Free Where the Bodies are Buried by Christopher Brookmyre, Brookmyre Page B

her fingers. ‘There’s
     nobody you’re worried about making a move on you, given that they’ve just taken out your right-hand man?’
    Steel put down his fork, a sour look on his face. He wasn’t going to enjoy his breakfast now until he’d got rid of her, and
     he certainly wasn’t going to enjoy his omelette until he’d got the salt back.
    ‘You need to stop reading the
Daily Record,’
he said. ‘Until I read aboot it, I wasnae aware I had a right-hand man. Aye, we did business, and aye, we ran aboot together
     when we were kids, but we don’t have a gang hut any more. I don’t know what Jai was up to seven days a week, any more than
     I know what Bobby and Nige here have got planned for this afternoon. Jai got himself in bother, obviously, the worst kind,
     but it’s nothing to do with me.’
    ‘When did you hear?’ Catherine asked.
    ‘Back of seven.’
    ‘Not a nice way to start the day. Woken up with that news.’
    ‘I was awake already. I’m an early riser.’
    ‘And what was the first name that popped into your head?’
    ‘I was too shocked to think about anything like that.’
    ‘Bollocks you were. Gut instinct: who did you think about?’
    He took another gulp of juice, buying time. This told her that whatever name followed would be a lie, but more importantly
     that there had been a name he didn’t want to give her.
    ‘Tony McGill,’ he said, prompting a snort of amusement from bothhis dining companions. ‘I just thought, maybe the auld bastard’s still trying to keep the drugs out of Gallowhaugh.’
    ‘Aye, very good,’ Catherine said with a measured lack of interest. ‘So you won’t feel it’s incumbent upon you to respond on
     the late Mr McDiarmid’s behalf, or be worried that you might also be under threat.’
    ‘I’m keen that justice is done, and I’ve every confidence that you’ll see it is, Officer … ?’
    Nige reprised his grunt. He thought his boss was a riot, clearly. He was easily pleased, although not so easily sated, going
     by the damage he had inflicted on the buffet.
    ‘McLeod,’ she stated. ‘Detective Superintendent.’
    ‘McLeod, aye. And no, I’m not worried. Like I said, I don’t know what this is about, but it’s nothing to do with me. Now,
     would you mind passing the salt?’
    Catherine motioned to toss it. Steel cupped his hands. She deliberately threw it a little too hard and a little too fast for
     him to catch. It hit him in the chest, bouncing off his sweatshirt with a percussive sound that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s pecs
     couldn’t have made, even in his prime.
    ‘Not worried, aye,’ she said. ‘That’s why you’re out running between two fat bastards, getting jogger’s nipple off a bulletproof
     vest.’

Machinery
    Sergeant George Collins had the polite and slightly disconnected air of giving a well-rehearsed speech. The effect was dishearteningly
     like speaking to an advanced but no less impersonal answering system. For missing persons, press one.
    ‘You see, Miss Sharp,’ he explained, ‘our resources are finite, so it’s incumbent upon us to prioritise them appropriately.
     For that reason, unless we have solid evidence that a crime has been committed, we can’t act upon a report of a missing person.’
    Jasmine felt stupid now, but only because, deep down, she had known this was how it was going to play out. It was only just
     gone eight o’clock, meaning she had to admit to the cop that she had first noticed Jim missing less than twelve hours ago,
     not even overnight.
    Determined to be able to tell the police that she had exhausted all reasonable avenues open to her as a civilian, she had
     opened the Yellow Pages with the intention of checking the local hospitals. When she saw the list, she realised that she could
     be at it a while, which was when it struck her that this normally worked the other way around. If Jim had been admitted somewhere,
     then the staff would have attempted to get in touch with his