anything, the problem was the opposite. He tended to assume she was his equal, and she'd lost count of the times she'd had to tell him to slow down and speak in something approaching English. But that was infinitely preferable to the alternative.
When Alex and Weird had come home with the bag of paint samples, Lynn had been on the phone to Jason within ten minutes. As she'd expected, he'd reacted like a child who's just been told he's spending the summer at Disneyland. "I've got a meeting first thing, but I'll be clear of that by ten."
As Alex had suggested, she'd tried to tell him they'd pay his fee privately. But he'd waved away her offer. "What are pals for?" he'd demanded. "Besides, I'm up to my back teeth with car paint. You'll be saving me from dying of boredom. Bring it on, woman."
The lab was a surprisingly attractive modern single-story building set off the main road in its own grounds. The windows were set high up in the brown brick walls, and CCTV cameras covered every angle of approach. They had to be buzzed through two sets of security doors before they reached the reception. "I've been in prisons with less security," Weird commented. "What do they do here? Manufacture weapons of mass destruction?"
"They do freelance forensic work for the Crown Office. And for the defense," Lynn explained as they waited for Jason to join them. "So they've got to be able to demonstrate that any evidence they take custody of will be held securely."
"So they do DNA and all that?" Alex asked.
"Why? Are you having doubts about your paternity?" Lynn teased him.
"I'll wait till she turns into the teenager from hell for that," Alex said. "No, I'm just curious."
"They do DNA and they do hair and fiber evidence as well as paint," Lynn told him. As she spoke, a burly man approached and clapped an arm round her shoulder.
"You brought the baby," he said, leaning over to peer into the carrier. "Hey, she's gorgeous." He grinned up at Lynn. "Most babies look like the dog sat on their faces. But she looks like a proper wee person." He straightened up. "I'm Jason," he said, looking uncertainly from Weird to Alex.
They introduced themselves. Alex took in the Stirling Albion shirt, the cargo pants with bulging pockets and the spiked hair, its tips bleached a blond never found in nature. On the surface, Jason looked as if he'd be home in any Friday-night pub, bottle of designer lager in his hand. But his eyes were sharp and watchful, his body still and controlled. "Come away through," Jason instructed them. "Here, let me carry the baby," he added, reaching for the carrier. "She is a beauty."
"You might not say that at three in the morning," Lynn said, her maternal pride obvious.
"Maybe not. By the way, I was sorry to hear about your brother," he said, glancing awkwardly over his shoulder at Lynn. "That must have been hellish."
"It's not been easy," Lynn said as they followed Jason down a narrow corridor, the walls painted eggshell blue. At the end, Jason led them into a daunting laboratory. Mysterious equipment gleamed in every corner. Worktops were neat and tidy, and the technician peering down the barrel of something Alex thought might be a futuristic microscope didn't move a muscle as they bustled in. "I feel like I'm contaminating the place just by breathing," he said.
"It's less of an issue with paint," Jason said. "If I was in DNA, you'd be getting nowhere near the sharp end. So, tell me again exactly what it is you've got for me."
Alex ran through what Soanes had revealed the previous afternoon. "Soanes thinks there's not much chance of finding a match for the paint, but maybe you can tell something new from the shape of the drops," he added.
Jason peered at the slides. "Looks like they've kept them in good condition, which is a plus."
"What is it you'll do with them?" Weird asked.
Lynn groaned. "I wish you hadn't said that."
Jason laughed. "Ignore her, she just likes to pretend she's ignorant. We've got a range of techniques that analyze the carrier and pigment. As well as using microspectrophotometry to establish the color, we can go more in-depth to nail down the composition of the paint samples. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry, Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography and Scanning Electron Microscopy. Stuff like that."
Weird looked dazed. "Which tells you what?" Alex asked.
"Lots of things. If it's a chip, what type of surface