A Wife Worth Dying For

by Wilson Smillie

  ‘The vodka?’ asked Carter. ‘He spikes drinks with it.’

  ‘Yes, Scoop is his favourite, and I know the sources of his drugs. He occasionally hummed “Bye-bye baby” at work, but it took me some time to work out what he meant.’

  ‘It’s his signature.’ Dr Flowers had kept quiet, but now she needed to know something. ‘Does he know you’re stalking him?’

  ‘After he violated me, I was angry and suicidal – most of his trialists take the suicide way out, leaving him free to move on. But my rage fed my desire for vengeance. My early attempts at hacking him were amateur. I left digital DNA everywhere. I had to up my game. Since I’ve moved companies, I’ve learned more. Tracking his whereabouts has become my life, my obsession, my safety net.

  ‘He told me once about an operation in Iraq. “To kill a sniper, you must become a sniper.”

  ‘I heeded his advice. Last night, he never saw me coming.’

  ‘Right,’ said Carter, feeling more confident about things. ‘Make your statement please—dates, places, times and what he did to you. Keep the stalking out of it, be the tearful victim for a while. Can you do that?’

  ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘But there’s something else. You have to get inside his house.’

  96

  Fallacious Logic

  Tam Watson stuck his head through the door. ‘Case conference, Leccy. McKinlay’s office.’

  ‘Find the duty DC, Tam. Jodie wants to make a statement about our friend. Jodie, stay close, I’ll need more from you.’

  ‘I’ll cut to the charges,’ said McKinlay. ‘Rocketman has confirmed that Butler’s DNA matches the profiles provided by the National DNA Database from down south. Also, the DNA in Kelsa’s case too, but I’m guessing you know that already. The Fiscal wants to review the evidence supporting. So, the eye of the tiger is on you, Leccy – did Butler kill Jacky, and can you prove it away beyond doubt?’

  ‘Yes, we have CCTV from the bus, Jacky had Butler’s phone and Butler dumped it in Lily’s bag.’

  ‘Murder? Or culpable homicide?’

  ‘Murder.’

  ‘Did he murder Kelsa and can we prove he murdered Lily?’

  ‘Kelsa died ten months later, but murder is feasible, with the right QC. We have clear evidence of Kelsa’s aggravated rape. But Lily—’

  ‘So, Jacky is the lead case,’ McKinlay said, cutting him off. ‘For these other cases in England, the balance of probability is on our side, but that counts for fuck all in front of a judge, especially if it’s your father-in-law. Anything else?’

  ‘Jodie Reynolds. He raped her some years ago.’

  ‘That’s no fuckin’ use to us now.’

  ‘She’s downstairs, making a statement.’

  McKinlay’s demeanour changed instantly. ‘Do you know about this development, Nick?’

  ‘News to me,’ Mason stared furiously at Carter.

  McKinlay took a deep breath. ‘So, murder on Jacky, rape on Kelsa and rape on this Reynolds woman. Aggravation will take it up to thirty years at least. We’ll add Lily to the sheet when full forensics are available. If Alice wakes and ID’s him—’

  ‘Meaning fifteen to eighteen as punishment, before release,’ Dr Flowers jumped in with both feet. ‘Providing someone in my profession believes he’s reformed.’

  ‘Sergeant Carter, I want you to know, so far, you’ve done a good job. Nick, you have my authority to charge this bastard with murder and Section One rape. Make sure the charges stick with the Fiscal.’

  Twenty minutes later, Nick Mason entered the interview room with Carter following. Both detectives wore solemn looks. Butler was chatting to Dominic Love, and both had plastic cups of coffee in their hands. Carter hoped Butler was drinking the full-strength, unrecycled sheep’s pish.

  ‘Officers,’ Love began his objection, ‘I hope you’re here with good news and Mr Butler can be released to go about his business.’

  Carter operated the recorder and noted the date, time and those present. Butler stretched his powerful back, looked at his watch and resumed the position he’d maintained throughout the interview: bent forward, chin on his chest, arms folded.

  Mason sat across from Butler and read out the charges.

  ‘Nathan Butler, you are charged with the murder of Jacky Dodds, on North Bridge, Edinburgh on twenty-first January 2019, and second, with the aggravated rape of Kelsa Dunsmuir Carter, at the Glasgow Hilton Hotel, on seventeenth March 2018, and third, with the aggravated rape of Jodie Reynolds in Dumfries on thirty-first August 2012. You are not required to say anything, but anything you do say will be submitted as evidence. Do you understand the charges?’

  When Mason had mentioned Jodie Reynolds, Butler lifted his head, stared at him, and then glared at Carter. Carter’s face said gotcha. Butler dropped his head again, glanced at his watch and spoke for the first time in the interview. ‘What now?’

  ‘Nathan, I’ll handle this,’ said Love. ‘We’ll petition for bail immediately.’

  ‘You know that’s futile, sir,’ said Mason. ‘Your client will be remanded in custody until trial.’

  ‘How long will that be?’ asked Butler as if such an outcome was impossible in his mind.

  ‘Nine months to a year.’

  Butler exploded into action. His chair tumbled backwards as he rose, catching everyone in the room by surprise. Mason reacted instinctively, rising up to face Butler. Butler sidestepped the lanky DI’s move and thumped Mason’s shoulder hard with a straight arm. Mason pirouetted and stumbled. In one move Butler pulled Mason into a reverse bearhug and kicked his standing leg away. The detective dropped backwards. Butler held him up under his chin by wrapping his arms tight around Mason’s throat. Butler stretched Mason’s neck and back and his windpipe closed as his own bodyweight choked him. He began to panic.

  ‘Enough,’ Butler shouted. ‘If I’m not out of ‘ere now, hundreds of innocent people will die.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Carter had watched Butler’s move in shock and awe. This wasn’t in the script. Fear had infected Dominic Love, and he shrank himself under the table. As the DI’s legs skittered and trashed around the floor, Butler pivoted Mason with a knee in his back.

  ‘A hostage is strapped to a suicide vest in the city.’ Butler shouted. ‘If I don’t stop it by ten tonight, the whole place goes boom.’

  97

  False Dilemma

  Carter pressed the panic button on the wall. Seconds later, six uniformed PCs burst into the room. Tam Watson followed moments later. Butler released Mason and raised his arms in surrender. Mason collapsed onto the floor, gasping and coughing, before slowly getting back to his feet. He made for Butler before the PCs pulled him back.

  ‘Nick,’ said Tam Watson. ‘Get out of here.’

  Butler retrieved his chair and sat down. He spoke to Love, who was still under the table. ‘Your services are no longer required, Dom.’

  Clutching his briefcase, Love scrabbled away.

  Butler slouched in the chair and pressed home his advantage. He smiled up at Carter, who’d stood when Mason was in the bearhug.

  ‘Sorry about that, but I hate bad news. I’ll have another coffee while I wait. Maybe some freshly ground Colombian beans, if you ‘ave them. A flat white. If not, milk and two sugars in the instant and a proper cup. I must insist.’

  Carter sat down, not really sure what to do. Butler pressed his lead.

  ‘Sergeant Carter. To business. The blood of hundreds of people will be on your hands.’

  ‘You’re bluffing,’ Carter played for time.

  ‘On your head.’ Butler smiled up at the PCs in the room.

  ‘Where is she?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Butler looked at his watch. ‘Four hours and fifty-two minutes. Better talk to your boss, sonny.’

  ‘What do you want, Nathan?’

  ‘What do you want, Leccy?’

  ‘To put you away.’

  ‘I know the code. Where she is. My terms.’

  ‘You’ll
disappear,’ Carter said.

  ‘You should be evacuating homes,’ Butler smiled. ‘I’ll tell you where. Run along now.’

  In the observation room, Nick Mason was rubbing his throat. Cheryl McKinlay looked worried.

  ‘I heard,’ she addressed Carter. ‘It could be a bluff, but we can’t take the risk. We’ll mobilise the emergency services, but that’s Chief Super Goodwin’s call. Go back in, Leccy, and tell him yes. Tam’s boys can take him to the cells while we organise.’

  ‘I could call the people who called me earlier, they seemed to know about his capabilities.’

  ‘Are they military?’ McKinlay asked.

  ‘They didn’t say, but you’ll need Bomb Disposal too, won’t you?’

  ‘An army escort; good thinking. See what else you can get out of them.’ McKinlay left the room.

  ‘You OK, Nick?’ Carter asked, concerned.

  ‘He’s a cunt.’ Mason didn’t like losing fights.

  ‘He’s above our pay grade,’ Carter said, not wanting to wind Mason up.

  ‘You respect him?’

  ‘He killed my wife, but we need bigger guns. I’ll go back in, you stay here.’

  Carter sat opposite Butler, staring at him. Butler smiled. After a few minutes rutting contest, during which neither man spoke, Carter turned to Tam Watson.

  ‘Prepare his cell, he’s going back inside while we check this out.’

  ‘For how long?’ Butler asked.

  ‘What type of vest?’ Carter replied.

  ‘Would you know? I could tell you anything.’

  ‘Somebody will know. Your credibility is at stake.’

  Butler laughed uproariously. ‘Hell, yeah. You’re listening to the wrong people.’

  ‘It’s an IED,’ Carter tried again.

  ‘You’ve seen one, ‘ave you? IEDs that toss Jackals in the air like confetti at a weddin’? This one has a phone and three kilos of Semtex, held together by a bedsheet and some cord. Improvised. Explosive. Divisive. Probably bring the flats down, ’cos building standards are shite these days. Think Grenfell, with more collateral.’

  Carter believed him.

  ‘Nathan,’ said Carter. ‘Where?’

  ‘Western Harbour,’ Butler stated without emotion. ‘Four hours, twenty minutes and change, Carter. This isnae a movie where the hero switches off the timer with seconds to boom. Under ten minutes, I’m no’ goin’ near it.’

  Carter signalled for Tam Watson’s boys to cuff Butler and move him out. Before the door to the interview room closed, Carter heard him humming.

  ‘Bye-bye Jenny baby, don’t cha cry no more.’

  98

  Blast Radius

  ‘Could be worse,’ Cheryl McKinlay said when Carter updated the MIT a few minutes later. ‘Merchiston or Newington would resemble Syria if it went off there. I’ll brief the Chief Super; we’ve got emergency plans for this.’

  After she left the room, Carter found a quiet corner and called the number on his phone’s ‘recent’ list. Geddes’ friend.

  ‘Sergeant Carter. You’re calling to chat,’ said a clipped English voice.

  ‘Could he build an IED?’

  ‘Should I turn on the news?’

  ‘Not yet.’

  ‘I told you he was resourceful.’

  ‘But the materials—?’

  ‘When he raped your wife, when he wooed Miss Deacon into ending her own life, he planned forward.’

  ‘How do you know about Kelsa?’ Carter’s blood boiled. Was this just a game? Had these people been aware of what Butler was doing all along? ‘Could you have prevented all this?’

  ‘He’s not a priority, and the queue is long. We’ll help where we can, of course.’

  ‘You vetted Joe Moore but didn’t find Nathan Butler. You Oxbridge types are supposedly uber-intelligent. No?’

  There was silence for a few seconds. ‘Got that one off your chest now?’

  ‘Tell me you track explosives, maintain an inventory of who’s got what?’

  ‘We’re not B&Q. Is there something you want from me?’

  ‘Is he bluffing?’

  ‘You’d be foolish to think so. Explosives have a shelf life, the mixture degrades, cartridges get written off. There’s wiggle room. As I said, he’s resourceful.’

  ‘So, why’s he on the outside? He’s an asset in your wars. On the public streets, he’s a feral gorilla.’

  ‘Attracted the wrong kind of attention, rumours of double-dipping, collateral damage and more. Rather an unknown unknown, then a known unknown. We informed the Met at the time of his leaving. Maybe you should talk to them.’

  The line went dead.

  With forty-five minutes to go, Carter stood inside a Police command centre on wasteland outside the forecourt of the Asda supermarket on Sandpiper Drive in Newhaven. A G4S prison security van hovered fifty metres away. Beyond the estimated blast radius, the inner cordon ran from the Red Car Park at Ocean Terminal, north along the A901 for two kilometres, all the way to Newhaven Harbour. The residential towers on Western Harbour Drive were empty. During the evacuation that had occupied the last few hours, Butler’s hostage identified as Jenny Jones had not been discovered.

  The Army were present, not just for bomb disposal, but for sheer manpower. An outer cordon had been created too. All houses and businesses between the Ocean Terminal entertainment complex and the pubs and restaurants at the Shore at Leith were evacuated. Roughly ten thousand people displaced some bedding down in local schools.

  The official reason was a WW2 bomb dredged up west of Newhaven Lighthouse. The absence of dredgers and heavy lifting equipment didn’t seem to register with the locals, and everyone moved out without complaint. The Police Press Centre at Trinity Primary School dispensed information to news crews on the five-hundred-kilogram SC bomb dropped in July 1940, when the Luftwaffe attacked Granton. TV crews weren’t allowed closer than the sea wall at Granton Harbour, another three kilometres west.

  They were cutting it fine. The plan was for Butler to go in, accompanied by a team of bomb disposal soldiers. As Carter had reminded everyone in the MIT team, Butler said it was a simple timer, and he knew the code to unlock the phone. Nobody really believed it.

  The first smell of something going wrong came when Butler wouldn’t sign up to the plan.

  ‘I’m not goin’ anywhere with fuckin’ pongos.’

  The clock ticked down, and Butler hung tight. With thirty minutes to go, he proposed the solution. ‘Me and Carter, no one else. You can wire ‘im up if you want.’

  ‘You don’t need to do this, Leccy,’ Dr Flowers said.

  ‘It’s all about me, that’s what you said, isn’t it? I don’t have a choice, do I?’

  ‘He’ll kill you.’

  ‘Is Jodie here?’ Carter replied. ‘I could do with her insight.’

  ‘She bolted after signing her statement. Once she heard the kerfuffle at the station.’

  They tried to put a blast protection suit on Carter, but he refused because it was so heavy. Everything he knew about Butler told him he needed mobility. Instead, it was a wire, a radio and a hand-held GPS locator.

  ‘I’m taking my phone too.’

  Now Butler stood beside him, handcuffed. The guards unlocked the rigid cuff on Butler’s left wrist and were about to open the right cuff when Carter stopped them. He held out his own left wrist. The guards hesitated.

  ‘Do it,’ he said. ‘Don’t waste time. He won’t like me dragging him around.’

  DCI McKinlay nodded. ‘A running commentary, Leccy.’

  ‘Well, here we are, Sergeant,’ Butler smiled tightly, gazing down at Carter. ‘Aren’t you the clever boy?’

  They got in the back of a police car. Another uniform got in the front passenger seat. ‘Where to?’ he said.

  ‘The far side,’ said Butler.

  The car accelerated west along Sandpiper Road, turned right and disappeared into Western Harbour View.

  Twenty minutes to boom.

  99


  Cuffed

  The police car scurried to safety, leaving Carter and Butler on rough ground beside the blustery Forth Estuary. The wind skimmed in from the east, escorting staccato bursts of freezing rain. The absence of human activity oozing from the high towers was eerie. No music, no laughter, no arguments. Occasional house lights had been left on in a rush to leave. Some cars had been abandoned. Above them, in the darkness, a helicopter circled, picking them out in its spotlight.

  ‘Lose the chopper,’ Butler said. ‘Otherwise, I’ll strap you to her.’

  Carter called it in.

  ‘So, what now, Nathan?’ Carter tried for brothers in arms.

  ‘Let’s go,’ Butler said. They walked between the towers and the bushes, turning down a service road, Carter giving a running commentary into his mic the whole way. Reaching an underground car park, Butler punched a code into the wall-mounted digital pad. The electric shutter rolled up. Cars were parked in some of the spaces, but it wasn’t full. Butler pulled him towards a set of red double doors that allowed service access.

  ‘Keep up, Carter. If you’re dragging, I’ll cut your arm off.’

  Carter had lost signal contact with the command post. ‘Hello?’

  ‘They can’t hear you,’ Butler said. ‘We’re under four feet of steel-reinforced concrete. The car park is a weak Faraday cage; it disturbs low-power radio frequencies. The builders installed repeaters down here so the residents could use their phones, but kids keep breaking them. Funny, eh?’

  The electric shutter hit the floor with a metallic bang, sealing them in.

  They reached the service unit with its red doors.

  ‘Take the wire off, Carter, and lose the GPS. Unlock the cuffs.’

  ‘I don’t have a key.’

  With his free hand, Butler reached around the side of the concrete wall and felt for the keysafe. He punched in the code, removed the key and unlocked the red doors.