Free Torch by Lin Anderson

about a meeting.
    Rhona got
started on the bit of the job she liked least, the paperwork. If
she concentrated on her reports it would stop her thinking about
Edinburgh and about Liam.
    When she pushed
open her front door, three hours later, the flat smelt stuffy and
unlived in. She had stopped on her way up the stairs and thanked
Mrs Harper for feeding the cat in her absence.
    ‘My pleasure
dear. There’s some post for you, I left it on the hall table and
your ansaphone’s blinking,’ Mrs Harper gave Rhona a knowing smile.
Mrs Harper was one of Sean’s many admirers.
    Her neighbour’s
front door closed when she opened her own. Mrs Harper took her
mothering seriously. Rhona shuffled through the bills and circulars
wishing that Sean wrote letters the way he wrote music. The most
she could hope for when he was away would be a postcard.
    She went in
search of some alcohol and found an unexpected bottle of white wine
in the door of the fridge. She was the one who bought white wine.
Sean didn’t like it. She tried to remember when she’d bought it and
couldn’t.
    She carried her
filled glass to the hall and sat down to listen to the phone
messages.
    When the tune
began, Rhona thought the caller had the radio on too loud in the
background. Then she realised the song by The Crazy World of Arthur
Brown was the message.
    The music
stopped abruptly on I’ll see you burn’. Only someone with a warped
sense of humour and a liking for retro music would leave her a
message like that. She fully expected it to be followed by some
sarcastic remark from MacRae that included the word lady. But
no.
    There was a
short pause then Sean’s enthusiastic voice. ‘Hi Rhona. Got here
okay. It’s great. You can reach me on this number... ’
    Rhona wrote
down the number.
    Chance appeared
at her feet winding in and out of her legs, looking for food. Rhona
headed for the kitchen. She fed the cat and went back to the fridge
for something for herself. It was then she noticed the set table.
Place mat, knife, fork and wine glass. Beside it sat a fresh red
rose in a tumbler of water.
    Fear trickled
down her spine. The strange message on the ansaphone. Now this. She
stood very still, listening to the silent flat. Maybe it was Mrs
Harper? A distinct possibility and one she could check easily
enough. But the song on the ansaphone?
    She walked
through the flat, checking every room for signs of an intruder. All
the windows were tight closed. Nothing was disturbed. The flat
looked just as Sean would have left it.
     

Chapter
14
     
    Detective
Constable Janice Clarke had wordlessly warned Rhona on entry. DI
Wilson was not a happy man.
    Janice was
Bill’s equivalent of Chrissy. They might have been related, not in
looks but in attitude. Janice handed Rhona two cups. The right hand
one was hot, the left one cold, the milk already congealing. Just
the way Bill liked it.
    Rhona offered
the cup as the old leather chair girned round to reveal a sour
faced Bill.
    ‘So what’s
wrong with your face?’
    ‘Long time
since I heard that one.’ Bill gave her a half smile. ‘There’s been
a call from our friends in the East asking about the possibility of
contaminated cocaine.’
    ‘Thallium?’
    ‘Maybe. They’ve
had two serious cases of suspected drug contamination in the last
two weeks. Both critically ill in hospital. And something else.
There was a house fire early this morning on an Edinburgh council
estate. They found the body of an addict inside.’
    ‘I’ll take a
bet all three addicts lived in a rundown area earmarked for
redevelopment,’ Rhona suggested.
    Bill nodded.
‘All from the same estate.’
    It was too much
of a coincidence. ‘Who’s the developer?’
    ‘A well known
and respected company, with interests all over Scotland,’ Bill
raised his eyebrows, ‘including council redevelopment in
Glasgow.’
    ‘I take it you
pointed that out to your Edinburgh equivalent?’
    ‘The company
has its headquarters in Edinburgh.’
    ‘He