widened. ‘Why the hell would I want to do that?’ He paused as a possible answer presented itself. ‘Are you thinking this was an insurance scam?’
‘No,’ Pye replied. ‘One, if that was the game you’d have totalled the car. Two, any insurance claim would arise out of the subsequent collision, and you weren’t driving when that happened. There is a third scenario where you’d give the car to someone else to take away and write off, but we don’t believe that one either.’
‘Good for me,’ the dealer drawled.
‘Maybe not. Do you know, or know of, a child, a wee girl, aged around five, by the name of Zena?’
He frowned. He stared at the two detectives, from one to the other. ‘No, I don’t. Means nothing to me. What’s a five-year-old lassie got to do with my car?’ He laughed, a short, barking sound. ‘Do you think she stole it? Is that what you’re getting at?’
‘No,’ Haddock said quietly. ‘When the boot of your car was opened, after the collision in the Fort Kinnaird car park, and after the driver had absconded, Zena’s body was found inside.’
Sullivan gasped and sat upright in his chair, his hand knocking over his coffee beaker and spilling what was left of its contents across the table. His eyes were wide, and suddenly very frightened. ‘You’re kidding me,’ he exclaimed. ‘You’re making this up. It’s ridiculous.’
‘Oh, but it’s not,’ the DS retorted. He took a small iPad tablet from his jacket and switched it on. ‘Take a look. There’s a photograph to prove it. That’s Zena, or so says a label in the jacket she’s wearing, and she’s dead. In: your: car.’ He ground out the last three words.
‘Can I get a better look at her face?’ the other man croaked.
Haddock scrolled through the photographs in the tablet until he found a close-up.
‘Oh my!’ Sullivan was close to tears. ‘It’s not . . . I’ve got a daughter myself. Kayleigh; she’s five and she lives with her mum. Sorry, I just had to be sure.’
Pye nodded. ‘I understand,’ he said. ‘So you see now,’ he continued, ‘why we need, for the purpose of our inquiry into her death, to establish your whereabouts. Okay, you say you called us from the garage. I’m inclined to believe that, but I need to corroborate it. Who was the last person you saw before you found the theft of the car?’
The car dealer gazed at the table, as if he was looking for the answer in the small streak of cold coffee, ‘My neighbour,’ he replied at last. ‘Her name’s Beth McGregor. I left the house just after nine. Mary had gone to work by then. My car was in the drive, and as I went to get in I saw her through her kitchen window. I waved to her and she waved back.’
‘Thanks, that’s a help. We’ll confirm it with her for the record. Now, let’s move on. What sort of work do you do in your garage?’
‘Like I said, repairs and renewals mainly: if a vehicle needs engine work and it’s drivable, I take it down to Fenton Barns. If not, the mechanic comes to me. The other main thing would be upholstery. With a classic car you’ll find that the leather lasts forever but the seats degrade. I’ve got another bloke that comes in to renew them when I need him.’
‘I won’t ask you to look at the photos again,’ the DCI said, ‘but the boot of your BMW was lined, with thick black foam rubber. Do you keep that at Kingston?’
‘Yes, I do. But there was none in it the last time I looked, I’ll swear. What does that tell you?’
‘It suggests to us,’ Haddock replied, ‘that the person who stole your car did so with the intention of using it to abduct Zena. Also, it suggests that whoever took it might have known about the rubber being there in your garage, so it makes us think we’re looking for somebody who’s been there before.’
‘The guy that was driving,’ Sullivan ventured. ‘What was he like?’
‘Thin-faced white man in his twenties, wearing a hoodie and quick on his feet.’
‘In his twenties, you say?’
‘Yes.’
‘Sorry.’ He gazed at the table once more. ‘That doesn’t suggest anyone in particular to me. I know a few people who look like that.’
‘Still,’ Pye said, ‘we might ask you to look at an artist’s impression when we can get one prepared.’ He looked Sullivan in the eye. ‘What can you tell me about