Page 100 of Better the Devil

He set the page down on his desk and rubbed a hand across his mouth, his brain already racing through all the implications of this new information.

‘Do, eh… Do you need anything else?’

‘Hm? No. No, that’s fine,’ Logan said, then his mind cleared and he slapped a hand against the door before Tyler could open it. ‘Wait. No. Nearly forgot.The Little Mermaid?’

Tyler smiled, but it was a thin and uncertain thing. ‘What about her, boss?’

Logan raised his eyebrows. ‘Care to explain?’

‘Right. OK. Well…’ Tyler took a deep breath. ‘She lives under the sea, right, but what she really wants?—’

‘Not the plot, Tyler,’ Logan interjected. ‘Your apparentlosingof it in that interview earlier.’

‘Oh. Right.’ Tyler swallowed. ‘You, eh, you spoke to Detective Superintendent Mitchell, then?’

‘I did,’ Logan confirmed. ‘I think she was still processing. What the hell were you thinking?’

‘I, eh, I just got nervous, boss,’ Tyler said.

‘So you spoke for two hours about a Disney movie?’ Logan asked. ‘You’re a clown, son, but you’re no’ that much of a clown.’

Tyler stole a furtive look at the door, and at the window beside it. Through the narrow slats in the blinds, he could see Sinead cradling her phone to her ear as she scribbled notes in her pad.

When he spoke again, there was a note of resignation in his voice. ‘I never actually wanted the DS gig. Not really. I mean, it’d have been fine, but it wasn’t like I was all that fussed. I think I’m better at sort of, you know, running about after people.’

‘What, like a servant?’

‘Eh? No. Chasing folk, I mean. Being the, you know, like the muscle.’

Logan looked down. Next to him, the DC appeared to have the build of a Victorian child.

‘Right,’ Jack said, choosing not to comment further.

‘But Sinead kept going on at me. Said I should go for it. Said it wouldn’t be fair if I stepped back because of her. Told me if I didn’t apply, she wouldn’t either. And she had to. I wanted her to. Because she’s amazing, and she deserves it.’

He studied her through the blinds again.

‘And there’s no way I could ever compete with her, even if I wanted to.’

Logan sighed. ‘So, you went in front of a panel of some of the most senior officers in Police Scotland, and told them you cry when the mermaid gets her legs?’

Tyler nodded. ‘I did, boss. And I do. Gets me every time. See, it’s what she’s always wanted. Them legs. It’s what she’s dreamed about, what she’s worked for, what she’s been strivingfor for so long.Solong. She deserves those legs. She’s earned them legs. They should beherlegs.’

He was still looking out through the window at his wife, but turned back to Logan now.

‘So, aye, boss.’ He bumped against the centre of his chest. ‘That bit always gets me here.’

Logan tried to look annoyed, but couldn’t hold on to it. ‘Nice analogy, son.’

Tyler’s smile brightened, but there was a downward flicker of his eyebrows. ‘Boss?’

‘The legs. Getting the legs.’ Logan flicked his gaze towards the window. ‘Sinead. Really wanting it.’

Tyler followed the DCI’s gaze for a moment, before turning back to him, fully confused now.

‘What are you on about, boss? Sinead’s already got legs. I meant the Little Mermaid.’

Logan stood staring down into DC Neish’s upturned face. There had been times over the past few years—many, many times—when Jack had quietly wondered how much of Tyler’s personality was an act.