'Do you know what her original name was?' The old man was starting to sound a little flustered.'I ... no. I can't ... look, what's all this about? ' 'It's important.' A sigh.'I think it was someone associated with the trade, but not in the trade, if that makes sense? I know it wasn't another member.' 'Can you find out for me?' 'What? Well ... I'm supposed to be seeing my chiropodist--' 'Thought you always wanted to help with a murder investigation.' Ewan Morton's singsong voice grew an edge of steel.'Don't worry, you can count on me.' And to hell with his bunions. The Fleshers' Boxmaster was as good as his word. Twenty minutes later he was back on the phone, sounding out of breath.'Had to go to ... had to go to Trinity Hall ... Went ... went through all the minutes from ... from 1966.' He went quiet for a while. 'Mr Morton? Are you OK?' 'Just a little angina ... The minutes show that Edward adopted the daughter of a man called James Souter. He wasn't a member of the Fleshers, but he worked in a slaughterhouse as a butchery assistant.' Another pause, and this time Logan could hear the puff of an inhaler in the background.'It says here he had an industrial accident - sleeve caught in a bit of machinery, lost most of his arm. The Council took Elizabeth into care and Edward adopted her.' Logan was scribbling in his notebook. 'What about her sister and brother: any mention of what happened to them?' 'Erm ... no, just Elizabeth.' 'OK, thanks, you've been a great help.' Logan was about to hang up when he realised there was something he hadn't asked:'The slaughterhouse where Souter worked, what was it called?' 'It was on the site of that big new place. What's it called ... mind's going ... the one in Turriff? Been in all the papers?' 'Alaba Farm Fresh Meats.' Bingo. 'Aye, that's the one. Never did understand why they couldn't spell 'Alba' properly. You'd think someone would have said.'
Logan barged into the main incident room. DCS Bain was deep in conversation with Faulds, while Wee Fat Alec played with his lens cap - on, off, on, off. Logan marched over and Faulds looked up, smiled, and held out a mug of tea. It was cold. 'Ah, just in time. I want to get your opinion on--' 'We've got a suspect.' 'Oooh! Wait, not yet ...' Alec pressed buttons and fiddled his focus. 'Aaaaand ... Action!'
