Conviction by Denise Mina

Author:Denise Mina
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

26

We walked up a hill overlooking the sea.

‘Albert – ?’

‘Not yet.’ He strode on ahead.

Albert knew who Sophie Bukaran was. He’d heard, somehow, about Gretchen Teigler. I knew that the further we got from the house the worse whatever he had to tell me was. My heart rate slowed to a treacly bump, a familiar numbness crept over me. The body develops a tolerance to adrenaline. At a certain level all that remains is a paralysing ennui.

Heavy-footed, I followed him to a copse of trees on a hillside. He sat down in deep shadow, scanning the horizon. I copied him.

We were looking out over the Firth and the North Sea. The lights of Dornach glinted in the distance and a faint, sour smell of fermented barley wafted over from the Glenmorangie distillery. Far away, a toy town car rolled over the bridge, twin headlights cutting through the dark. There was a time when I was so watchful I could tell the size of a car from the sound of the engine.

Albert reached into his pocket and took out a packet of cigarettes. The brand was Marlboro Lights, a big favourite from twenty years ago. It was a middle-class brand, low tar, and that spoke of an aspiring quitter who had smoked heavily at one time.

‘Didn’t know you smoked, Albert.’

He took one out for himself and handed me the packet. ‘Should try to quit.’

I took one and gave it back. ‘I just started again today.’

‘How are you finding it?’

‘Disgusting. I love it.’

He half smiled as he lit up. His eyes seemed sad but it was dark and his face was hard to read. I could see that his jaw was tight, his lips bloodless.

I asked him, ‘How long have you known I was Sophie?’

‘Since Leon Parker was here with Harkän.’ His voice had dropped. ‘He asked me if Gretchen Teigler was a club member. He’d been chasing her for quite some time, I think. He said you knew her name, asked if I had mentioned her to you. It was quite sneaky the way he did it. I said yes, I had, but I hadn’t. I did a bit of research after that. Traced you.’

‘It was that easy?’

He looked at my scar and touched his eyebrow. ‘That’s a fairly distinctive mark. The police posters were everywhere. Do you know what happened to her?’

‘Gretchen?’

‘Not Gretchen.’ He cast me a reproachful look. ‘The other girl. She hid but they found her. She wasn’t as good at it as you. You have quite a talent.’

‘Who found her?’

‘Who do you think?’

We sat with that for a while. Then Albert said: ‘She was quite a troubled person. She had a drugs problem. She grew up in a foster family.’

What difference did her background make? Albert meant no harm but he made it sound like a mercy killing. The murderer’s difficult background would be relevant, not hers. I was dismayed by Albert parroting that crap at me. But he worked in a luxury resort, he sucked up to rich people all day, he dressed like them, toadied to them, shared their values.

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