Candles and Roses by Alex Walters

comes to believe it, and they can end up drifting from one abusive relationship to another.’
    Reynolds nodded. ‘I can see that with Katy. She was always attracted to the wrong blokes, the ones who treated her badly. I thought it was the danger she was after. But she was always self-destructive.’
    ‘So if she was abused by her father,’ Horton went on, ‘apart from the fact that we’d want to bring any abuser to justice, it might help give us a lead on Katy’s death.’
    ‘When you last saw Katy, was she still living in Inverness?’ McKay asked.
    ‘Yes, I think so.’ Reynolds stopped and frowned. ‘Actually, that’s not quite right. I ran into her again, a couple of years later. I’d forgotten.’
    ‘In Inverness?’
    ‘Yes, but she’d moved on by then. It was just before Christmas—two, maybe even three years since I’d last seen her. Maybe six or seven years ago.’
    ‘Where was this?’
    ‘A pub in the city centre. The old crowd had pretty much broken up by this point. I was going out with Zoe. A couple of others had got married. One or two had moved away. Anyway, it was a Friday night. Zoe and I had arranged to meet some friends for a couple of drinks after work.’ He gestured towards the pile of toys. ‘We used to do that sort of stuff before the young ball and chain turned up. We were in the pub and Katy came in with a bunch of other women. She spotted me and made a bee-line over. She didn’t look great. She was looking worn, you know? Skinny, cheap clothes, looking a bit older than she really was. I thought it was probably just because the rest of us had moved on. We’d got ourselves decent jobs, reasonable places to live. We’d put the teenage stuff behind us, but she was still in the same place.’
    ‘You think it might have been more than that?’
    ‘She just struck me as being in a bad way. We chatted for a bit. She reckoned things had been going pretty well for her. She’d found some counsellor who’d been helpful, had begun to help her deal with things. But of course being Katy she couldn’t be content with that. She’d taken up with some new bloke and they’d moved down south, and it wasn’t really working out.’ He paused. ‘I’m trying to remember what she said. I didn’t really take it in at the time. It was just Katy, blethering on about her troubles. Manchester, I think. She was living in Manchester. Can’t remember any more than that. It didn’t mean much to me.’
    ‘She didn’t tell you the name of the guy she was with?’
    ‘If she did I’ve forgotten. It was no-one I knew.’
    McKay sat back on the sofa. ‘Well, many thanks, Mr Reynolds. That’s been very useful.’
    ‘I don’t feel I’ve been able to tell you anything.’
    ‘You’ve given us plenty to chew on. As I say, we’d appreciate if you could keep all this confidential until we’ve confirmed Katy Scott’s identity. We expect to do that tomorrow.’
    ‘Can I tell Zoe what this was about? She’ll be worried about why you were here.’
    ‘Yes, of course. Just don’t go thinking you can earn yourself a few quid by leaking this to the local press. If it gets out, I’ll know where it’s come from and I might have to start telling your puritanical US employer about your unfortunate police record. You get my drift, son?’
    ‘I get it.’
    ‘Good lad. There’s one more thing you could do for us, and then we shouldn’t need to trouble you again. Have a think about the people who would have known Katy when you were hanging around together. Anyone you can remember with whatever information you might have about them. Addresses, phone numbers, whatever. Doesn’t matter if they’re well out of date. They might give us a start.’
    ‘I’ve lost touch with most of them, but I can remember some names. I might have some old contact details. I’ll see what I can dig out.’
    McKay slid a business card across the coffee table between them. ‘Whatever you’ve got, call me or e-mail. Like I