'I didn't really think we would find him, but we did. We trailed his
mother from his flat to another place in Comely Bank. We had to go
in, Sarah, you must appreciate that.'
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She grinned. 'I suppose I do. At least you didn't have Jazz watching
the back door.'
Bob whistled. 'Hey, I never thought of that.'
She punched him on the shoulder, playfully. 'And was there a
connection with Gaynor?' she asked.
He glanced at the children, to make sure that they were engrossed
in their conversation with Alex. 'No. We found something we didn't
expect at all.' Suddenly his expression changed; the cleft above his
nose deepened, with his frown.
'What?'
'Dr Gopal's younger sister,' he said, his voice almost at a whisper.
'The kid went off the rails a while back, started mixing with altogether
the wrong crowd, and got herself hooked on smack. When he found
out, her father, who's a real old-timer, a disciplinarian, chucked her
out, into the street - literally. He forbade the mother, and Surinder, to
have anything to do with her.
'Mrs Gopal, poor woman, almost went crazy. Eventually, Surinder
decided that for her sake, he would help, even if his father never spoke
to him again; he would try to rescue the girl. So he rented the flat in
Comely Bank, short term. Then he went round all her haunts until he
found out where she was living. It was a squat, a real dive of a place,
down in Muirhouse.
'One morning about ten days ago, he turned up there, out of the
blue, battered her boyfriend - a real smackhead, by the way - and took
her out of there. The bugger had got her hooked; he even had her on
the game to fund his habit as well as hers. Gopal's had her under lock
and key ever since, weaning her off her habit. That's why he needed
the diamorphine.'
'Was she that bad?' asked Sarah.
'Apparently so. Surinder was afraid that if he cut her off cold, the
shock might kill her. So he's been giving her decreasing doses,
lengthening the intervals between each one.'
'How's she doing?'
Skinner grimaced. 'She wasn't too well when Stevie and I saw her,
but her brother said that she was actually a hell of a lot better than she
had been. He's almost ready to take her off altogether.'
He broke off as the waiter arrived with the menus, ordering soft
drinks for the children, a glass of white wine for Alex, and mineral
water for Sarah and for himself.
'So what are you going to do about it?' she whispered.
'Nothing at all. The girl was well enough to confirm her brother's
story, and to say that she agreed with what he was doing.'
'But what about the stolen diamorphine?'
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'Ah,' Bob countered. 'But was it stolen? Surinder's a doctor; he
could say that he prescribed it in an emergency situation. Okay, he
broke all the hospital regulations, but that's between him and his
managers and they haven't reported anything to us.'
'Couldn't he have taken the kid to a rehab unit?'
'He considered that, but he was afraid she'd have been dead by the
time they got round to treating her. No, Sarah, in the absence of a
formal complaint from the hospital, I'm satisfied that the police have
got no locus in this situation other than to find that boyfriend and put
him out of business. Stevie'll start the ball rolling.on that on Monday.'
She looked at him, doubtfully. 'I don't know--' she began.
He stopped her. 'Well, I do. I've seen the situation, and as far as
I'm concerned that man is a hero. I'll make no trouble for him.'
She shrugged. 'It's your call, I suppose. So where does that leave
you as far as the Weston investigation is concerned?'
'Up the creek, sans paddle,' he said, ruefully. 'It's a mystery, and
that could well be how it stays.'
Sarah sighed. 'Maybe, like with your young doctor, no action could
be the best outcome.'
Bob nodded. 'Could be. I'll think about that over the weekend.' He
reached across the table and tapped Mark on the shoulder. 'So young
man,' he asked. 'Did you go down that big slide after all?'
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46
as the waiter topped up their wine glasses. 'It makes me feel a bit
special again. I like it.'
The candle-light shone on his green contact lenses as he met her
gaze. 'You make me feel special all the time,' he said softly, once the
girl was out of earshot. 'But if this is what it takes to make it work for
you, I'll go along with it.'
He smiled, ruefully. 'You know, Brian Mackie, of all people, gave
it to me straight between the eyes this week; he told me I was a selfish
bastard where you were concerned. However I try to twist it around, I
have to accept it. He's right.
'I'm sorry if I've been suffocating you, honey. I'll give you room to
breathe from now on. Promise.'
She shook her head. 'Let's not go over all that again,' she whispered
across the table. 'Let's just enjoy ourselves now. It was a nice idea of
yours, coming back to the place where we told Dad and Sarah we
were engaged. It was an even better idea that we should come on our
own this time.'
'You coming back to my place later?' he asked her, abruptly.
'Of course.'
'Good,' he grinned. 'That's the awkward bit out of the way. Now,
what sort of a week have you had?'
'Work-wise, interesting as ever. Mr Laidlaw had a big instruction
from an insurance company this week; they're fighting with a travel
agent over who should compensate a man who was taken ill on
holiday.'
'How's that?'
'The chap had a previous medical history; the insurers say they
weren't told about it, and that such a material nondisclosure
invalidates the policy.'
'And does it?'
'We say it does, and in the absence of proof from the travel agent
that he did make the full circumstances known to our client, that's
what the Court will say as well. The other party's case is that they
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made disclosure orally, to an employee of the insurer. No one's arguing
about whether such a conversation took place, it did. The dispute is
over what was said.'
'Meantime what happens to the guy?'
Alex shrugged. 'He waits, I'm afraid.'
'That's a bit rough.'
'Maybe, but it's not our fault.'
'Of course it is,' Andy insisted. 'It's your client who's refusing to
pay the guy. Bloody insurance companies: they take the money then
look for ways to weasel out of meeting their obligation, and firms like
yours help them.'
'What should they do then?' she shot back at him.
'Pay the client then sue the travel agent over the alleged nondisclosure.
It'd make no difference to you and Laidlaw. You'd still get
your fees. I tell you this; if the victim in this case wants to make a
fraud complaint against your client, I'll investigate it.'
'Keep your voice down!' she hissed. 'I .eyou this, Andy; it's the
last time I'll discuss my work with you. Christ, I thought you just
resented my job. I was wrong; you've got a down on my whole bloody
profession.'
'Change the subject; change the subject!' he said. 'I'm sorry; let's
not ruin the evening.'
They finished their meal in virtual silence, Alex's outrage still
simmering quietly. 'Okay,' Andy ventured gently, as their coffee cooled
in front of them. 'Let's start again. Forget work. Tell me about your
day.'
The start of a smile came back to her face. 'Well,' she began, 'this
is the second restaurant I've been in today. I had a salad up at the West
End with Pops and Sarah, my brothers and the Mcllhenney children,
after Pops recruited me as a baby-minder while he went off to sort
someone out.'
She explained the events of Skinner's extra-curricular morning,
and her own fleeting involvement in it.
Andy was frowning at her by the time she finished. 'That's
incredible,' he said, the frown deepening into a glare.
'What? Taking Jazz with him? Old established practice as far as
he's concerned. I remember when I was six, we sat outside a bookie's
for three hours one weekend, just checking on who was going in
there. Pops let me take the photographs.'
Martin shook his head. 'Not that. What's incredible is the fact that
he just swanned into Brian's investigation. If anyone did that to him,
he'd paper the walls with them.'
Alex stood up, abruptly and threw her napkin on the table. 'Right,
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that's it,' she snapped, no longer caring who heard her. 'This is
obviously "Knock the Skinners" night. Well, not any more, it ain't.
You can pay the bill; I'll get a taxi - back to my place.
'Give me a week or two to myself, Andy. I don't think I can handle
this special treatment too often.' He was still staring as the double
doors swung shut behind her with a bang which echoed round the
restaurant.
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47
'I didn't expect to see you here at St Leonardos, boss,' said Brian
Mackie, as Skinner closed the door behind him. He glanced at the
clock on the wall. 'Not first thing on a Monday morning, at any rate.'
The big DCC grinned, a touch sheepishly. 'Maybe not, but I didn't
think it would be right for me to summon you to Fettes, just so I could
give you an apology.'
'Eh?' Mackie looked puzzled.
'From me: for my excess of zeal on Saturday morning.'
'Ah,' said the superintendent, understanding him at once. 'Yes, I've
heard about that; Stevie called me on Saturday evening and told me
the whole story. Funnily enough, he apologised as well, for acting off
his own bat.'
'It was excusable in his case,' said Skinner. 'He's young, he's
enthusiastic and, though he wouldn't admit it, he's ambitious. There's
no excuse for me though. Christ, Andy Martin made that clear enough:
he called me yesterday after my daughter told him about it, and took
it upon himself- rightly, I must say - to tear a strip off me.
'So I confess. I involved myself in your investigation without a by-
your-leave, and that's no way for a commander to behave, whatever
his motivation.'
'To tell you the truth, sir,' Mackie began, tentatively, 'I thought you
might have come to give me a rollicking for not showing more
initiative myself.'
'And why should I do that?' the DCC asked. 'As I keep on
drumming into people, ours is a team operation. Anyone can feed
ideas into the pot; the commander considers them all and decides on
the lines of inquiry, but no one expects him to do all the original
thinking.
'What isn't acceptable is an officer acting on his own without the
commander's knowledge. It would have been no bother for Steele or
me to have picked up the phone on Saturday and told you what we
were doing. I was unprofessional and undisciplined and for that I'm
sorry.'
And then he smiled. 'Mind you,' he chuckled. 'We picked a winner.'
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The divisional commander nodded. 'You sure did. Appropriate or
not, it was good work, and I wish I had thought of it myself. I think
Maggie would have, if she wasn't out of action.'
'How is she, by the way?' asked Skinner.
'She's coming on. While you and Steele were chasing that woman
all over Edinburgh, I was visiting her. She's giving Mario a hard time
- poor bugger doesn't have a moment to sit down - but she is taking
note of the surgeon's warning about keeping her arm immobilised
until it's had a chance to heal properly.'
'That's good. Talking about hard times, I had one myself on
Saturday after we were finished with Dr Gopal.'
Untypically, Mackie laughed. 'Did you really take the baby on
surveillance, boss?'
'Sure I did; he loved it, too. A real bonding experience, it was. Just
like Gopal and his sister, I hope.'
The superintendent's normal expression was restored at once. He
swung round in his chair, frowning up at the DCC. 'Do you think
he'll succeed?' he asked.
'In the short term, I'm sure he will. He's had the courage to take
her this far, so I'd expect him to make it the rest of the way. Beyond
that though, it'll be up to the girl.'
'What about the father? Will he take her back?'
'Not a chance, according to Surinder. He said that his mother will
be out on the street too, if the old man ever learns what she's done.
No, the girl - her name's Ayesha - will live with him once she's better;
but given the hours he works .. .
'Well let's just say it could be touch and go for a while yet.'
Mackie nodded. 'I guess so. We'll help her in the only way we can.
Steele's gone to find the boyfriend. I've told him to throw the fear of
Christ Almighty into him, plus a few other deities as well. If we can
keep him away from her for good, then her chances will be better.'
'I hope he gets the message,' said Skinner quietly. 'Because if there
was a next time, I'm pretty sure Surinder would kill him, and he sure
isn't worth that.'
'No.' The two detectives sat in silence for a while.
'So,' exclaimed the DCC, at last, 'back to basics: the Weston
investigation.'
'Yes, boss. Not one of my great successes.'
'Not a failure either, Brian, by any measurement. You've taken it as
far as anyone could.'
'But come up empty, apart from a DNA trace, and a possible print
from an envelope, with no one to match either.'
'No one for now. Maybe for ever. Who knows? Time will tell, and
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that's how I want it left. I've spoken to Andy about this. Maybe, at
first, his line on this was a bit harder than ours but now he agrees.'
The superintendent looked up. 'Close it, boss?'
Skinner shook his head. 'No; not formally. Leave it open, but just
let it lie, until the Fatal Accident Inquiry. For now it's used up all the
resources we can justify. Once the jury records its verdict, we'll see
where we go from there.'
'They'll say unlawful killing, won't they?'
'Maybe. It depends on the evidence that the Fiscal chooses to lay
before them. He may just present them with cause of death, without
going into missing syringes and complications like that.'
'The family aren't pressing for full disclosure,' said Mackie. 'That's
for bloody sure.'
'In that case, I'm more convinced than ever that we've fulfilled our
public duty. There may be another lead out there, Brian, one that will
lead us straight to the person who injected Mrs Weston. But there's no
more we can do; if we find it, we'll have tripped over it rather than
unearthed it through orthodox police work.
'So call this one a job well done, regardless of the outcome, and
concentrate on the rest of your workload.' He turned towards the door.
'Now I must get on with mine. See you.'
'Hey boss,' Skinner stopped and looked round as the superintendent
called after him. 'Did you enjoy yourself: back on the street on
Saturday morning?'
He grinned. 'Did I ever!'
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48
Neil Mcllhenney was in the Chief Constable's outer office, casually
conversing with Gerry Crossley, as Skinner stepped in from the
Command Corridor, having called in on ACC Elder.
'Morning, Gaffer,' said the sergeant. The DCC nodded an acknowledgment.
The big chap's jacket s hanging on him a bit, he thought.
'Go on in, Neil,' he said, following his assistant through the door.
'How goes it?' he asked, as he sat behind the big desk.
'Quiet weekend, sir,' Mcllhenney answered, leaning across and
laying a folder before Skinner. 'What there is of it is in there.'
'Ah, I didn't mean that. First things first, man. How's Olive? Sarah
said that she was in bed when she brought kids home.'
The big sergeant leaned back in his chair, wearily. 'Yes, that's right.
She was asleep in fact. She's a lot better this morning; in fact, she
insisted on getting up to give Lauren and Spencer their breakfast. But
the weekend was pretty rough. Ach, she was sick from the moment we
got back on Friday evening right through till Sunday afternoon.
'We had a bit of help on Saturday, though. A woman from a medical
charity came in to see us. A nice lady. Her outfit works with the
hospital in supporting out-patients; not just cancer, all sorts. By the
time she arrived, I was fair glad to see her.