Brodie and Lucy exchanged glances. ‘Do you know who?’
‘A detective, I think. Someone working the case who agreed to meet with him.’ Martin frowned, trying to remember. ‘Alan something?’
‘Alan McRae?’
‘That sounds right. Uncle Mark had an appointment to meet him the evening he died. But obviously he never made it because…’ Martin’s voice trailed off.
‘Mr Martin,’ Lucy said gently, ‘you told one of our colleagues your uncle left papers? Notes about his theories, research materials. You said we could look at them.’
‘Yes, no problem. When I cleared his house, I kept someboxes of his personal effects. Meant to go through them properly, shred the old paperwork, but I never got around to it.’ Martin stood up. ‘They’re in the attic.’
The attic was accessed by a pull-down ladder in the upstairs hallway. It was cramped and dusty, filled with the accumulated detritus of family history – old books, Christmas decorations and a banker’s box labelled in neat handwriting.
‘These are Uncle Mark’s,’ Martin said, pointing to four boxes in the corner. ‘Papers from his office, mostly. The university returned them after they’d archived anything work-related.’
Brodie and Lucy spent the next hour going through the boxes methodically. Most of it was exactly what Martin had suggested – old research papers, conference materials, academic correspondence. But in the third box, tucked inside a folder labelledPersonal, Brodie found a small appointments diary.
He flipped through the pages, finding the entries for the week before Finlay’s death. The handwriting was hurried, with notes about meetings and deadlines. Then, on the day Finlay died, a single entry:
8p.m. – A. McRae – discussion re: Embalmer anomalies. And other deaths. Embalmer killing others? Possibility. Alan will be told.
‘Found something,’ Brodie said quietly, showing the diary to Lucy.
She photographed the relevant pages with her phone. ‘So Finlay was supposed to meet with McRae the evening he died. But Finlay died in his kitchen before he could go.’
‘Which means McRae showed up for a meeting that never happened.’ Brodie continued flipping through the diary. He wondered what other deaths Finlay was talking about.
‘And didn’t McRae’s ex-wife die recently? Suicide, the reports said.’ She looked at him. ‘I did read the report you sent me.’
‘Glad to see you’re doing your homework. But yes, Pat McRae did die recently. So did her boyfriend. A barman at the club where Art McKenzie drinks. He and McRae were drinking buddies after hours.’
‘And he has no clue where his friend and boss went?’ Lucy said, her voice edged with sarcasm.
Brodie was silent for a moment, his back starting to protest at the angle he was bent at. ‘Apparently not.’
Lucy made a face with raised eyebrows. ‘Sceptical is my middle name.’
‘If The Embalmer was killing, we would have had other victims,’ Brodie said.
‘Not if he was making them look like accidents, or natural causes.’
Brodie had thought the same thing about Mark Finlay’s death. That’s why he had asked his sister in the hospital. ‘I had thought that about Mark Finlay. Nothing I could prove, but it just made me wonder,’ he said. ‘But you’re right; he could kill people and make it look natural. I asked Moira’s opinion, and she said it would be possible for an undertaker to do it. That brings Thomas Mitchell, the funeral director, into the equation.’
‘You think he would be more likely than Alan McRae?’ Lucy asked.
‘I would bet on it.’
‘Mr Martin,’ Lucy called down from the attic, ‘would it be all right if we took this diary? We’ll provide a receipt and return it once the investigation is complete.’
‘Of course. Take whatever you need.’
Back at Glenrothes station, Brodie spread the diary on his desk, studying Finlay’s notes more carefully. The biochemist hadbeen asking sophisticated questions about the time of death, about the preservation of bodies, about the logistics of positioning corpses on beaches.
‘What do you think he knew?’ Lucy asked, reading over Brodie’s shoulder.
‘I think he worked out how The Embalmer was doing it. The technical aspects, the medical knowledge required.’ Brodie tapped one of Finlay’s notes. ‘Look at this – he’s asking about which chemicals could be used to preserve tissue, which ones would be undetectable in standard toxicology screens.’
‘Professional interest or active investigation?’
