Wheeler was aware of the silence in the room. Matthew Barnes held the audience’s attention by force of will, his passion evident.

Barnes continued, ‘I’d like to present a few thoughts about the issues and dangers of neglecting children in our society. Or if you like, more of the same-old-same-old, the nature versus nurture argument. I believe this is a crucial area and one which is woefully underfunded, so then afterwards,’ he paused, smiling, ‘I ask you for your money.’ A ripple of laughter spread around the room. Then the lights went out.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, let’s begin right at the beginning.’ He pressed a switch and the screen beside him flickered into life. An image of two brain scans flashed onto the screen, one brain noticeably larger than the other. Barnes crossed to the screen and pointed to the smaller of the two. ‘This brain belongs to a child who was severely neglected from birth. The child’s brain has much less tissue.’ He pointed to the other scan. ‘In this image, the larger brain belongs to a child with a normal upbringing – that’s to say a child who wasn’t neglected, a child who had their needs met. Notice the increase in both the size of the brain and the amount of brain tissue.’

Wheeler sat in the dark, listening to Barnes speak. She listened to the statistics and the theories about neglect and the proven link to delinquency. She thought about her own upbringing, a mother who had loved both her and her sister. Her father had died too early in her life for her to have any memory of him, but their mother had made sure they had everything she could manage to give them. The old adage had applied: they’d everything they’d needed but maybe not everything they’d wanted.

‘And then there are these . . .’ Barnes continued his lecture. Wheeler watched another set of brain scans, thought of Alec Munroe and Rab Wilson and the other kids from Watervale Academy and wondered how a scan of their brains would match up against her nephew’s. She wondered if the Watervale kids even had enough resources to cope with the world. Her nephew had been feted all his life. And from what Wheeler had seen, instead of this making him stronger, he had become an indulged brat.

‘So, you see,’ Barnes continued, ‘children tell us from a very young age how much they are struggling to make sense of the world that we have created for them. And if they, literally, don’t have the brain power,’ the two disparate brain scans flashed again on the screen, ‘if they don’t have the brain power,’ he repeated, ‘due to neglect or abuse, to process the world they live in, then what chance do they have?’

Silence.

‘University? Unlikely. A meteoric career? Doubtful. Successful relationships?’ He peered at the audience. ‘What do you think their chances would be?’ He looked around the room, waited. No one offered an opinion. ‘So, they learn to create their own smaller worlds, often outside of society. They become outsiders. We have created a sub-society of outsiders because from birth these children are massively disadvantaged. The question is, now that we are aware of this,’ he slammed his fist on the desk, his voice rising, ‘what the hell are we going to do about it?’

Silence.

Finally the lights went up.

Applause.

Wheeler sat, like most of the audience, wondering the same thing. What was to be done to help children who were so ill-equipped to deal with their surroundings?

Buchan turned to her. ‘Maybe we need to distil the lecture, let it settle for a while. Matt gets very passionate about the neglected weans and their needs.’ He glanced at the doorway; people were filing out and making their way to the bar. ‘Glass of wine?’

They followed him into the bar in silence, pausing only to write their cheques and leave them in the huge bowl with the rest of the donations. A pile of leaflets outlining the work of the Keenan Institute were stacked next to the bowl. Imogen took two and passed one to Wheeler.

‘Pretty heavy stuff in there.’ Buchan led them to a table with a cardboard place setting which had Paul Buchan scrawled on it. Beside it a chilled bottle of Pinot Grigio. He poured three glasses.

Imogen took hers. ‘Heavy but interesting. I honestly didn’t realise that the scans would look so different. I’m shocked at the difference in brain sizes. How can those kids cope?’

‘Many don’t – those are the ones Matt wants to help, before they move outside of society.’

‘And into crime,’ said Wheeler.

‘And maybe onto the Bar-L?’ Buchan leaned against the bar.

Wheeler sipped her wine, aware that Imogen sounded upset. She wondered if it was because Imogen’s partner Alison was pregnant and the responsibility of giving a child a good start was playing on her mind.

Buchan touched her elbow. ‘You look miles away. Glad you came?’

‘Of course, yeah,’ Wheeler nodded. ‘Bit of a wake-up call, that’s all. Not that I hadn’t read up about stuff like that before.’

‘But Matt’s passion really sells it, doesn’t it?’

‘It made me think about my own childhood, how we were brought up, fed, clothed and looked after pretty well. Then there are these kids who are trying twice as hard with half the resources. It just seems so unfair.’

‘Excuse me, need a loo break,’ announced Imogen, draining her glass.

‘I hope it hasn’t put a damper on our evening,’ he said, changing the subject. ‘You said you were in the middle of a big case at the moment.’ Buchan topped up all three glasses, emptying the bottle.

‘Not a damper. I think it’s just reminded me of the reality some of the kids in our city are facing – not that there aren’t some little shites out there, but, those images,’ she gestured to the lecture hall, ‘they make me uneasy.’

‘But you help those kind of kids, don’t you?’

Wheeler stared into her glass. ‘I’m not sure. At least we don’t always help them, not all the time. Sometimes there’s no time to find out much about their background. It’s just process them, place them in the system somewhere and then it’s onto the next case.’

‘You’re being too hard on yourself,’ he touched her arm, ‘really. I think you probably do a lot of good for the kids you come into contact with.’ He smiled at her, tried to lighten the mood.

‘Is that right?’

‘Uh huh, you do a great job. Changing the subject, do you want to go on somewhere for dinner?’ He was definitely flirting.

‘Might do.’

‘Italian, Indian, Greek . . .?’

Imogen came back. ‘I’m heading off home now – I’ve got a pregnant girlfriend who will be feeling neglected herself if I don’t make a show.’

Buchan smiled. ‘Just need to say a quick goodbye to Matt. Won’t be a sec.’ He paused. ‘Good to meet you Imogen, and safe journey home.’

They watched him disappear into the crowd.

Imogen pulled on her jacket. ‘You going home with him?’

‘I haven’t decided yet.’

‘Well either way, try to enjoy yourself. You need some down time with your job. And the lecture was great but pretty heavy. You need some fun.’

‘Yep, I agree.’ Wheeler sipped her wine, watched Buchan speak to Matt Barnes.

‘Cute.’ Imogen nodded towards Buchan.

Wheeler raised her glass. ‘Abso-fucking-lutely he’s cute,’ but she heard the tension in her voice.

‘Think you’ll ever settle down?’

‘Like you and Alison, do you mean?’

‘Well, obviously not as perfect and loved up as we are, but you know, a committed relationship and emotional intimacy, that kind of thing?’

‘Who knows? Maybe,’ Wheeler lied.

‘I hope he’s not going to be just another one of your brief liaisons.’

‘I’ll try not to hurt his feelings.’

‘What about you and Ross?’

‘Ross?’

‘You heard.’

‘I hope you don’t mean what I think you mean.’

‘You fancy him.’

‘What kind of a word is that,’ Wheeler laughed. ‘Are you still in primary school?’

‘Cut the crap, Wheeler, just answer the question. You want to jump Ross, don’t you?’