David left the meeting feeling the weight of expectation on his shoulders. The message from the Lord Advocate was loud and clear: Robert King's case had to result in a conviction. The Lord Advocate had made it a point to show that COPFS was capable of dealing with these challenges head-on. Each area's Procurator Fiscal, down to the administrative staff, had fallen in line with her mandate.
There was no room for error.
Walking back to his office, David replayed the meeting in his mind. He had seen this before—when the organisation became focused on a single objective, corners were cut, and the pressure to perform often led to oversights or worse, ethical breaches. But this time felt different. It wasn't just about his career anymore. It was about delivering the kind of result that would prove COPFS could handle the Lord Advocate's new priorities.
In his office, David stared at the file on his desk. He knew the missing document could weaken the prosecution's case, but he also knew that failure to secure a conviction in such a high-profile matter would be seen as a failure not just of him, but of the entire office—and, by extension, the Lord Advocate's agenda.
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Fiscal: The Hidden Thread
Historia CortaSecond short story in the Fiscal series. Advocate Depute David Maclean is an experienced prosecutor navigating the pressures of Scotland's legal system. When he uncovers a crucial piece of exculpatory evidence in a high-profile workplace violence ca...
