When the constable is gone, I say, “I did ask for Detective McCreadie, sir. I hoped he could resolve this.” “He did.” Gray’s words are brittle and sharp, his gaze on the door. “He convinced them that, as you had been attacked before, carrying a knife in the area was a reasonable precaution. The fact that the man fled made it a very difficult case, and the procurator fiscal chose not to pursue it.”
