Page 18 of The Final Vow

‘What the hell does that mean?’

‘It’s where the weapon’s sight and the barrel are aligned to the individual. Means that the point of aim and the point of impact are the same.’

‘Aren’t they all set at the factory?’

‘They’re not iPhones,’ Poe said, shaking his head. ‘People hold weapons differently. They look through the sights differently. Theyfirethem differently. Put it this way, if I handed you my perfectly zeroed weapon, you likely wouldn’t hit a thing. A centimetre’s difference in the way we each hold the weapon could equate to two or threemetresdifference at the target end. It’s that delicate.’

‘Talk me through the process,’ Flynn said. ‘Howdo you zero a weapon?’

‘It’s not difficult. You set up a target and you fire at it from the same distance you’ll be firing from in the field. You check where your bullets are landing then you adjust your sights until you’re hitting the middle of the target. Soon as they are, your weapon’s zeroed.’

‘His most common distance is twelve hundred metres,’ Flynn said.

‘Yards,’ Bradshaw said without looking up from her phone. ‘Yards, not metres. Twelve hundred yards is just over one thousand and ninety-seven metres.’

Flynn took her eyes off the road for a second and glared at Bradshaw. ‘You can pack that inright now, Tilly.’

‘Pack what in, DCI Flynn?’

‘That pedantic arseho—’

‘Boss,’ Poe said, drawing it out.

‘Sorry, Tilly,’ Flynn said. ‘I shouldn’t have snapped at you.’

‘That’s OK, DCI Flynn,’ Bradshaw said. ‘You’re probably perimenopausal.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘I said, you’re—’

‘I amnotperimenopausal.’

‘Anyway, that’s why we’re starting in Scotland, boss,’ Poe said, stifling a grin. Flynn hadn’t worked with Bradshaw for a while. She would need a period of adjustment. ‘Zeroing a weapon can’t be done in a lockup garage; it takes time, and it takes space. Can you think of anywhere else where that would go unnoticed? Eighty-five per cent of the UK’s population live in England. Apart from the cities, Scotland’s virtually empty.’

Flynn looked thoughtful. ‘There’s a lot of deer stalking in Scotland. Gunshots will be background noise up there.’

‘Exactly,’ Poe said. He paused, frowned. ‘And it’s not a one-off task. He’s shooting from different ranges so it’s an ongoing process. He’llstillbe zeroing his weapon in Scotland.’

‘I’ll have Police Scotland meet us at Gretna Green,’ Flynn said.

Chapter 14

‘Jesus, look at this place,’ Flynn said. ‘It’s emptier than an English church.’

She wasn’t wrong. Gretna Green, as well as the nearby town of Gretna, was usually bustling. Poe often made the quick trip over the border as one of Gretna’s butchers sold full-size Stornoway black puddings. He knew there was no quiet season. Millions of visitors flocked to Gretna Green each year. They came for weddings, blacksmith blessings, marriage reenactments and handfasting ceremonies, whatever the hell they were. They shopped in the outlet village, they drank in the pubs and they dined in the restaurants. And they wandered the streets like the gormless idiots all tourists were. Now it looked uninhabited.

But . . . that wasn’t quite right. Gretna Greenwasempty, but only if you took a cursory view. When you studied it, really studied it, signs of life were everywhere. The shops were shuttered, but theywereopen. Pubs were serving drinks and meals, but tarpaulin covered the entrances and the curtains were drawn. The schools were open but outdoor activities had been cancelled. And when someonedidhave to go outside, they scrambled around like beetles whose rock had been overturned.

‘I can’t remember the last time I saw someone walk in a straight line,’ Flynn said, watching him in the mirror. ‘It’s all zigzags or a crouching run now.’

‘It’s because he’s so indiscriminate,’ Poe said. ‘It’s like the early days of the pandemic. Unless you’re at home, you don’t feel safe.’

‘No wonder he’s been designated a threat to national security. It’s chaos out here.’

‘The sniper’s like the Joker,’ Bradshaw said. ‘He was in it for the chaos, wasn’t he, Poe?’

‘If you say so, Tilly,’ Poe said.