Tooth for a Tooth (Di Gilchrist 3)

moment, he thought of returning the call. But what would that prove? That Tosh had indeed located him in the States?
    Right then, denial sounded good.
    He let his anger settle, then he dialled Rita’s number again.
    She laughed when she recognized his voice. ‘Haven’t heard from you in umpteen years, and now you’re making a nuisance of yourself.’
    Gilchrist felt as if his days were shortening, so he chose the direct approach. ‘How long did you go out with Brian?’
    ‘Brian Fletcher?’
    That was it.
Fletcher
. ‘The one and only.’
    ‘About ten months. Why?’
    ‘Ever hear from him?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Know where he lives?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘What he does for a living?’
    ‘He was studying medicine when I knew him. But he didn’t want to be a doctor. He was more into pathology, that sort of stuff.’
    ‘Is pathology what he ended up doing?’
    ‘I think so, but I really don’t know. And don’t know if I want to know.’
    ‘Was he ever unfaithful?’
    ‘Unfaithful? That’s a bit much. We only went out together.’
    ‘Well, then,’ said Gilchrist, ‘did he ever screw around when you were seeing him?’
    ‘Probably.’
    Gilchrist soldiered on. ‘Did you?’
    ‘Screw around when I was seeing Brian?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Not much.’
    Well, there he had it. Rita shared a flat with Kelly. Why not share her lifestyle as well? ‘So it’s likely that Brian reciprocated,’ he offered.
    ‘Probably.’
    ‘Do you think he and Kelly were ever . . . an item?’ he tried.
    ‘If they were, I never knew.’
    ‘And you’re sure you don’t know Geoffrey Pennycuick?’
    His change of tack almost threw Rita. ‘Positive,’ she said.
    ‘How about Jeanette?’
    ‘Who?’
    ‘Geoffrey’s wife. You would have known her as Jeanette Grant.’
    ‘The name doesn’t ring a bell. But nowadays, not much of anything rings bells.’ She gave a short laugh, and Gilchrist wondered if she had been drinking.
    ‘When you went to Wales that Christmas, do you know what Lorena had planned?’
    ‘No. I didn’t spend much time with her, even less after Megs took over Kelly’s room.’
    Megs
. Rita mentioned Megs in her letter to Kelly. ‘I thought you didn’t like Megs,’ he said.
    ‘Who told you that?’
    ‘I, eh . . .’ His thoughts jumped to Rita’s letter. ‘I must have heard it somewhere.’
    ‘It was Lorena who didn’t like Megs,’ Rita said, as if not hearing him. ‘Megs was too big and pushy for her. Whenever Megs was around, Lorena wasn’t.’
    ‘Made herself scarce?’
    ‘You could say.’
    ‘Stay over at her boyfriend’s?’
    ‘No. Once Megs came on to the scene, they split up.’
    ‘Lorena and her boyfriend?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘And you still can’t remember her boyfriend’s name?’
    ‘No. But I think Megs went out with him for a while.’
    ‘For a while?’
    ‘For what it’s worth, my memory of Megs is that she was always either splitting up or making up. I think they split up after about two weeks or something, then it would be back on, then off again. Bit of a bitch, if you ask me. Stealing someone’s boyfriend. But she was always on the lookout.’
    ‘So, going back to Lorena, you thought their relationship odd?’
    ‘It seemed that way. He’d come by to see Lorena and the two of them would watch TV without saying a word, and sometimes not even on the same chair. Like strangers. But it takes all kinds, I suppose.’
    Gilchrist thanked her for her help, then hung up.
    Back in his hotel room, he pulled Donnie’s records from his computer case, flicked through the pages and found it.
    Margaret Caulder.
Megs
to all her friends. Married Dougie Ewart in the early eighties. But not for long. Less than two years, as best as he could recall. And he thought that if he could find out where Megs now lived, and talk to her, she might be able to tell him the name of Lorena’s boyfriend. Her address in Donnie’s records was noted as Cupar, beside it her phone number.
    A long shot, he knew, but he punched in the international code and the number.
    ‘Hello?’ A young woman’s voice.
    ‘I’m not sure if I’ve got the right number,’ Gilchrist said, ‘but I’m looking for Margaret Caulder.’
    ‘She’s not here.’
    ‘Is this her number?’
    ‘I don’t know anyone called Margaret Caulder. She’s not here.’
    Gilchrist was about to hang up when he said, ‘Do you know anyone called Megs Caulder?’
    ‘Megs?’
    ‘Yes. It’s an odd name, I know—’
    ‘That’s my mum’s