Flesh House

Logan handed one of the Styrofoam cups of tea to Insch. 'They were out of sugar.' That got him some rumbled swearing. He ignored it. 'Sky News have turned up. That makes three television crews, four newspapers and a handful of gawkers. 'Wonderful,' Insch's voice was a dark rumble,'that's all we need.' He pointed up at the Brae Explorer. 'Those idiots found anything yet?' 'Search team's nearly finished. Other than some incredibly dodgy pornography it's clean. Ship's Captain says the container was only onboard for a couple of hours; someone noticed it was leaking all over the deck, so they got onto the cash and carry it came from. Shut. Apparently the rigs throw a fit if they don't get their containers on time, so the Captain got someone to try fixing the thing's refrigerator motor.' Logan took a sip of his scalding hot tea. 'That's when they found the bits. Mechanic had to shift a couple of boxes of defrosting meat to get at the wiring. Soggy cardboard gave way on one of them, and the contents went everywhere.' He pointed at a small pile of clear plastic evidence pouches, each one containing a chunk of red. 'Soon as he saw what was in there, he called us.' Insch nodded. 'What about the cash and carry?' 'Firm called Thompson's in Altens: they supply a couple of offshore catering companies. Frozen meat, veg, toilet paper, tins of beans ... the usual. They don't open till seven am, so it'll be a while before--' The large man turned a baleful eye in Logan's direction. 'No it won't. Find out who's in charge over there and get the bastard out of his bed. I want a search team up there now.--' 'But it--' 'NOW, Sergeant!''Yes, sir.' Arguing with Insch wasn't going to get him anywhere. Logan pulled out his mobile phone and wandered off to call Control, getting a search team and warrant organized between mouthfuls of tea. Doing his best to ignore the cameraman circling him like a short, balding shark. Logan finished the call, then scrunched up his polystyrene cup and ... there was nowhere to get rid of the thing, unless he just chucked it down on the dockside, or over into the water. Neither was going to look good on the television. Embarrassed, he hid it behind his back. The shark lowered its HDV television camera - no bigger than a shoebox, with the BBC Scotland logo stencilled on the side - and grinned. 'Perfect. Thought the sound was going to be a bit ropey there, but it's not bad. This is dynamite stuff! Dismembered bodies, boats, tension, mystery. Ooh,' he pointed at the crumpled-up cup in Logan's hand,'where'd you get the tea: I'm gasping.' 'Thought you were meant to be a fly on the wall, Alec, not a pain in the arse.' 'Aye, well, we all have our--' Insch's voice bellowed out from the far side of the quay:'SERGEANT!' Swear. Count to ten. Sigh. 'If this programme's a success, can I come work for you guys at the BBC instead?' 'See what I can do.' And Alec was off, hurrying to get a good angle on whatever bollocking the inspector was about to dish out. Logan followed on behind, wishing he'd been assigned to a different DI tonight, especially as the news from Control wasn't exactly good. These days, talking to Insch was like trying to do an eightsome reel in a minefield. Blindfolded. Still, might as well get it over with,'Sorry, sir, they don't have any bodies spare - everyone's down here and--' 'Bloody hell!' The fat man ran a hand over his big, pink face. 'Why can no one do what they're told?' 'Another hour or so and we can free up some of the team here and--'