“I want you all to read these papers,” Watters addressed his detectives. “I had no idea that Anstruther’s a*******n case was so serious.”
Duff was first to put out his hand. “What’s the to-do, Sergeant?”
“I thought some women were taking children and stripping them to pawn their clothes,” Watters said. “Instead, we have two children missing. Abducted.”
“Why?” Shaw asked.
“We don’t know,” Watters said. “Lieutenant Anstruther hasn’t been able to make any progress with the case.”
“Two boys, both aged nine,” Duff read Anstruther’s notes. “Joseph Noble and Sean Kelly. One from a close off the Overgate and the other in the Scouringburn, with both lads abducted from their homes.”
“That’s right,” Watters said. “Kelly’s mother makes matches for a living, and his father is dead. Noble’s father
