"We only ever heard their first names. Angus and Bob."

"Address?"

"Number 244, Kinnock Tower, Glenfields Estate. We went there once. It was awful. Graffiti everywhere. And the smell! And the boys' flat was so bare. No furniture, only bedrolls on the floor. Not even a television!" Mrs. Jarret looked at Hamish in a bewildered way, urging him to share her amazement at the oddity of a home without a television set.

"Give me a description of Bob and Angus."

Mrs. Jarret looked to her husband for help.

"Tommy said they were fellow students," said Mr. Jarret, "but they didn't look like students to me. Although, mind you, I'm out of touch with modern youth. Angus was very tall, with straggly hair and a moustache. He wore jeans and a leather waistcoat over an undervest. No shirt."

"No shirt," echoed Mrs. Jarret dismally.

"The other one, Bob, was small and fat and dirty. He had a shaven head and tattoos down his arms, small eyes and a sort of squashed nose."

"Anything particular about the tattoos? Anchor, dragon, I Love Rosie?"

"There was a snake tattooed on one arm, a big snake which went round and round his arm."

"Did Tommy ever bring them home to you?"

"Never," said Mrs. Jarret with a shudder. "We tried to get Tommy to leave and come back home, but he said he was happy." Her voice broke.

"He dropped out of college and out of our lives for a bit," said her husband. "Then the next thing we knew he was up on a drug charge. After that, things got better. He was so keen on writing this book, you see. He said that people thought they all knew what went on in the drug world, but they hadn't a clue. We said we would support him until the book was finished. It seemed so safe at that chalet he rented. McSporran seems a nice man, straight, no nonsense."

"And what about his girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend?" Mr. and Mrs. Jarret looked puzzled.