Page 83 of Better the Devil

‘What’s up?’

Logan glanced down at the phone in his hand, then shook his head as he pocketed it. ‘Nothing.’

‘Then why are you standing there with your coat half on, and a face like a well-skelped arse?’

Logan regarded his trailing sleeve like he was seeing it for the first time. He slipped an arm through it, then shrugged the coat on.

‘Just a call from Tyler. It’s nothing,’ he reiterated.

Shona searched his face, like she knew there was something to find.

‘Is he OK?’

‘He’s fine. Just… It’s just about this case. Nothing to worry about.’

‘Oh. OK,’ she said, giving up. She knew better than to waste her time continuing to ask. Jack Logan’s stubbornness could give brick walls a run for their money. ‘You heading in? Can you take Taggart today?’

At the sound of his name, the dog came trotting from the kitchen, tail going back and forth like a windscreen wiper. He circled Logan’s feet, then stood facing the door, ready to leave.

‘Aye, no bother,’ Logan confirmed. He fastened the middle button on his coat, and unhooked Taggart’s lead from the rackbehind the door. ‘You, eh, going to get those PM reports finished up and sent across today?’

‘Assuming you don’t bring me any more dead people, then yes,’ Shona told him.

Jack nodded solemnly. ‘Right, good.’

He clipped the lead onto Taggart’s collar to prevent the dog shooting off the moment the door was opened. His hand found the door handle, but stopped there without turning it.

‘The other night. Parents’ evening,’ he began.

‘What about it?’

Logan didn’t look back at Shona. ‘Where was Olivia beforehand?’

‘Not sure,’ Shona said, after a moment’s silence. ‘Think she was out with friends, wasn’t she?’

She might have been. It was entirely possible. He didn’t think she’d ever said as much, though.

‘Why do you ask?’

‘No reason,’ Logan said.

Then, with a turn of the handle and a hurried, ‘Have a good day,’ he let the dog drag him outside into the early morning rain.

Sinead and Tylerstood together on one side of the desk in Logan’s office, while Jack sat hunched in his chair across from them. The window blinds had been pulled shut, cutting them off from the rest of the Incident Room.

Beneath the desk, Taggart snored softly.

‘Tell me again,’ Logan urged.

Tyler and Sinead exchanged sideways glances. They’d gone over the conversation half a dozen times now, between the phone call and here in the office. There was nothing new to add.

‘Just like we said, boss. Harris said he thought she might have a boyfriend. A new one, like, not him. He says they weren’t… But, you know what teenagers are like.’

Logan twirled a finger, urging the DC to get to the point. Again.

‘Then, he said maybe she didn’t, but she’d been acting weird for a few weeks, since she found out her dad was getting out of prison.’

‘A few weeks? That’s what he said?’