Death in a Cold Spring (Pitkirtly Mysteries Book 9)

Death in a Cold Spring (Pitkirtly Mysteries Book 9) by Cecilia Peartree

Book: Death in a Cold Spring (Pitkirtly Mysteries Book 9) by Cecilia Peartree Read Free Book Online
Authors: Cecilia Peartree
Ads: Link
‘Can I help you today or do you need a higher power?’
    ‘You’ll do,’ said Keith, and immediately worried that he had been too brusque. ‘Sorry to interrupt. I tried the manse but there was nobody in.’
    It’s one of my wife’s visiting days,’ said Mr Cockburn. ‘She visits prisoners, you know, takes them chocolate, sees that they’re all right.’ He spoke almost as self-righteously as if he himself were involved in this good work. Maybe he was, for all Keith knew.
    ‘I’ve just come for a bit of information I think you might have. It’s about some artists.’
    ‘Ah, yes, the Face of Pitkirtly project,’ said Mr Cockburn, nodding. He put down the can and duster on the table and sat in the front pew. Keith preferred to remain standing. You never knew when you might want to make a quick getaway when you were talking to a minister. Best to be on your toes.
    ‘Have you got a list of the artists involved?’ said Keith.
    ‘Oh, yes, there’s a database. For people to get in touch with them. With a view to commissioning work, or buying things from the exhibition. It could be a worthwhile investment, you know, not just something to hang on your wall.’
    Keith couldn’t imagine buying a portrait of Charlie Smith’s dog to hang on the wall or indeed as an investment, but he had to admit he didn’t know much about art - either the creative or the financial aspects of it.
    ‘I need to track down a couple of artists,’ he said. ‘Have you got their names and addresses on your database? Mobile numbers? Email addresses?’
    ‘I don’t know if I should be passing them on to you,’ said Mr Cockburn suspiciously. ‘Data protection, you know. We must all abide by the law of the land.’
    ‘Yes, exactly,’ said Keith. ‘We have reason to believe these two may have been involved in something outside the law.’
    ‘Oh, dear me,’ said the minister. ‘I don’t think that’s very likely. They’re all such nice young people.’
    ‘Nice or not,’ said Keith, ‘at the very least they’ve committed acts of vandalism. It might even be worse than that. Or they might have been the victims of crime. It’s important that I find them and speak to them right away.’
    ‘One person’s vandalism is sometimes another person’s work of art,’ said Mr Cockburn thoughtfully. ‘I hope you’re taking that into account and not being too – well, literal – about it.’
    Keith shook his head. ‘I know what I’m talking about… Are you going to give me their contact details or will I have to get a warrant?’
    ‘Hmm,’ said Mr Cockburn. He stood up suddenly. ‘You’d better come round to the manse for a minute. The computer’s in my study. I’ll print the information off for you.’
    Keith wondered if the minister had heard a voice inside his head telling him he’d better co-operate with the police. Was that how it worked? Maybe that was how you knew you were a true believer. No hope for him, then. But maybe he would at least get a cup of tea once they got to the manse.
     
    The minister’s database was quite impressive, Keith thought. Considering it had been made by an amateur. There were photographs of the artists, and impressions of what their artwork would look like. There was a big blank space in that part when they came to the record for Sammy and Craig.
    ‘They said they couldn’t condense it down into a form that would fill a wee square box,’ said Mr Cockburn. ‘They said it was a kind of performance artwork that would evolve as it went along.’
    ‘I bet they did,’ muttered Keith. ‘Did they give you any hints about what sort of materials they might use?’
    ‘Materials? Not really. I gathered the main concept was something that could only be expressed in video footage. Quite a bit of contemporary art uses that medium, as I understand it.’
    ‘Video, eh?’
    Keith stared at Mr Cockburn’s computer screen, hoping it would somehow give him the answer he wanted despite his failure to

Similar Books

Fat Cat

Robin Brande

A Family Affair

Michael Innes

Flowers for the Dead

Barbara Copperthwaite

The Fatal Fortune

Jayne Castle

Dismissed

Kirsty McManus