Matt was studying the countless CCTV stills from before and after the body dump when he spotted someone who is known to the team from an earlier case, removing the clearest images, he approached Jackie and Robbie's desk. "Either of you got a magnifier?" he requested.
Jackie fished through her desk drawers knowing that Robbie would have misplaced his hand-held eyepiece years ago, finally finding the requested, yet rarely used object at the back of the bottom container. She handed it to the boss. "What is it?" she asked.
"I think the driver of that car is Kevin Nash."
"Oh tell me you're joking," she remarked when Matt the passed the photos and eye glass along for her to double check and confirm his suspicions, while Robbie unwittingly started grinding his teeth, taking his favourite spot, glancing over Jackie's shoulder, invading her personal space as she worked.
"It looks like him," Robbie said making a note of the time stamp.
"Yeah that's Kevin Nash," Jackie confirmed.
"I thought so, thanks you two. Mita, you're with me."
"Where are we going sir?"
Matt tapped the photos he was now carrying. "Paying him a visit."
Robbie was holding one of the autopsy photos up to the light to get a better look at a mark he noticed on the dead man's arm. "Jackie, have you still got that magnifier out?"
"Yeah, here," she said putting the object in his hand. "What is it Robbie?"
"Hopefully it's nothing," he answered placing the picture on the desk, enhancing the marked area with the portable glass. Jackie went around to his side of their joined desks, gently squeezing his shoulder as she invaded his personal space in the same way he frequently did to her. "Evelyn and Robbie," she said reading from the crudely inked names poorly tattooed on his lower arm.
"That bastard," he scolded, quickly standing and grabbing his jacket, declaring, "I'm going out for a smoke."
"Boss made you quit."
Robbie growled. "Aye perfect fucking timing."
"Here, eat this. I know it's not the same." Jackie offered tossing a Double Decker bar to his side of the desk. He tore the wrapper, taking a sizeable bite. "Thanks," he said with his mouth full of the confectionery.
Mita rang the doorbell of the ageing Blochairn property, her and the DCI knew to be rented, and presently occupied by Malcolm's daughter Louise. "Hurry up," she mumbled just as Kevin Nash opened the door greeting the detectives in his usual gruff manner. "I will have you both for harassment," he threatened.
"Of course you will Mr Nash, we're actually here to speak to Louise Forbes," Mita said matching the suspects manner.
A woman in her mid-thirties emerged from the kitchen, where she had been listening to the exchange between her boyfriend and the officers from Strathclyde CID. She stood next to Kevin, keeping the visitors on the doorstep. "Do you know…?" Mita started, stopping her question when she noticed the not until we are certain glare the DCI directed at her.
Matt retrieved one of the clearer CCTV prints he had removed from the thousands of sequential images pinned up on the far wall of the squad room, showing it to the pair. "Did either of you make a journey through the Clyde Tunnel at any time within the last week to ten days?"
Louise shook her head. "I haven't, I don't drive."
"What about you Mr Nash?" Mita asked, her tone mildly threatening.
"I have but I was with Louise all afternoon and we went out to Erskine."
The DS and DCI instantly recognised the rehearsed tone of the couple's contradictory answers to all of the questions they had asked so far. Taking in the woman's anxious state, Matt queried, "What's so special about Erskine?"
Louise was about to answer, suddenly paused before giving them the response that Kevin had instructed her to use, "We were picking up my son, Lucas, from his gran's and he asked if we could drive the car under the tunnel on the way home."
"So the both of you are each other's alibi for the day in question?" Mita asked, for clarity rather than to be a jobs worth.
"Yes, is that all officers?" Louise asked, looking more frightened with her voice shakier than it had been when they started their line of questioning.
Before following Matt away from the house, Mita said, "Thanks for your time," as Louise closed the door, watching through the spyhole as they retreated to their car.
Once they were in the car and out of earshot of their main suspects and passers-by, Matt sighed, "That's a load of old bollocks," he remarked, quickly adding "I may be getting on but the toys haven't scattered across the attic just yet."
Mita was unsure if she should answer the boss or just silently agree with him to keep the peace. She opted to keep the peace. "Their alibi felt a bit too rehearsed for my liking sir. Why did you stop me asking her if she knows Robbie?"
Matt pinched the bridge of his nose. "Miss Forbes is Robbie's sister, well his half-sister. I'm certain that they don't know about each other."
"So with everything else that's going on at the moment, we're not to tell him?" she asked for clarity more than anything else.
"No, not yet, but I am going to tell him today." he answered putting their car in drive and heading back to the station.
Recognising that there would not be a right time to inform Robbie of the newest personal (to him) development in their current investigation, Matt shouted, "DI Ross, my office."
Robbie grudgingly tossed his pen down on top of his paperwork, getting up he noted the light-hearted look of what have you done now from Jackie as he dawdled his way to the DCIs office.
Matt took in the absent look in Robbie's eyes as he went to his desk after closing the door. "Have a seat," he offered.
"I'd rather stand," Robbie replied monotonously.
"We found something out about your dad when we went to see Nash."
"So what?" Robbie shrugged his shoulders. "Look boss, I'm not in the mood for cryptic messages, just spit it out already."
"Nash has a girlfriend." Matt sighed. "Robbie, his girlfriend is Malcolm's daughter Louise, you have a half-sister."
Robbie tried not to be shocked by the boss' revelation that he had a sibling, yet couldn't help the way his eyes bulged a little at hearing the words half-sister. "Did my dad do?" he faltered, unable to finish his question.
"No he didn't do anything to her or his wife, that we know of. I thought it'd best if I told you about her. She doesn't know about you, I had to stop DS Rahim asking her."
Opting not to reply to Matt's comment as he was finding it difficult to process this latest piece of bad news, Robbie left the DCIs office and exited the police station. Over the last month or so things had gone from bad to worse for him and he felt like the walls were closing in and had to get out of there before he went crazy and did or said something he would later regret.
Jackie was about to get up and go after him. "Leave him be, Jackie," he ordered before going back to his office.
Quickly touch-typing a text to Robbie, Jackie put her phone on top of a stack of case folders, continuing her paperwork and impatiently waiting for a reply she knew wouldn't come through for a few hours.
