A grey dawn was breaking over the Salisbury Crags. Arthur’s Seat looked bleak, and ancient. In the seven-teeth century, men thought the earth was made 6,000 years before. After examining the crags, they realized that the earth could be as much as a million years old. I wondered if Bancho would have such an epiphany – I wasn’t holding out too much hope. I wanted to know what progress Lothian and Borders police had made. DI Bancho led me into a quiet station and, unusually, Desk Sergeant Munro was not on duty. It was still the season of goodwill and the St Leonards Christmas tree perfectly illustrated the fact that police stations simply don’t do festive gaiety with any aplomb. Six feet of scanty green tinsel branches, it had been bought years before and badly stored. Cheap supermarket baubles hung from its limbs, while the tree itself was contained in a cardboard box covered with wrapping paper. In silence, we headed down into the bowels of the station, along a semi-dark corridor.
