Rattray nodded. ‘The Jagger fella was called Michael, Mick, I guess, and I think his second name was Smith. Drizzle, his name was Ian Harbison. I asked Dino how he knew them; he said they had the same probation officer, but I don’t know if he was serious.’
‘What about the third one?’ Haddock asked. ‘What was his nickname?’
‘Her,’ he was corrected. ‘The third one was called Singer; she was his girlfriend, and still is as far as I know. Her name’s Anna Harmony, hence the nickname.’
‘Is she a probation pal too?’
‘It wouldn’t surprise me, although she did seem like a nice kid. If I was you, I’d be looking at these three to track down my useless, feckless brother-in-law. I’m sorry I can’t give you addresses for them, but Donna mentioned something about the girl living in a student flat somewhere.’
‘That makes her hard to trace,’ the DS said. ‘There’ll be no problem finding the other two, though, through the probation service. We’ll get on to them. Just one more question, and then we’re off. Do you believe that Dean Francey has violence in him?’
Rattray scratched his chin as he considered the question. ‘I’m not the guy to ask,’ he said, eventually. ‘I was a cage fighter when I was younger, so he’s always been careful around me. But he has a temper on him and I could imagine it boiling over if a fella crossed him.’
‘What about a female?’
‘I couldn’t rule that out,’ he admitted. ‘I reckon Dino would do most things if the price was right and there was no risk to himself.’
Sixteen
‘Are you glad to be retiring, Prof?’
The little pathologist peered up at Sammy Pye, through round-framed spectacles. His eyes were the only visible part of his body, the rest being encased in a surgical gown, cap and mask.
‘Would it shock you if I said that I’m not?’ Joe Hutchinson replied.
‘Probably not,’ the DCI admitted.
‘Don’t get me wrong,’ the professor continued. ‘I know my time is up; I’m seventy years old as of last week. At the end of next month my contract with the Crown Office expires and I assume emeritus status at the university. Sarah Grace, my successor, was chosen personally by me, so I’m happy with that. My wife and I have travel plans that will involve ticking off our entire, extensive bucket list, beginning with a long, leisurely drive down to Monaco, for the Grand Prix.’
He peeled off his face mask and stepped away from the examination table, and the subject that lay on it. ‘Restore the child’s dignity please, Roshan,’ he said to his assistant as he approached Pye, who had been standing as far away from the action as the examination room allowed.
‘I’m looking forward to all of that, and to being a full-time husband, more or less. And yet,’ he murmured, ‘I’ll feel strange, to put it mildly. It’ll be like cutting myself off from a family, of sorts. I’ve never been a dispassionate pathologist, Sammy. I’ve always bonded with my subjects, and done my best to fulfil my duty towards them. Every deceased person who has come before me for examination has been a victim of something or other, be it disease, misfortune or violence, some premeditated, some not, and it’s been my task to speak on their behalf, to their families, to the courts and sometimes just to God.’
‘You believe in Him?’ the detective asked, surprised.
‘Absolutely,’ Hutchinson declared. ‘I believe in the existence of the incorporeal human spirit, and for me that’s the same thing. I’m not talking about the old fella with the white beard, though,’ he cautioned. ‘I believe that the spirit is a collective of which we become part when we die.’
‘Have you ever seen it?’
The little man laughed. ‘Seen the soul leave the body? Of course not, Sammy: if I claimed that I’d be eternally screwed as an expert witness, would I not? No, but I have felt it. Every time I perform an autopsy I feel that I am accompanied, and that I am the guardian of the trust of the former occupant of my subject. When I get it right, my unseen companion leaves me. But when I make a mistake, as I’ve done half a dozen times in my career, or when I’m unable to come to a definite conclusion, as has happened much more often, then I feel reproach, for some time afterwards, and let me tell you that is not comfortable.’