Mike raised his hand. ‘That’s not him saying he’s killed her.’
No, but it was the start of a motive.
‘Gary, that makes me think you might have a grudge against her.’
‘No.’ Gary’s head was shaking in tight jerks now. ‘No. No, no, no.’
‘Okay, let’s talk about this evening. You were at the party alone.’
Mike scowled. ‘You said you were going to Ian’s to play Xbox with him!’
Gary shrugged. ‘He was going to come along later. Had some family shit.’
Mike sat there, fuming, then thumped the table with a meaty fist. ‘Gary, I can’t believe you went to a party. I can’t believe you’ve been drinking. We talked about this, Gary. You’re supposed to be honest with me.’
Gary stared at his father, blinking hard. He yawned, then shook his head again. The kid was in serious denial about something. Then he burped, and lurched forward and vomited all over the table.
The rest of them shot to their feet.
Karen raced to the door and darted out into the corridor.
Mike was rubbing an arm around his son’s shoulder. ‘Hey, son, it’s okay.’
Gary sat there swaying and looking like he was going to be sick again.
Vicky followed Karen over to the door.
Considine was outside, messing about on his phone. He looked up at the wrong time, made eye contact with Vicky.
‘Stephen, can you look after the suspect for me? Take him back to the duty doctor.’
‘Aye, aye.’ Considine slouched into the room, then stopped dead just inside. ‘Ah, Christ.’ He grabbed Gary’s arm, and led him out. ‘Come on, son. Let’s get you cleaned up.’
Mike stood staring at the table. ‘I’m so sorry about this.’
‘It happens, sir. Way more than you’d think.’
‘You must think I’m such a bad parent.’
‘I’ve got a wee girl myself. It’s tough just now, but I know how hard it is when they’re Gary’s age.’
Mike nodded. ‘First ten years is all about keeping them alive. Next ten is about keeping them out of jail.’ He shook his head, exactly like his son would. ‘Doing a great job of that.’
‘Do you think he could’ve done this?’
‘I doubt it, but then… I know it’s a cliche, but they really do grow up so fast. One minute, you’re putting them on swings, the next…’
‘Do you know Carly?’
‘I know her folks. Played squash with her father a few times, but that was years ago. We’re not particularly close, mind.’
‘Were Gary and Carly serious?’
‘You must remember what it’s like at that age better than me. Everything’s so serious, like they’re going to live together forever, but they’ll be seeing someone else the next week. And it’s hard keeping up with who they’re seeing. Jane’s much better at it than me.’
‘Jane’s your wife?’
‘Right. Right.’
‘And I gather that you live near the Johnstons?’
‘Same street. Adelaide Place. We’re at the cheaper end, though.’
‘So you know Carly?’
‘I do. Remember when she was yay high.’ Mike held out a hand at belly button level. ‘All the kids running around the street. Now she’s almost a grown woman. A lot more mature than Gary.’
Vicky nodded along with him.
Mike frowned. ‘I mean, girls can grow up faster, right?’
‘Don’t think there’s a hard and fast rule, sir, but it can happen. I read something about boys’ brains not being fully developed until they’re twenty-five, whereas girls it’s twenty-one. I think.’
‘Explains a lot.’
Vicky frowned. ‘By the time I was sixteen I was seeing a man in his twenties, but my brother was still going to Star Trek meetings in Dundee.’
Mike smiled at that. ‘Star Trek. Well.’
‘Listen, I’ve seen this sort of thing before. Some boys don’t know what they’re doing. Take things too far. Accidents happen. But we will need to continue interviewing Gary.’
‘Right, I understand.’ Mike shook his head. Clearly a family trait.
Karen entered the room, carrying a roll of blue paper, muttering something under her breath about Christmas Eve. She started dabbing at the sick.
‘Listen, I don’t know if this is any use.’ Mike scratched his bald head. ‘Probably isn’t.’
Vicky led him away from the table to let Karen in. She wanted to get stuck in and help her, on account of Karen giving up her evening on Vicky’s behalf, but Mike was dangling a juicy worm. ‘Whatever it is, sir, it might help.’
‘Well, it’s just… I think Carly might’ve been seeing an older guy. Someone with his own car.’
‘How do you know this?’
‘I was jogging home from work one day.’ Mike didn’t look like a runner. ‘And this car almost hit me. The driver didn’t stop. And I’ve seen the car a few times on our street. Same plates, so I wondered if it was… Look, I saw the car dropping Carly off last Tuesday, just after I got home from work.’
Vicky hoped Forrester had the presence of mind to ask the parents that sort of thing. Hoped that the parents offered the information, and that was an active lead being investigated. ‘Did her father talk about him?’
‘Bill’s not a talking kind of man. Football, sure. Films, telly, music. But not about who his daughter is seeing.’
Karen tossed her wad of tissue into the bin, then tore off another stretch. ‘What kind of car was it?’
‘A silver Skoda. You know, the kind all the taxi drivers use these days.’
‘You don’t think it was just a taxi?’
‘Same plates every time. Seemed fishy to me.’
6
Vicky walked along the corridor, hands in pockets. ‘Thanks for cleaning up in there, Kaz.’
‘I’d say “don’t mention it”, but…’
‘You want me to keep mentioning it?’
‘Always.’ Karen held the door open for Vicky. ‘You okay?’
‘Why wouldn’t I be? I mean, it’s Christmas Eve, we should have some wine in our bellies.’
‘No, you seemed a bit weird with that kid.’
Vicky sighed. ‘Just been to a few too many parties like that.’
‘As a kid?’
‘No. As a cop. I… I didn’t go to too many parties like that.’
‘You? Seriously?’
Vicky gave her that shut-up look, then walked through the door and made her
