‘Fraser, you’re coming with me. We’re going to pay the site owners a visit and let them know they’ve got a bit of a problem.’

Now all they had to do was get through this bloody traffic.

Saturn Property had its offices in Skypark, the vast glass monstrosity in Finnieston that they liked to call a business campus. It had been christened as the New Face of Glasgow. Narey wasn’t sure there was all that much wrong with the old one.

She looked up at it disapprovingly before they went in. ‘Does no one build anything from brick any more, Fraser? It’s all glass and steel and aluminium. Remember the third pig? The smart one?’

Toshney looked confused. Narey sighed. ‘No matter how hard the big bad wolf huffed and puffed, he couldn’t blow down the house made of bricks. Remember that if you ever go into the construction business.’

‘I will, Boss.’

Saturn were on the eleventh floor of Skypark 1 with blue-tinged views over the Clyde through floor-to-ceiling windows. Narey looked down to see New Glasgow below her - the Exhibition Centre, the Hydro, the BBC Scotland building, the Science Centre, the Armadillo and the Squinty Bridge. Some things didn’t change though - the Finnieston Crane and the river itself defying all attempts at renewal.

Saturn’s managing director had an office that might be described as minimalist. Ready for a quick getaway was another description that sprang to mind. A computer and monitor sat on the sole desk, a black-leather chair behind it, a single filing cabinet and a black-leather sofa. Beige walls and a carpet so nondescript that it almost wasn’t there. The only thing that even suggested what they did was a series of black-framed artist’s impressions of what she presumed were future projects.

In one stood a row of modernist apartments, all glass and wood frontage with awkward angles and showy features. Standing on a field of pastoral green and under a gloriously sunny sky, they were ‘full of Eastern promise’ according to the accompanying text. They also looked like a big bad wolf could blow them down with one puff.

A door opened behind them and the office’s owner hustled in. Mark Singleton was a sunbed thirty-something in a loud suit, all white teeth and fashioned hair. Narey disliked him even before he looked her up and down without bothering to try to hide the fact.

‘Detective Inspector . . .’

‘Narey. Thank you for seeing us, Mr Singleton. I expect you’ll know why we’re here.’

The man gestured them towards the sofa but Narey didn’t budge. He shrugged and sat behind his desk.

‘I got a call from my site foreman telling me about the body found at our Renfield Street site but I don’t see how we can help. This hasn’t got anything to do with Saturn other than the fact that someone was trespassing there.’

‘Well I don’t think we’ll be charging the woman with trespass, Mr Singleton.’

The man looked annoyed but didn’t rise to it. ‘What can I help you with, Inspector?’

‘Have you any idea why the woman would have been inside the property?’

‘None whatsoever. I’m told the body had been there for some time so she didn’t work for us. The site had been secured for a considerable period of time. She had no right being in there.’

‘Mr Singleton, I am not looking to make a case for negligence. This isn’t about holding your company responsible. It’s about finding out how and why the victim was in your property. It’s about trying to find out who killed her.’

He blanched beneath his fake tan. ‘It was murder?’

‘It looks that way. Have you spoken to your security people about how she could have got in?’

‘I haven’t had the chance but it wasn’t Fort Knox. People can get into most sites if they try hard enough. Frankly, I’m more concerned about any possible delay in demolition. We’re on a very tight schedule and time is money. When can we get the site back?’

She was disgusted and barely hid it. ‘Not any time soon. It’s a crime scene. The demolition will have to be delayed indefinitely.’

Singleton looked furious. ‘Our lawyers will have something to say about that, Inspector.’

‘They’re welcome to try, sir. Now about your security firm. Did they have the premises covered by CCTV? If so, I want to see their tapes.’

He exhaled, clearly irritated. ‘I don’t know. I don’t think so. It was an empty building with nothing inside to steal. There was no need for cameras.’

‘It seems there was. Now, your security. It is provided by Mullen Security. Is that right?’

A shrug. ‘I’d need to check but that sounds right.’

‘It is right. Have you employed this firm for long or on other premises, sir?’

‘I’m not sure why any of this is relevant.’

‘Maybe it’s not, sir. But I’m curious as to how you came to employ Mullen. They have a certain reputation. The people behind it definitely do.’

Paul and Bobby Mullen made their money through drugs, prostitution and people trafficking, then laundered it through the security firm, pubs, tanning salons and saunas, etc. They were serious players in the city.

‘What are you insinuating? If you have a problem with Mullen Security, Inspector, then I suggest you take it up with them. I fail to see how they or their reputation have anything to do with what happened in our building. Do you have any further questions?’

‘Yes I do.’

She saw the flare of anger in the man’s eyes and it made her happy. He sank further back in his seat but said nothing.

‘How often were the premises checked and who checked them?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Can you find out?’

‘Yes.’

‘Do you have a list of all the people who have worked in the building in the past few months and may I see that, please?’

‘They are mostly subcontracted.’

‘That’s not what I asked you, Mr Singleton. Will you get me a list of the names?’

‘Yes!’

‘Thank you. Can you provide me with your lead contact for Mullen Security?’

‘I really don’t see why . . .’ He made a small exasperated sigh. ‘Okay. I’ll get my secretary to look them out. She’ll get all the information to you.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

‘I need that project to restart as soon as possible, Inspector. There is a lot depending on it. What can I do to expedite things?’

She narrowed her eyes. ‘You can cooperate fully. As soon as I know who was responsible for this woman’s death, you can have your building back.’

‘What did you make of our Mr Singleton, Fraser?’

‘He’s a prick, ma’am.’

‘Yes he is. And I don’t like him one little bit. Let’s see what else we can find out about him.’ She took her phone out and began scrolling through her contacts.

‘You think he’s involved?’

‘I don’t know. Maybe I’d just like him to be. He’s in business with the Mullen brothers and a body’s been found on premises they were protecting. That sounds like a good starting point to me.’

‘It wouldn’t be the first time the Mullen boys were responsible for a body or two.’

‘Exactly, Fraser. You’re catching on.’

They were sitting in the car in the shadow of Skypark and Narey was determined to push things on before they got back to the station. She needed an edge. She needed someone who knew the property game a lot better than she did.

She found the name she was looking for and called. It was answered on the third ring.

‘Rachel! How the hell are you? It’s been a while.’

Johnny Jackson was an ex-cop, her first sergeant in CID, who now worked as a consultant for IFIG, the Insurance Fraud Investigators Group.

‘I’m good, Jacko. You? How’s the fraud business?’

‘Plenty of it, I’m glad to say. Always someone trying to screw someone else for the sake of a few quid. Keeps me in beer. So is this a business call?’

‘’Fraid so. I’m hoping to pick your brains.’

‘You do know I get paid for that kind of thing these days?’

She laughed, pleased to hear he hadn’t changed. ‘How about I owe you a lunch? Sarti’s maybe?’