Feet pounding the ground as he ran round the loch, enjoying the slight breeze and the warm sun on his skin, Gus thought first about Jimmy – his uncle. God – that was a terrifying thought. His mum still insisted the man was innocent and Jimmy himself seemed to be intimating that too. However, Gus had acquired a healthy degree of scepticism over the years and enough experience and knowledge of the criminal mind to draw any such conclusions lightly. Jimmy’s entire story could be an elaborate fantasy. On the other hand, it could be the truth. It was so frustrating that Jimmy had succumbed to his anxieties. What would make a man take the blame for his son’s crimes in that way? Would Gus be prepared to sacrifice his freedom to protect his son? A series of images where Gus would do just that, sprung to mind – but not one of them portrayed his imaginary son as a serial killer. He thought about his own dad – Fergus. The auld yin would definitely protect Gus to the best of his ability – he’d walk on fire for Gus, but, and Gus hoped he was correct in this assumption, his dad would surely draw the line at allowing innocent people to die in order to save Gus. Breathing heavily, sweat dappling his forehead, Gus shook his head. He really wanted to talk more to Jimmy and found it difficult to resign himself to waiting till the next day.
Nearing the end of his first lap of the loch, Gus turned his thoughts to Rory. Seeing his mum and Rory together – Rory so eager to please and Corrine so full of guilt – had punched a hole through Gus’s heart. If Jimmy was telling the truth, the fragile, nervous man Gus had met this afternoon had spent years incarcerated with his grief. Could Rory and Jimmy have come up with this elaborate plan together? Gus’s gut told him that Rory was incapable of planning anything. He seemed devastated by his wife’s death and yet was so childishly happy to see his foster sister – Corrine had happily looked at drawing after drawing and then Sadia had joined in. Seemingly Corrine’s approbation made Rory less nervous of Sadia, for he showed her some images he’d drawn of her. Sadia had been so pleased when he’d given her one to take away with her. Gus had been less pleased when, as they took their leave, Rory pulled at his arm – a gentle, tentative gesture – and not making eye contact had thrust a drawing into Gus’s hand. Gus had assumed it was one of his mother, and had thanked Rory. It was only later when they were getting into the car to head back to the hotel that he’d looked at it – it was one of Sadia. Quickly turning it over, so no one else would see, Gus wondered why his heart had hammered so hard. He also wondered, why Rory had given him a sketch of Sadia. Perhaps there was no real meaning to it. Perhaps he’d just wanted to give each of his visitors a memento. Regardless, Gus had asked for an A4 envelope from the hotel reception and the sketch was now carefully packed away at the bottom of his overnight bag.
Ending his jog with a few cool-down stretches, Gus was dissatisfied with the lingering tension. Normally a run would dissipate it all, but this time it hadn’t worked. However, he had no time to dwell on that as he and Carlton had scheduled a conference call with Alice and Nancy and if he wanted to shower and eat before then, he had to get his skates on.
****
Showered, fed, and watered, Gus set up his laptop on the desk in his hotel room and waited for Alice and Nancy to connect. He and Professor Carlton sat side by side on the two uncomfortable hotel room chairs and for once, the psychologist was quiet, seemingly engrossed in his own thoughts. The screen crackled and then Alice and Nancy were there, with Taffy and Compo standing behind. Despite the seriousness of the occasion, Gus grinned when he saw both Compo and Taffy waving like kids reporting back to Daddy. While Carlton returned the gesture, Gus satisfied himself with, ‘Hi, guys, you all OK?’
Greetings exchanged they got down to business, with Alice updating them on the investigation in Bradford.
‘Karen Smith is a slightly different victim from the other two.’ Alice gestured to Compo. ‘The boy genius found that although she too had gone to the Hamelyn clinic for sperm donation, she’d done so in secret from her partner.’
Alice’s nose turned up. ‘The partner Munir Shah, a drug dealer and gangster – one of the ones who moved into the Bradford Three area after Shahid went straight, didn’t know anything about
