went up to the newsroom on the first floor. It was full of journalists. A short man with red hair and glasses looked up from his work.
'Well, Jenny Logan,' said the man. 'How nice to
see you! You're just in time to buy me a
Christmas drink.'
'OK, Tam,' said Logan. 'But you'll have to work for it. I want some information from you.'
'Oh, Inspector, you're a hard woman. You think I'll tell you everything you want just because I like you so much.'
'Come on, Tam, let's go,' laughed Logan.
A few minutes later Logan and Tam were sitting in Deacon Brodie's, a famous old pub on the High Street.
'What do you know about the Maclennans, Tam?'
asked Logan.
'Not much more than you probably,' said Tam.
'Alex came back from America, married a beautiful red-headed actress and started a restaurant. He's got lots of money from his father, lots of famous friends, and a fine house in a nice area of the city. Well, he had all these things until last night.'
'Yes. I know all that. That's what I read in the papers. But what else do you know? What do you know that you don't put in the paper?'
Tam finished his drink and looked at the empty glass. 'I get thirsty when I talk a lot,' he said.
Logan smiled and went up to the bar. While she was waiting for their drinks, she turned round and looked at Tam. He was looking out of the window at the shoppers in the High Street. It was unusual for a journalist and a police officer to be friends. But Jenny Logan liked Tam a lot and she knew that he liked her.
When she came back to their table, Tam spoke:
'Everyone thought that the Maclennans had a wonderful life. The restaurant is always busy. Alex's friends were always there. Alice always had a smile on her face. But…'
'But…?'
'For the last eighteen months or so something was wrong,' said Tam. 'They weren't happy.'
'How do you know?' asked Logan.
'Little things,' said Tam. 'Somebody heard them shouting at each other one night. A few weeks later she went on holiday without him. She stopped going to the restaurant so often. In the old days they were very close. But for the last year or two it was unusual to see them together.'
'Do you think she had a lover? Or did he?' asked
Logan.
'Ah! Now that's the question.'
'Come on, Tam! What's the answer?' laughed
Logan. 'And it doesn't cost another drink.'
Tam laughed and then started talking again.
'Well, the answer is that if anyone had a lover, she did. Alex didn't have enough time to see anyone else. He was almost always at the restaurant or at home. But we think Alice was probably seeing someone else. Nobody is sure. And nobody knows who the other man is, or was.'
'Did you try and find out?' asked Logan.
'Of course. I mean, we are journalists, you know!' Logan smiled.
Tam spoke again. 'One of our men followed her a few times when he wasn't busy. But he didn't find anything. The strange thing was he lost her twice. Both times it was a Thursday evening.'
'So you never found out if there was another
man?' asked Logan.
'No,' said Tam. 'We wanted to find out more, but we couldn't spend all our time following her. There were other more important stories.'
'Well, thanks, Tam. You've given me some good
information. It's very kind of you.'
Tam put his hand on Jenny Logan's, looked into her eyes and gave her a big smile.
'I'm a very kind man, you know, Jenny Logan.'
Then his voice changed and he said quickly, 'So tell me, was it murder? And if so, who did it?' Logan laughed. Tam's hand felt warm and nice, but she took hers away. Slowly.
'I don't know who did it, Tam,' she said. 'But it
was murder. And you can put that in the paper, if you want.'
'Well, well, well. So it was murder then,' said
Tam. 'Thanks, Jenny.'
'Yes,' said Logan. 'And you are such a kind man that when I know who did it, I'll tell you first.' Tam smiled at her.
Logan left Tam in Deacon Brodie's and decided to go and meet Grant at Polwarth Gardens. She took her phone out of her bag and called Grant. It was time to find out what the Madennans' marriage was really like.
4. ALICE MACLENNAN
For the second time that day Grant opened the door when Logan arrived at the Madennans' house in Polwarth Gardens. He followed her through the house to the living room.
'Johnstone's gone home and will be back tomorrow,' said Grant. 'I didn't tell him you were coming.'
'Good. Have you found any black clothes?' asked
Logan.
'A black pullover and some black trousers,' answered Grant. 'They were Alex Madennan's. Mrs Madennan doesn't have any dark dothes at all.'