The telephone rang four times, before the automatic answering machine picked up the cal. As she heard Bob's recorded voice giving the response, Pamela sat up in bed, a sheen of perspiration glistening lightly on her back.
A few seconds later, the caller left the invited message. Neither she nor Bob could hear what was said, but both recognised the inflections of Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Martin's even, steady baritone.
She nodded in the direction of the bedside telephone. 'Go on, pick it up,' she urged him.
He grinned at her, tugging at her arm to draw her back down beside him. 'Later. Chances are it's work. If it is, I'm not letting it in here.'
She pul ed herself free from his light grasp, shaking her head.
'No! It's as if he's in the house with us. If you don't answer it, I will.'
As the muffled voice continued to float through to them from the living room, she twisted and threw herself across the recumbent Skinner, reaching out with her left hand. She was smiling, but he took her threat seriously enough to grab her and pull her neat little body back down towards him, holding her away from the phone.
'All right,' he said. 'But you keep quiet. I've said I'll tell him, but in my own time.' He reached behind him with his free hand and picked up the telephone.
'I'll try the mobile,' he heard Andy Martin say, 'but if you get this first, call me…'
'Andy! Sorry, mate. I was in the garden. What can I do for you?'
'Did you get any of that?'
Involuntarily, Skinner shook his head. 'No, not a bit of it.' The coiled-spring tension in Martin's voice grasped him at once. Releasing Pam from his grasp, he swung his legs from beneath the duvet and sat on the edge of the bed. 'What's up?' he growled.
'Bob, you're going to hate this. I'm at Leona McGrath's place, down in Trinity.' There was a pause. 'Leona's dead. She's been raped, battered and strangled.'
'Jesus!' Skinner shuddered, so suddenly and violently that, to Pamela, the bed seemed to shake. He ran his fingers through his tousled, steel-grey hair, grasping a clump as he fought to control his shock. Behind him, the mattress squeaked as Pam sat up once more.
He waved her to silence over his shoulder.
'When?' he asked, hoarsely.
'She was found about an hour ago. She'd been due to attend a constituency event. When she didn't turn up, the local party chairwoman cal ed round to ask why. There was no reply to the bell, but the back door had been forced. The woman had a look around, and found Mrs McGrath upstairs.'
Skinner sat stunned. As she looked at him, wondering and fearful, Pamela saw that the battle scars on his back and thigh were standing out vivid purple, and realised that he had gone pale. She gripped his arm again, squeezing.
'And her son?' the DCC asked at last. 'Wee Mark. What about him?'
'There's no-one else here. Bob. Neil Mcllhenney, Sammy Pye and I have been over the place ourselves. We've been everywhere. There's no sign of the kid.'
'Mark!' said Skinner sharply. 'His name is Mark.'
He squeezed his eyes tight shut, partly to stem the hot tears which he felt springing up, and partly to try to stop himself shaking with tension.
'After what that woman's endured, and done,' he murmured, when he had calmed himself. 'For it to end like this…'
He stood up, stil holding the phone and turned to face Pam, his back to the muslin-draped window. 'You say Neil and Sammy are there?'
'That's right. Sammy was with me when the cal came in. And I thought you'd want the big fella here.
'I tried to raise Sergeant Masters, but she's on day off.' Skinner searched for an undertone in his friend's remark, but found none.
'Forget Pam,' he said. 'She doesn't need to be there. I'l be with you in Edinburgh inside an hour. Meantime, I suggest you contact the grandparents. Mark's very close to Roland's father. Let's pray that he's with him.'
He replaced the phone in its cradle and looked down at Pamela.
'What…' she began, before Skinner forestal ed her question.
'A very good friend,' he said. 'Leona McGrath. The MP for Edinburgh Dean. You must remember her. Her husband was kil ed in the plane crash last year. She fought the seat, and won it.' Pam nodded.
'Well, now it's her time to die. She's been murdered.'
He stood there before her, naked, and heaved a huge sigh. 'Oh my girl,' she said, 'when you live with me, you find that some terrible things force their way into your life. Even in the quietest moments, you're never safe from them.
'Think you can cope with it?' He reached for his clothes and began to dress.