'Aye, aye. Bloody prima donna.' But he promised to send them straight over.'You up for that curry you owe us this week then?' 'Khyber Pass, or Light of Bengal?' They were still debating the relative merits of sit-in versus takeaway, when someone poked Logan in the shoulder and said,'Shift over for God's sake. I'm bloody drowning out here.' DI Steel squeezed in beside him, then dragged her hands through her sodden hair, shaking the water off all over Logan's trousers as he hung up. 'Hey, watch it!' 'Oh, grow up, you're no' going to melt.' She gave her hair one last pass - leaving it remarkably tidy-looking for a change - then produced a packet of cigarettes from her sodden jacket and lit up. 'How come you're looking so happy? Someone polish your truncheon for you?' 'I've found a connection.' 'Four hours I waited in that bloody doctor's surgery.' The inspector hauled up her trousers. 'You any idea how many buggers are getting themselves tested for HIV and Hepatitis C right now? Thousands. National Health Service my sharny arse!' 'Should've gone to the duty doc.' 'I'm no' letting that bastard anywhere near me with a needle.' She smoked her way into a scowl. 'I liked Doc Wilson better. Might've been a miserable cancer-ridden bastard, but at least he could take a joke.' Probably not the epitaph the ex-duty doctor had been hoping for. 'Besides,' she said,'I ... hold on a minute - what connection?' Logan told her about the newspaper clippings. 'Bloody hell ...' She took the cigarette out of her mouth, grabbed his shoulders, and planted a big, smoky kiss on his lips. 'Laz, I love you! Call the station and let them know, then I'm going to buy you a bloody huge drink!' He phoned Control, and by the time he'd finished Steel was waiting for him inside with a double Highland Park. 'Well?' She handed him the glass. 'What did ...' she drifted to a halt, staring at Rennie's girlfriend as the constable reached the punchline of whatever joke he was telling. Laura threw back her head and laughed, exposing the smooth skin from her throat all the way down into her cleavage. Setting everything jiggling. 'Oooooh,' said Steel,'that can't be legal.' She drifted off into a little reverie ...'Yes, anyway, come on. Can't spend all night staring at nubile young women's chests: there's drinking to be done.'
45
'All right, all right, settle down.' Detective Chief Superintendent Bain stuck his mug on the desk at the front of the briefing room and waited for quiet. Logan sat with DI Steel, two rows back, marinating in the aftermath of a well-deserved hangover. Nearly everyone in the team had wanted to buy him a drink when Steel told them about the newspaper connection, and Logan had let them. 'You'll have heard,' said Bain,'that we finally know how the Flesher is selecting his victims.' He held up a copy of that morning's Aberdeen Examiner, with Colin Miller's exclusive splashed all over the front page. A ragged cheer went up and Logan blushed. DCS Bain held up a hand. 'Before anyone breaks out the champagne, think about it: each of the Flesher's victims were featured in a newspaper article before their deaths. Press and Journal, Evening Express,
