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suppose. Fucking Christian hypocrite. Loves our Jesus Christ, but can’t bring himself to love his own fucking daughter.’
    ‘People show their love in different ways.’
    ‘And he showed his by throwing her out of the fucking house?’
    ‘She walked out.’
    ‘Because he made her. Because his own morality was more important than his love for his daughter. Who knows what he did to the poor lass.’
    ‘You don’t, for a start. And neither do I. And you don’t know what he’s going through now. Not inside.’
    McKay made no response, but stood, chewing rhythmically, staring at the open sea. Finally, he turned and said: ‘Let’s go see whether Jock Henderson’s finally got his act together.’
    They arrived back at the cave as the two examiners were emerging. Henderson pulled back his white hood and stood blinking in the noonday sun.
    ‘What’s the matter, Jock?’ McKay asked. ‘Don’t they normally let you out in daylight?’
    ‘Just the shock of seeing your ugly mug, Alec.’
    ‘What have we got?’
    ‘Young girl. Similar age to the last one. Maybe mid-twenties. Death from asphyxiation, again, I’d say.’
    ‘Any signs of chloroform?’ McKay tried, not entirely successfully, to keep a note of mockery from his voice.
    ‘Aye. Burns round the mouth. Same MO as the last one, I’d say. Though I think this one might have been more difficult for the killer. Looks like she might have vomited. Maybe choked on her vomit, with her mouth held firmly shut. Imagine the doc will confirm.’
    ‘Any ID?’
    ‘She was naked like the last one. A few more tattoos this time, so you might have some luck with those. I’ll get the photos over to you. Dyed blonde hair. Skinny little thing.’
    ‘And roses and candles again?’
    ‘Aye. Like up at Munlochy. The body wasn’t buried this time. Ground in there’s too hard to make it feasible. It was wrapped in plastic sheeting. We’ll have a look at that and see if we can get anything from it.’
    ‘How long’s she been here?’
    ‘I’m pretty sure she was placed here last night. In this kind of weather people walk up here to explore the caves, so if she’d been here longer she’d have been spotted. I’d say she’d been dead for maybe three or four days before that.’
    ‘Anything else?’
    ‘Might be a bit more chance than there was last time of getting some DNA traces, given the body’s not been here long and it’s been under cover.’
    ‘If there’s any on there, other than the victim’s.’
    ‘As you say. No sign of any fingerprints, certainly. But you wouldn’t expect someone who goes to these lengths to be that stupid.’
    ‘You reckon this is likely to be the same killer?’
    ‘Well, I’d say so, wouldn’t you? You haven’t released any details of how the first victim died, so it’s not a copy-cat killing.’
    ‘So we’ve got a random multiple killer on our hands,’ McKay said. ‘Helena Grant’s going to be so pleased.’
    ‘More your problem than mine, pal.’ Henderson sounded more pleased than any man who’d just finished examining a murdered corpse had a right to be. ‘The report will be with you in due course.’
    ‘As always, quicker than that,’ McKay said. ‘Much quicker.’ He turned away, then looked back over his shoulder. ‘Pal.’
     
    ***
     
    McKay dropped Horton off back at Divisional Headquarters and continued back through the city to his house on the outskirts. He expected to be pulling a late one tonight—and possibly for the foreseeable future—so he wanted to square things with Chrissie in person, rather than trying to do it over the phone. It probably wouldn’t help but it was worth a shot. In any case, the journey would give him a bit of time to himself and he felt he needed that just at the moment.
    Chrissie was in the kitchen when he arrived, preparing something for their suppers. Not the most auspicious of starts. ‘Jesus,’ she said, ‘you made me jump. What the hell are you doing back at this time?