
Josie hummed a cheerful tune as she drove along. All was not lost. Hamish had obviously forgiven her for poking around his home.
Chapter Five.
n.o.body who has not been in the interior of a family can say what the difficulties of any individual of that family may be. -Jane Austen -Jane Austen ”He may have been diddling her,” said Josie as they both got out of the Land Rover at the minister's home.
”Who?” demanded Hamish.
”Her own father.”
”For heffen's sakes, la.s.sie, have you lost your wits? You've been watching Law and Order Special Victims Unit. Law and Order Special Victims Unit.”
”It happens in these backwards places,” said Josie defiantly. ”Lots of incest.”
”Look here, McSween, I don't want to pull rank on you, but I am going to. When we get in there, keep your mouth shut. In future, address me as 'sir.' ”
Josie went bright red and hung her head, making Hamish feel like a pompous idiot. And yet it was time that Josie started behaving like a policewoman.
Hamish rang the bell of the manse cottage and waited. It was a two-storeyed Victorian sandstone building fronted by a garden full of laurels and rhododendrons on either side of a brick path. He pressed the bell and waited.
The door was opened by a squat man wearing black clericals and a dog collar. ”I hope you are not here to bother the Flemings,” he said.
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