Frozen in Crime

Chapter 19 Arrest

'For heaven's sake,' said Charlie. 'Does she think we've got nothing better to do than -?'

'Yes, whatever, sir. She wants us to warn him off, move him on somewhere else. Isn't there some sort of shelter in Rosyth?'

'We can't send him along there in this weather. He'd freeze to death before he got past Pitkirtly Island. Even if he made it that far. There's a big drift down on that lower causeway.'

'If the buses started running...,'said the sergeant doubtfully.

'Don't hold your breath, sergeant,' said Charlie. He heaved a sigh. It looked as if Karen and Keith weren't going to be the only ones trekking through the snow. 'Where was he last seen?'

'Up by the war memorial gardens, sir.'

'Aha!' said Charlie. 'The plot thickens.'

'Sir?'

'Amaryllis Peebles was hanging about there last night too. I knew she was up to something.'

'Do you want me to send Keith out?'

'No, I want him and Karen to carry on interviewing the witnesses in the armed robbery case. We've only got about halfway down the list. I'll go and look for this dosser of yours.'

'Should you be going on your own, sir?'

'There isn't anybody else. I'll be all right. If he turns nasty I'll radio in. But they're usually harmless enough, whatever Mrs Petrelli thinks.'

There was no sign of anyone sleeping rough in the shelter behind the war memorial; the lingering smell of chips couldn't necessarily be attributed to the homeless man. Charlie stopped and considered where to look next. He thought some of the householders in the old fishermen's cottages behind the High Street tended to leave their garden huts unlocked, despite warnings from the police about the dangers of this. Maybe this man had found shelter somewhere there. But there must be around fifteen huts in all, and he didn't fancy spending time searching them all.

He would have walked down to the new houses behind the railway line, only he had a feeling they were all now either occupied or just about to be occupied as soon as the economy stuttered back into life. Where else was there? He hoped to goodness Amaryllis hadn't felt sorry for the man and taken him home with her. It was just the kind of weird thing she would do - and indeed had done in the past. Should he go and have a word with her, or would she just talk him round in circles as she usually did?

While he hesitated, stamping his feet to keep the circulation going, he glimpsed a man with a dog crossing the road further down the High Street, near the wool shop.

He strode off downhill, feeling his feet slip sideways occasionally but always managing to stay upright.

By the time he reached the wool shop he had lost sight of the man again. Jemima and Dave Douglas were coming out of the shop, Jemima clutching a bag in her woolly-gloved hand. Dave had his arm round Jemima's waist, which must have helped to keep them both on their feet.

'Morning, Mr Smith,' said Dave with a beam. He didn't appear to have suffered any ill-effects from his adventure on Christmas Eve.

'Thanks for going out to look for David, Mr Smith,' said Jemima. 'I wasn't looking forward to Christmas on my own.'

'No problem, Mrs Douglas. What have you got there?' asked Charlie politely. Even if those two were friends of Amaryllis's, he could still treat them like normal members of the public, as long as Dave wasn't getting into silly scrapes, that was.

'Oh, just some beads,' said Jemima. 'I'm making a beaded case for David's phone, to remind him to take it with him the next time.'

'I sincerely hope there won't be a next time,' said Charlie. 'Good idea, though. How do you learn to do something like that?'