The Book of Souls (The Inspector McLean Mysteries) by James Oswald

why he wants to see me?'
    'No, but I can tell you this much. He's not a happy bunny.'
    'My heart bleeds for him. Did you get the PM report on Audrey Carpenter yet?'
    'Who?' Grumpy Bob's face was a mask of confusion.
    'The dead lass we found out at Gladhouse. Audrey Carpenter. Or Violet Audrey MacDougal if you prefer.'
    'I didn't think we had an ID for her yet. When did this come in?'
    McLean slumped against one of the desks. 'Just after the PM. Jo Dalgliesh made the ID, of all people. I could do without having to be grateful to her.'
    'Does Dagwood know?'
    'He should do. I left a message on his phone and a report on his desk before I went. I thought he'd have told you.' And slowly the pieces began to fall into place. 'Shit. He's not been into his office, and he's not listened to his messages, has he.'
    'At a guess, I'd say no. And that's probably why he's on the warpath right now.'
    'Well, I'd better go and find him before he does something even more stupid than usual. Meantime I need you to get the ball rolling on this one. Put a team together. Set up an incident room.'
    'Erm, this is it,' Grumpy Bob said, adding as an afterthought: 'sir.'
    'What? There's no spare rooms we can use right now?'
    'Nope.'
    'Not even that cupboard we used for the Smythe case?'
    'Tech boys have got it while the basement's being damp-proofed again.'
    'Nothing on the first floor?'
    'All taken up with the drugs investigation.'
    'Fucking marvellous. How the hell can we be short-staffed and not have enough room? No, don't answer that Bob. Just set it up, OK. I'll go see what's got up Dagwood's skirt, and then I think I'm going to need a drink.'
     
     
    ~~~~

 
     
     
    17
     
    McLean found DCI Duguid in his office on the second floor. It was warm, three times the size of McLean's tiny cupboard, and in the daytime would have a commanding view of Arthur's Seat. The privileges of seniority, no doubt.
    'I believe you were looking for me sir?'
    Duguid grunted something from his desk, leafing through a file of papers. McLean couldn't help but notice that his preliminary report on Audrey Carpenter had been carefully laid to one side.
    'You've identified the dead girl, I see,' Duguid said after a long pause. 'Even been to see her parents.'
    'We needed confirmation, sir. And...'
    'Didn't anyone tell you that it's both polite and a good idea to consult with another force if you're conducting an investigation on their patch?' Duguid's tone was neutral, which never boded well.
    'We did contact Strathclyde, sir. Spoke to a DS Coombes who said he'd send some support round to meet us.'
    'Is that so? Then why, tell me, have I just spent an hour on the fucking phone apologising to some tosspot detective superintendent from SOCA with an impenetrable Weegie accent because one of my officers seriously fucked up his ongoing investigation?'
    'Investigation?'
    'What? You thought it'd be OK to just go and have a wee chat with one of Glasgow's most notorious hard men? Thought it would be fine to accuse him of murdering his own daughter?'
    'I never...'
    'Don't interrupt me when I'm speaking, McLean.' Duguid rose up out of his chair like a volcano, hands smashing on the desk. Now he was angry, and that was much easier to deal with. 'You went to see MacDougal without any backup, right?'
    'I had Constable MacBride with me.'
    'Brilliant idea. Why not endanger the life of yet another new recruit. No wonder we've no bloody staff. You keep on trying to get them killed.'
    Remain calm. Don't rise to the bait. Take the bollocking and move on.
    'What were you even doing there, for Christ's sake? You could have faxed the photographs through to the nearest station and let them deal with it.'
    Aye, and wait a week for a reply. 'I needed to speak to Mr MacDougal myself, sir.'
    'Why? So you could make wild allegations about him to his face? You do know why they call him Razors, don't you?'
    'The man abused his daughter. Raped her. That's why she ran away. That's why she was living on the