Riven
Page 29
She paused. Paul Buchan had texted, asking her for dinner – she still hadn’t replied. ‘Not sure, what about you?’
‘Sarah wants to give it another go.’
She looked at his face, saw the tension. ‘And?’
‘I’m not sure. Need some time to think. She lied to me.’ He sighed. ‘Anyway, you fancy going out for dinner, celebrate the end of the case?’
‘Not much to celebrate.’
‘Still.’
‘You paying?’
He smiled. ‘Might do. Take it as another bribe towards my promotion.’
‘You’re on. You take Fido back first, okay?’ She bent and patted the dog. It wagged its tail.
Ross nodded. ‘Okay.’
‘Meet you outside Kelvingrove Art Gallery in an hour?’
‘You’re on.’
‘And thanks for these.’ She gestured to the Christmas decorations.
‘No problem. See you in an hour.’
Wheeler watched Ross and the mutt leave before returning to the photographs. She flicked through them for a few minutes, wondering about the children, what had happened to them, where they were now. She looked at their faces, saw a range of emotions: hope, despair, fear. Finally she gathered the photographs together and started to pack them away. Then she stopped. One photograph was left on her desk. She looked at the line of children, all staring at the camera. Some smiling, some looking nervous; one was scowling into the camera. The boy had faced the camera head on, one eye blazing darker than the other. Wheeler checked the back of the photograph. It was labelled Stobwent-Hill Children’s Home. She checked her notes. Gilmore had worked at the home in the eighties. The children would have ranged in age between three and eleven. She studied the photograph again, noted the direct gaze of the boy, the bitterness behind his scowl. The flash of aggression in dark eyes. She reached for the phone. Called Ross. ‘Listen, there’s something about the case, can you come back to the station?’
Acknowledgements
Gratitude and love go out to Jack Oakman, Michael Dacre, Don Storey and Hania Allen.
Big thank you to Jane Conway-Gordon, Krystyna Green and everyone at Constable & Robinson.