In Dark Water (Detective Shona Oliver 1)

Shona turned her attention to the rest of her team. On the hardstanding beside the roller door at the front of the unit Murdo was introducing Dan to Ravi. She saw Ravi gesture to Dan’s scrappy beard, then rub the flat of his hand against his own smooth face. Either they were bonding over ma

le grooming or she’d just witnessed the start of an office romance.

SOCO Peter Harrison removed the entrance padlock with a set of bolt cutters, borrowed by Dan from a nearby garage. Together, they forced up the door, allowing some light into the building.

Shona fished blue forensic gloves from her jacket pocket and crossed back into the crime scene. ‘Ravi.’ She summoned him with a tilt of her head. ‘How you doing? How was the community policing group?’ She and Ravi were her team’s only Glaswegians. Shona had grown up with Sunday afternoons of tea, samosas and Bollywood round her Punjabi friends’ houses and the connection gave them a secret handshake of shared values. Their relationship was generally smoother than Shona’s interactions with her other DC, the Edinburgh-raised geography graduate, Kate Irving.

‘Good. I gave the specials a right going over.’ He grinned. As a gay, vegetarian, Asian-Scottish police officer, Ravi was a one-man diversity dream-team, constantly in demand for training and community and school talks. But far from regarding these opportunities as a cushy number, he pushed hard for improvements and, Shona suspected, followed them up in his own time. ‘The five campus support officers came in from the schools for a chat and I’ve put them in touch with some partner agencies.’

‘That’s good work, Ravi.’ Shona nodded approvingly. ‘But there’s something here I want you to look at now.’ She motioned him to follow her to the door of the unit. ‘Familiarise yourself with the layout. One potential witness next door, but that’s it.’ She indicated the office area at the far end of the warehouse. ‘In there we found multiple prescription drugs. No address labels on the boxes. The building was apparently in use by Carmine until they folded. Firm that date up and find out who was in charge here.’ She took her notebook from her pocket. ‘Diazepam in various brands. Etizolam or street Valium. Methadone. Pregabalin, used to treat epilepsy and anxiety.’ She held out the list for him to copy. ‘Also, Xanax and a newbie, Quinox. Could be pharmaceutical or veterinary, agricultural, even marine in origin. Or a foreign brand name or a re-naming of an old drug or a variation or upgrading by adding something like caffeine.’

‘It would have to be registered somewhere.’

‘True, but not necessarily within the EU or the US. Find out what it is. Is it being sold locally? Is this a transit warehouse? Ask your community contacts.’ She peeled the key to the Audi off her RNLI keyring and handed them to him. ‘Take my car, I’ll get a lift back with Murdo.’

‘Okay, boss,’ Ravi said, setting off in his long, loping stride towards the Audi, twirling the key in his fingers.

‘Drive carefully,’ she called after him, and he shot her a grin over his shoulder.

Shona spent fifteen minutes rescheduling her meetings and the rest of the morning supervising the evidence gathering and checking with Kate for updates on the baby milk operation. As predicted, the initial flood of calls had subsided into a steady trickle and Kate was keeping the civilian staff busy collating the information and scrolling through the remaining CCTV. Shona asked her if there had been any calls about the body in the Solway Firth, but, even after the media appeal on local TV and radio, no one had come forward to report a missing young woman. At lunchtime she sent one of the special constables back to the burger van for bacon rolls and tea for everyone. After talking to PC Matthews, she called Dan over.

‘The riverbank search hasn’t thrown up anything obviously connected to our unidentified woman,’ she told him. ‘It was always a long shot. There are a few items of clothing and discarded food packaging which we’ll look at in relation to the drugs. Peter’s found plenty of prints and what could be a few diluted blood spots, but we’ll need to eliminate everyone who worked here when Carmine had the place. Could be a slow job. Thanks for your help. Your DI will be after my guts, keeping you here.’ She watched Dan’s face fall; he knew he was being dismissed.

‘He’ll think you’re doing him a favour. I try to stay out of his way.’

Shona frowned. She knew the subtle, and not so subtle, ways in which officers were sometimes bullied by their colleagues.

‘What’s the problem?’

Dan shrugged, scrapping the soft ground with the toe of his shoe. ‘I think it’s important to gain the community’s trust so they’ll work with us. It’s not a popular view with my DI. I know we’re under pressure to get our solve-rates up but I think the right result is better than the quick result.’

Shona nodded. ‘You did some good work here this morning. I’ll be emailing your DI to tell him so and give him my thanks.’ Dropping her voice, she took a step closer to him. ‘Our girl. This isn’t the end of the road, you know, whatever our bosses might think.’ Her warm brown eyes looked earnestly up at him. ‘If she’s local, we’ll find out who she is. And then we’ll find out who did this to her. Understand?’

‘Yes, ma’am.’ He smiled, reassured.

‘Good. Off you go. Keep me updated.’ Shona was already moving away, zipping up her jacket. She waved PC Matthews over. ‘Matthews, take Dan back to his car, it’s on the main road. Then, when Peter is done, I want you to finish up here. Call Murdo if you have any problems.’

‘Will do, ma’am.’

‘Murdo, with me. Back to base.’

* * *

Ravi was waiting for her when she arrived, his parting grin still in place. He followed her into her office, carrying his laptop. ‘You’re gonna like this, boss.’ Through the glass panel, Kate was shooting daggers at his back.

‘My car still in one piece?’ Shona said, hanging up her jacket and holding out her hand.

‘Course,’ he said, fishing in his jeans pocket for the key, and handing it over. ‘Have a little faith in me.’

‘Go on then,’ said Shona, trying not to catch his infectious grin, ‘amaze me, what have you got?’ She indicated he should put the laptop on her desk.

‘Think I’ve found your group of pharmaceuticals enthusiasts.’

‘What? Already?’ Shona couldn’t hide her surprise.

‘Aye. Nae bother. Magic touch, that’s me,’ he said, flexing his long brown fingers. ‘Called one of the campus officers and checked with a pal at the Royal Infirmary. Both said they’d seen a big jump in the abuse of prescription drugs. Here’s a heads up, boss. Expect a rise in addict deaths when the figures come in next month, cos A&E are getting more poly-addiction cases. Five deaths already. Mix heroine or booze with these tablets and it’s lights out. Suppresses the respiratory system. Some users are swallowing ten Diazepam at a time and topping up with a bottle of Buckfast. A one-way ticket to the undertakers, so it is.’

‘Where are they getting them from? You said you’d found our group.’