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between the two of you.’
                  ‘I suppose I’m the age now that Don was when he went missing, give or take. But back in 2005 I was a fat bastard.’ Andy laughed.
                  Dani didn’t join in. She’d never have described her colleague in that way, even at the time when he’d suffered his heart attack two years ago. The DCI felt that her friend was far too harsh on his old self.
                  ‘The lassies always really went for Don, but he was devoted to Mae and the kids. He’d look at other women, sure, but that’s as far as it ever went.’
                  ‘Did he discuss other women with you, down the pub, for instance?’ Dani asked this casually, thinking she may have picked up on something here.
                  Andy shrugged. ‘Not any particular lass.’ He gave Dani a piercing look. ‘You’ve got to understand, Ma’am. Men do talk about good looking women like that when they’re all together in a group, even when they’re married. It’s just banter. It doesn’t mean they’re a womanizer.’
                  Dani nodded, making no comment. She wasn’t entirely convinced that all men acted in this way. Alice Mann had recounted the interview she and Dan Clifton conducted with the McLarens. The DC mentioned that she thought the older son was hinting to them that his dad had an eye for the lassies. Bevan thought maybe Andy was doing the same. They both knew it might have a bearing on their disappearance, but neither wanted to sully their loved one’s name.
                  ‘It must have been a theory that you and your parents considered – the possibility that Don had gone off with another woman?’
                  Andy sighed heavily. ‘It was the possibility we prayed for. My dad was convinced that Don had killed himself. We would have been overjoyed if it turned out that the worst he'd done was run off with some tart and abandoned his wife and kids. But the years rolled past and we heard nothing. No letter or Christmas card. My dad and Uncle Donny had no family left in the world except each other, yet the man’s no’ been in touch for ten years. He’s dead, Ma’am. There’s no real question about that in my mind.’
                  ‘Then how did he wind up that way? You know as well as I do that men who die of unnatural causes have a weakness of some kind. It might be gambling, drugs or the lassies, but it’s something that places them in harm’s way.’ Dani returned Andy’s hard gaze.
                  Calder tipped his head back so that he was staring up at the ceiling. ‘It was depression. Don had suffered from it on and off since he was a teenager.’
                  ‘There’s nothing about it in the records.’
                  ‘Don had never gone for formal treatment. We didn’t tell the investigating officer at the time he went missing.’
                  ‘Why on earth not?’  Bevan was wide-eyed. ‘You were surely not concerned about the stigma?’
                  Andy shook his head. ‘Of course we weren’t. Dad wanted to tell the police straight away. It was Mae who didn’t want the issue raised. She didn’t believe the depression had anything to do with Don going missing. Mae thought that if the police found out he had mental health problems, they’d write him off.’
                  Bevan thought that sadly there might have been some truth in that fear. ‘Okay, well, we know about it now. Can I add this information to the file?’
                  Andy straightened himself up. ‘Aye. It’s important that we find out the truth now. Attitudes on the force have changed a lot in the last ten years.’
                  Bevan was surprised by Calder’s optimism. She sincerely hoped he was right.
     
     
     
     

Chapter 8
     
     
    T he park