‘Fuck you! Fuck you!’ He’d lost it completely. ‘Get off me!’

She stood over him as he looked up, screaming obscenities.

‘David McCormack, I am Detective Inspector Rachel Narey of Police Scotland and I’m arresting you for the murders of Jennifer Cairns, Euan Hepburn and Remy Feeks. You do not have to say anything but anything you do say may be noted in evidence. Do you wish to say anything, Mr McCormack? Or do you prefer David Haddow?’

His head shot up and he stared hatred at her, his face turning a blood-boiling shade of anger.

‘I’m saying nothing. Get my lawyer. I’m demanding my lawyer.’

‘You did kill her though, didn’t you? Your partner’s wife. How long had you been having an affair with her? How long?’

There was no reply.

‘You broke in here looking for the photographs that prove you were at the Odeon. Didn’t you?’

McCormack glared but still said nothing. ‘Take him away. And get his lawyer. He’s going to need one.’

The ring of his mobile phone made Winter jump, the noise rattling round the high night air and cutting through the whistle of the wind. He sat bolt upright and stared at the screen, the lights of the city below and beyond him.

Rachel. His finger scrambled for the screen and hit receive.

‘We’ve got McCormack. He came looking for the photographs as you thought he would, once he saw you were up there out of the way.’

‘Well, I didn’t know it would be him. That was down to you. And I couldn’t be sure I’d been followed that night from Oran Mor and another night. It was just a feeling. Has he confessed?’

‘He hasn’t admitted or denied anything. But he will. Now, can you get yourself down from there safely without breaking your neck or do I need to send a helicopter?’

He laughed. ‘A helicopter would be nice, but no thanks. This is something I need to do.’

‘Exorcize some ghosts?’

‘Yes. Exactly that.’

‘Okay, we’ll pick you up at the bottom. And please, be bloody careful.’

‘Didn’t I promise I would?’

Chapter 56

Tuesday afternoon

David McCormack sat in interview room 2 in Stewart Street, his back firmly to the chair, trying and failing to give an impression of calm. By his side was his solicitor, Patrick Doull, and opposite were Narey and Addison.

Doull came with a reputation as hard-nosed and aggressive. He looked like a middleweight boxer in an expensive suit, well-schooled in confrontation and doing whatever it took to keep his clients out of jail. The word was that you couldn’t mark his neck with a blowtorch. They both knew he’d be hard work.

The room was deliberately small and claustrophobic. Anyone with a sense of smell could still make out the countless cigarettes that had been smoked in there. No amount of bleach or fresh paint could remove that any more than it could get rid of the twin spectres of sweat and fear.

The interview had already lasted ten minutes. Doull had made his mark early, stressing his client’s clean record and professional standing, questioning the legality of the process that led his client to the flat in Berkeley Street and making loud noises about entrapment being illegal in Scotland since the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights into Scots law. In terms of the interview, it was bluster. Narey led the attack.

‘Mr McCormack, officers carried out a search of your home earlier today. They found a number of items of interest. Do you know what they might be?’

Doull answered as she’d expected. ‘My client isn’t a mind reader, Detective Inspector. Why don’t you just tell us what you found?’

‘Okay. In a small rucksack in a cupboard, we found three torches, spare batteries, a Swiss Army knife and a street map of Glasgow. In the same cupboard, there was a pair of waders. Can you explain why you have those, Mr McCormack?’

The man didn’t look worried or surprised. ‘There’s nothing unusual about any of those things.’

‘Okay. We also found this camera. Is it yours?’

She placed a Nikon SLR on the desk between them.

McCormack was wary, as if fearing a trap. ‘It looks like mine. I can’t be sure.’

‘We’ve already dusted it for fingerprints.’

Doull nodded at his client, who answered, ‘Yes, it’s mine.’

‘Good. There were a considerable number of images of empty buildings on the memory card. Can you tell us about them?’

McCormack looked troubled but gathered himself. ‘I like to explore abandoned places. It’s legal.’

Narey smiled at him. ‘Not entirely. Anyway, let’s leave that for now. We also found these.’

She placed a clear evidence bag on the table. Inside were a pair of black-silk panties.

‘Do you recognize them?’

‘No. I . . . They belong to an ex-girlfriend.’

‘What’s her name? We can check with her.’

‘I don’t remember.’

Narey looked across at Addison who duly laughed.

‘You don’t remember. Must be plenty of exes then. Mr McCormack, were you having an affair with Jennifer Cairns?’

Colour drained from his face at the mention of the name.

‘No. I wasn’t. They’re not Jen’s. You can’t prove that they’re hers.’

‘Which is it, Mr McCormack? That they’re not or that we can’t prove it?’

‘Either.’

‘But we can prove it. DNA tests might take a couple of days, no longer. I’m confident that they will match to Mrs Cairns. Aren’t you?’

McCormack’s eyes flitted to his lawyer, looking for help. Doull recognized the gesture for what it was. ‘I’d like a moment alone with my client.’

Narey and Addison nodded to each other in agreement. ‘Interview suspended at 14.42,’ she told the tape. ‘DCI Addison and DI Narey leaving the room.’

‘Two minutes,’ Addison informed Doull. ‘That should be long enough to tell him what he needs to do.’

The solicitor ignored Addison’s remark and the door was closed on Doull and McCormack as the officers left. When the door reopened, less than ten minutes later, it was clear that the atmosphere inside the interview room had changed.

‘Are you ready to continue, Mr McCormack?’ ‘Yes. And I wish to make a statement.’ ‘Good. Then let’s get going again. Interview resumed at 14.51. Those present as before. David McCormack has intimated his wish to make a statement. He will now do so.’

The man drew a deep breath and let it back out slowly. With a final look to his lawyer, he began. ‘I wish to confirm that I was involved in a sexual relationship with Jennifer Cairns. This began three months ago. It was mutually initiated and consensual at all times. I did not kill her and I was in no way involved in her death.’

Narey nodded slowly at him as if grateful for the information. The man’s lawyer had obviously told him not to deny something if it could be easily proven. Deny everything else. That was going to be their strategy. ‘How often did you and Mrs Cairns see each other?’ McCormack looked uncomfortable. ‘When we could. Maybe two or three times a week.’

‘And was Douglas Cairns aware of your relationship?’

‘No. Of course not. It would have destroyed him. Jen said that he could never find out.’

‘So Mrs Cairns said your affair would always be a secret. Always just be an affair. Were you happy with that or did you want more from your relationship?’

He flushed slightly. Just a hint, a little poker tell. Then he shrugged.

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘Yes you do. Did you want to take it further, be a couple, have her split from her husband, be with you full-time?’