Andrews quotes from Taggart

It's empty, sir. Sorry about the accident.

Put it away. [Blackman heads off. To the officer, zipping up his coat] Hey! Not near the locus!

Sorry, sir. [He heads off.]

I took a brief statement from the jogger. You'll probably want to talk to him yourself. Mr. Martin Inglis, he's a lecturer in languages of the African Horn.

A bit cold for swimming, isn't it?

[Introducing himself] Detective Sergeant Livingstone.

Andrews.

This way, sir. She's been dead a good six hours. Her watch stopped, luckily. [He returns down the riverbank.]

[Cheerily] Good morning, Jim.

[Turns to Andrews, dourly] ...Going to be(!)

Seen a strangulation before?

Yes.

It always surprises me how serene they look. Almost buddha-like.

Why do you think she was laid out like that?

It's not for me to look into the minds of killers. I'd say between twelve and one. Bears out the time on the watch. Lucky stroke, that.

That's allowing for the rise in temperature, due to asphyxia?

That's allowing.

[Bends down to get closer to the body] What do you think was used?

Stocking. Certainly not a hard cloth.

And scissors?

Scalping like that is unusual.

[Covering the deceased's face] Red Indian.

Not many of them in Glasgow.

Where are you from?

Penal division, just promoted.

Originally?

Edinburgh.

University?

Yes.

You're working with Jim Taggart? Good luck to you!

I don't like educated people that find deid bodies at seven in the morning.

Or just educated people, sir?

You being cheeky?

No, sir.

So you're a flyer.

I did my course in Lothian and Borders.

And flew off course(!) Glasgow's a hard city.

I'm aware of that.

What public school did that accent come out of?

Matthew Kerr's Academy for Boys.

You wait here. [He gets in his car, leaving Livingstone at the crime scene.]

Good morning, Jim.

Christmas comes but once a year(!) [He starts to climb down the ladder]

Exciting, isn't it?

[Now down the ladder] I can think of another adjective.

I haven't touched anything. The workmen opened this one.

[Glances at the bones] They are human?

I'd have gone if they weren't.

How long d'you think they've been here?

These bones? [Picks one of them up] Eight or ten years. I might be able to be more exact when we open the rest.

[Glances over at the wall, then motions to the photographer] Hey, over here. [They move over to a corner of the wall where Taggart uncovers a handbag covered in cobwebs. He also spots a set of small wooden discs. He carefully picks one up with his handkerchief.]

[Handing the handbag to a sergeant] Now, take care of that. We might get a print from the inside. I don't know what these are yet [He also hands over a couple of the discs which have been bagged up. To Livingstone] We've a dismembered body down here. I suppose you'll want to look at it. [He descends the ladder again, followed by Murray and Livingstone.]

Stunning! A complete pelvic girdle.

Just what you've always wanted(!)

Murray

One body?

What are you, greedy? Yes, I'd say one.

At least it confirms the sex. The pubic arch and inlet look too wide for it to be male.

So you know your anatomy?

A little.

[Examining the pelvis] You're right. There should be a groove. Yes, there we are, on the front of the ileum. Uterus has decomposed, often it's the last organ to go.

And why the discolouration?

...Fire burns?

That would have been big enough, wouldn't you say?

Murray

Yes... one limb at a time.

There must have been a lot of blood. He could've cut her up in a bathroom.

Murray

You realise this property's been subject to a lot of short lets?

Aye, I know. [Starts to walk off.]

Murray

Jim? [Taggart stops.] I hope you're going to work with him [referring to Livingstone].

Haven't I been a good boy so far(?)

Aren't the... what is it... centres of ossification the only way to tell the age?

Sure you wouldn't like my job?

Right now, I'd prefer it.

Provided she's under twenty-five, I can pin it to a year. But I'd sooner do it in my laboratory.

Can you at least have a look just now?

Why are you so impatient?

Well, the sooner we find out who she is, the sooner we find out who murdered her.

And the sooner you stop working with Jim Taggart!

Right.

...So I've got you back.

Well, it wasn't my idea.

Nor mine.

Do you still keep that lucky charm? [An ornamental green buddha.]

Why?

You might need it. [He shows Taggart the ring] There's a name engraved on the inside - Margaret Balfour. [Taggart's face falls] Of course, could just be coincidence.

I can give you an indication as to her age...

[Solemnly] She was twenty-two.

You're surprisingly clairvoyant this morning. Well, the upper and central vertebrae have almost joined, which would put her between twenty-two and twenty-five. What have you found?

...A load of trouble.

...five foot six, taking the mean of several estimations. No foetal bones. We've everything here but the skull. Presumably he disposed of that elsewhere to prevent identification.

I wonder why.

The neck looks unnaturally bent.

Cause of death or is that too hopeful?

Impossible to say. [He approaches the skeleton and motions to the fractures] Any fracture such as here, and here, would be caused by dismemberment of the body.

And what was used?

A saw, I'd say.

Murray

How is she?

She'll be up in a couple of days(!)

Murray

Tests brought up one print. [He hands a foolscap to Taggart, who looks through it] On a metal catch inside the bag. Identified as Margaret Balfour's thumbprint.

That's what I like, a nine-year-old print(!)

Murray

What do we have on O'Donnell?

Housebreakings, cheque fraud. Attempted murder of a waitress - not proven. And one conviction of incest against his daughter.

Murray

Where is she?

Same place as him. She took an overdose nine years ago.

Murray

Deathbed confession, Jim?

Nah. He did us no favours. Fell out of bed drunk, died of hypothermia. He was stiff when the landlady found him.

...Struck from behind, I thought.

[Frustrated with Livingstone's impatience] I do know a bit about skull fractures(!) A hammer, I'd say, with some force.

The cause of death?

Well, it didn't just give her a headache(!)

Why did O'Donnell go to all that trouble to prevent identification?

If she was attacked with a knife in the lay-by, the hammer blow to the skull suggests she was killed later.

Makes sense. He wouldn't use two weapons to attack her with.

[To Livingstone] That bails out your theory.

What's that?

That she was alive when she was taken back to Dalmally Road, like Cunningham said.