have been attractive in his day and she guessed that he was fond enough of the ladies to enjoy casting a veil over his status.
His mouth twitched a pout. “So,” he said, “your reputation goes before you. I know what you did on the Baby Brian case.”
She sighed and patted the table patiently.
Sullivan nodded heavily. “I know, I’m just saying, you’re not as daft as ye, um …” Uncomfortable and a little lost, he flicked his finger up at her. “Ye know. Anyway, so, you were at the Bearsden call? What did you see?”
She hesitated, knowing she should tell them about the fifty-quid note. “I spoke to the guy at the door. Did Tam and Dan give you a good description?”
“Yeah, don’t worry about that. Did you see the Burnett woman?”
“I saw her in the mirror. She had blood all over her neck, all down her shoulder. So she was found by someone who came to give her a lift to work? Was the door left open?”
Sullivan ignored the question. “What else?”
Paddy thought back to the Bearsden driveway and the dark, remembered the rain on her face and the terrible coldness of the night.
“Lights were on in the hall. And in the room on the left, as I was facing the door. The room on the right was in darkness. The man had suspenders on and an expensive shirt. He was talking to Dan at the door, and Tam Gourlay was guarding the car, which I thought was funny because of the area.” She looked at them. They didn’t find it funny at all. “The man kept his hands behind his back, keeping the door closed, like he didn’t want anyone to see in. I caught Vhari Burnett’s eye in the mirror and I sort of went—” she raised her eyebrows “—you know, like, ‘d’you want a hand?’ She shook her head and kind of—” Paddy slipped her chin to her chest and sat back in the chair, miming Vhari slipping out of view. Neither policeman seemed interested in the minutiae of their interaction. “I saw two BMWs parked around the back.”
Both men sat forward. Sullivan tapped the desk. “Where?”
“Round the back. I came up the drive, passed the squad car, and saw round the side. Tucked in behind the house. Where it’s dark.”
“Are you sure it was two cars?”
“Certain.”
Sullivan took a sheet of paper out of a drawer and pushed it across the desk to her with a pencil. “Could you draw them?”
She sketched the rough shape and the men asked her about the details, how high off the ground was that one, this one, any idea of the license-plate numbers? What made her notice them if they were tucked around the back?
“Aye, well, Tam was talking about them. He pointed to the cars and said how flash they were. That’s why I thought Burnett and the man at the door were married, because of the matching cars.”
The officers glanced at each other and Andy Reid, not versed at hiding his feelings, raised an eyebrow.
“Wasn’t it her car?” asked Paddy.
Reid shook his head. “She’d hardly need a lift to work if she’d a BMW round the back, would she?”
Sullivan cleared his throat and watched his hands folding a sheet of paper as he spoke. “There’s going to be an inquiry into what the officers did at the house and why they left. You’ll be called, so you better, you know, be available.”
“’Kay.” Paddy took a breath and looked around the desktop.
Now was the time to say it but telling them about the fifty quid would be more than a confession; they would guess that Dan and Tam had been given money as well. Policemen stuck together like cooked spaghetti. Threatening one of them meant threatening all of them and she was already regarded suspiciously because of the Baby Brian case.
Paddy looked around the desk: two packets of cigarettes, a lighter, a form, two sheets of carbon paper, and a small bald circle on the wood to the right of the form where a previous occupant had placed a hot cup and burned through the varnish. She could just blurt it out.
“You can go now.”
They waited for her
His mouth twitched a pout. “So,” he said, “your reputation goes before you. I know what you did on the Baby Brian case.”
She sighed and patted the table patiently.
Sullivan nodded heavily. “I know, I’m just saying, you’re not as daft as ye, um …” Uncomfortable and a little lost, he flicked his finger up at her. “Ye know. Anyway, so, you were at the Bearsden call? What did you see?”
She hesitated, knowing she should tell them about the fifty-quid note. “I spoke to the guy at the door. Did Tam and Dan give you a good description?”
“Yeah, don’t worry about that. Did you see the Burnett woman?”
“I saw her in the mirror. She had blood all over her neck, all down her shoulder. So she was found by someone who came to give her a lift to work? Was the door left open?”
Sullivan ignored the question. “What else?”
Paddy thought back to the Bearsden driveway and the dark, remembered the rain on her face and the terrible coldness of the night.
“Lights were on in the hall. And in the room on the left, as I was facing the door. The room on the right was in darkness. The man had suspenders on and an expensive shirt. He was talking to Dan at the door, and Tam Gourlay was guarding the car, which I thought was funny because of the area.” She looked at them. They didn’t find it funny at all. “The man kept his hands behind his back, keeping the door closed, like he didn’t want anyone to see in. I caught Vhari Burnett’s eye in the mirror and I sort of went—” she raised her eyebrows “—you know, like, ‘d’you want a hand?’ She shook her head and kind of—” Paddy slipped her chin to her chest and sat back in the chair, miming Vhari slipping out of view. Neither policeman seemed interested in the minutiae of their interaction. “I saw two BMWs parked around the back.”
Both men sat forward. Sullivan tapped the desk. “Where?”
“Round the back. I came up the drive, passed the squad car, and saw round the side. Tucked in behind the house. Where it’s dark.”
“Are you sure it was two cars?”
“Certain.”
Sullivan took a sheet of paper out of a drawer and pushed it across the desk to her with a pencil. “Could you draw them?”
She sketched the rough shape and the men asked her about the details, how high off the ground was that one, this one, any idea of the license-plate numbers? What made her notice them if they were tucked around the back?
“Aye, well, Tam was talking about them. He pointed to the cars and said how flash they were. That’s why I thought Burnett and the man at the door were married, because of the matching cars.”
The officers glanced at each other and Andy Reid, not versed at hiding his feelings, raised an eyebrow.
“Wasn’t it her car?” asked Paddy.
Reid shook his head. “She’d hardly need a lift to work if she’d a BMW round the back, would she?”
Sullivan cleared his throat and watched his hands folding a sheet of paper as he spoke. “There’s going to be an inquiry into what the officers did at the house and why they left. You’ll be called, so you better, you know, be available.”
“’Kay.” Paddy took a breath and looked around the desktop.
Now was the time to say it but telling them about the fifty quid would be more than a confession; they would guess that Dan and Tam had been given money as well. Policemen stuck together like cooked spaghetti. Threatening one of them meant threatening all of them and she was already regarded suspiciously because of the Baby Brian case.
Paddy looked around the desk: two packets of cigarettes, a lighter, a form, two sheets of carbon paper, and a small bald circle on the wood to the right of the form where a previous occupant had placed a hot cup and burned through the varnish. She could just blurt it out.
“You can go now.”
They waited for her
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