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at each in turn, Inspector Rae spun on his heel and walked off to seek out members of his investigative team. His animosity towards Colbeck was largely concealed under a carapace of politeness but it was still there. And it would handicap proceedings. Though Rae had more or less demanded cooperation from him, Colbeck had the feeling that he’d get very little in return. In that respect, the inspector was a sophisticated and clean-shaven version of Superintendent McTurk.
    ‘You talked of sending the sergeant off to Glasgow,’ recalled Craig.
    ‘Yes, sir, and he’s no doubt already enjoying the pleasure of climbing up Beattock Bank. Thanks to that letter of introduction you kindly wrote, he’ll have access to your headquarters.’
    ‘The pair of you can have access to anything you wish, Inspector.’
    ‘That’s good to hear.’
    ‘If we have a villain inside the Caledonian, I want him flushed out.’
    ‘Leave it to us, Mr Craig.’
    ‘Meanwhile,’ said the other, taking a sheet of paper from his inside pocket, ‘I thought you might like a copy of this. Posters have already been put up advertising the reward but I also had these printed for distribution.’ He passed the handbill over. ‘You never know,’ he continued. ‘It may be a long shot but somebody might actually have witnessed the disaster.’
    Colbeck showed surprise. ‘Out here in this pretty wilderness?’
    ‘It’s not as uninhabited as it might seem,’ replied Craig. ‘Most people here work on the land but there are a few of them with jobs at the quarry. They’d have to go right past here to get there. And you’re not the first to notice how pretty Annandale is. Walkers often come to appreciate its beauty.’ He bit his lip. ‘It’s just a pity that the beauty has been scarred by the accident.’
    ‘I’m sure that this handbill will produce results,’ said Colbeck, reading it. ‘Unfortunately, they may not be the results we want. When handsome rewards like this are offered, we always tend to get bogus witnesses. They can make up some very beguiling stories for four hundred pounds.’
     
     
    No matter how much he concentrated, Jamie Farr could not decipher every word on the handbill. Some of them baffled him. Having walked to the nearest village to collect one, he sat by the roadside with his dog curled up beside him. There was not much call for reading in the shepherd’s life and, in any case, he was a poor scholar. What did jump straight at him off the handbill was the amount being offered as a reward. It was a dizzying prize. If he could secure that, he could escape from the long shadow of his father. He might even be able to contrive an escape for someone else at the same time. The thought made him tremble with joy.
    Slipping the handbill into his pocket, he leapt up and called Angus to heel. The pair of them set off in the direction of their flock but they didn’t take the most direct route. Instead, they made a little detour past a farmhouse in a state of neglect. There was a hole in the roof and the shutters were broken. In one of the outhouses, a door was hanging off its hinges. Small and cheerless, it was home to seven people but only one of them interested Jamie. Her name was Bella Drew. He knew that she’d be there, working at the spinning wheel as she always did. Jamie supplied some of the wool. It was how they’d become friends. Bella would have been left at home with her deaf old mother while the menfolk of the house went off to work.
    After ordering his dog to sit, Jamie approached the house with care but nevertheless managed to disturb the chickens. Their squawks brought the lovely face of Bella Drew to the window. It brightened when she saw her friend and she waved to him. Seconds later, she slipped out of the house and trotted across to him. Though she was tousled and wearing a tattered dress, she had the bloom of youth on her.
    ‘What are ye doing here, Jamie Farr?’ she asked, brushing back a tuft of hair.
    ‘I