By All Means (Fiske and MacNee Mysteries Book 2)

by Alan Alexander

  Sara stood behind Aisha and looked at her computer screen. It showed a page of a tabloid-sized newspaper with a large picture of what seemed to be a demonstration. Two young men in the foreground held placards. A group of six or eight supporters stood behind them, some carrying what looked like leaflets. The placards read, "SFP says: SET SCOTLAND FREE."

  'Read the caption.'

  Sara leaned forward.

  Scottish Freedom Club chair and secretary, Simon Mathieson and Andy MacIlwraith, lead a demo outside the Union against Scottish Secretary Fraser's visit to Tory club.

  'Christ, Aisha, good work! Where did you get it? And how?'

  'It's from the university student newspaper about ten years ago. It's all archived online and it's got a pretty good search function. I started to think about what Cam said. If he's twenty-nine he must have graduated seven or eight years ago, so I went to the archive and searched for MacIlwraith, starting in 2000. He comes up a lot in reports of demos and debates, but that's the only picture. And it establishes a connection between MacIlwraith and Mathieson.'

  Sara Hamilton whistled in appreciation. 'And if Mathieson is Nuttall, we've also got a link between the two murder suspects. Does the face match our enhanced picture?'

  'Possibly. There's ten years between them, but there are clear similarities: shape of face, prominent nose, but he had a full beard in 2002. We'll need to get the photographic analysts to look at them, but I think we should work on the assumption that we're looking at Nuttall.'

  'You're probably right. I'll need to speak to the boss before the team meeting. And, as you said, we'll need to find MacIlwraith and Mathieson and see if they're still in touch. This may be a breakthrough. Or it may be nothing.'

  *

  'It's got to be Eisner,' Colin MacNee said as he and Vanessa Fiske drove away from Last Cairngorm and back to Aberdeen. 'They must know each other, and the timeline points that way.'

  'What timeline?'

  'This can't be about the explosion, or not just about the explosion. Mancuso started setting Shelley up last week. It was information about the murder investigations that he was after.'

  Vanessa closed her eyes and leaned back on the headrest. 'We need to talk to Eisner again for another reason, too. You've probably heard that Richard Fleming's been suspended. Esslemont and I are pretty sure he's been leaking information and I think some of it has been getting to Eisner. We planted a bogus detail about the investigation that only Fleming knew about, other than me, the DCS and the Chief. It got back to the Chief in very short order from the Met Commissioner. It was pretty obvious when I went to the Foreign Office that they had been got at. I think they were lobbied by Burtonhall and I think Burtonhall went to them again to verify our phoney fact, and then the FO talked to the Met.'

  'So when do we go to see Eisner again?’

  'I've got to interview Fleming again as soon as I get back, so it'll have to be after the team meeting.'

  Vanessa's phone rang. It was Sara Hamilton.

  'Boss, I think Aisha's found something really important.'

  Vanessa listened as Sara outlined what Aisha had found.

  ‘Thanks. This may be the nearest thing we’ve had to a real lead. Email the picture to me so that I can see it on my phone and get it to photographic analysis and see what they say about the possibility that it’s Nuttall. Go through Dongle Donaldson. I can’t remember the name of the DS who ran the video recognition software that identified MacIlwraith, but Dongle will. We’ll talk about this in detail at two. Is your video link set up?’

  ‘Not half! You should see the kit they’ve got here. We could do a video link to Mars.’

  *

  DCI Fiske collected Inspector Richard Fleming and his lawyer from main reception at eleven o'clock and took them to an interview room where DCS Esslemont was waiting for them.

  'Thank you for coming in, Inspector Fleming. You are here voluntarily to help us with our enquiries into the unauthorised release of confidential information. Once again we would like your consent to record our conversation.'

  The lawyer touched Fleming's arm. 'I'm David Wozniak, Richard's lawyer, and I don't think I'm prepared to let him agree to that until you charge him with something. And I'm not sure you should have taped the previous interview. I'll need a copy of that tape.'

  'Certainly. And you should know that we want to question your client under caution. He is suspected of misconduct in public office. Other charges may follow. Now, I assume you will want to talk privately. We'll leave you to it. Dial 555 when you're ready to continue.'

  Ten minutes later, Esslemont and Fiske were back in the interview room. Wozniak said that he had advised his client to answer questions that did not incriminate him and that he now accepted that the interview would be recorded.

  Esslemont nodded to Vanessa Fiske.

  'We're pretty sure,' she said, 'that you were the source of the confidential information that appeared in the press and some also seems to have got to other unauthorised people. However, my main concern is that these leaks have hindered my enquiries into two murders. I need to know who you spoke to other than the ..'

  Fleming interrupted. 'I did not speak to any reporter.'

  Vanessa responded sharply. 'So who did you speak to?'

  'No comment.'

  'Look your career is over and although I'm curious about why you risked so much, my immediate interest is in how people of interest to my investigations got sensitive information if you didn't speak to them. Who was the intermediary?'

  'No comment.'

  Esslemont stirred. 'This is pointless. I'm releasing you on condition that you return for further questioning when I request you to do so. Meanwhile we will pursue other enquiries and get started on a report to the Procurator Fiscal. Good morning, gentlemen. DCI Fiske will see you out.'

  *

  'What other enquiries did you have in mind, sir?' Vanessa was standing in the door to Esslemont's office.

  'We need to have a good look at Fleming's life: who are his friends, what does he do in his spare time, does anyone have a hold over him? And we need to do it quickly and discreetly. Who have you got?'

  'I really can't spare anybody, sir, but I can see your point. As long as it was only for a day, a couple of days at most, I could put Williamson on it.'

  'Do it. And brief him very carefully.'

  *

  Vanessa Fiske's plans for the team meeting had been made almost irrelevant by her conversation with Sara Hamilton. All the other strands of the investigations would still have to be covered, but the priority was to discuss and assess the new information about Mathieson, Nuttall and MacIlwraith. Williamson, Todd, Dongle Donaldson, Andy Hanna on the last day of his secondment, and an administrative assistant to take notes, were on three sides of the table in Conference Room 5. Sara Hamilton and Aisha Gajani, sitting uncomfortably close together in Govan Police Station's video suite, were on the flat-screen television on the wall above the fourth side of the table. Colin MacNee sat beside Vanessa, on her right.

  Vanessa had just brought up on the computer screen beside her an enlarged version of the photograph from the student paper when Esslemont came in and sat at the end of the table, facing the television screen.

  'Aisha found this picture in the online archive of the Glasgow University student newspaper. It shows Andrew MacIlwraith, our prime suspect in Peter Keller's murder. It also shows someone called Simon Mathieson, and that was the name given by the person who requested the late Thomas Nuttall's birth certificate from the General Register Office. We believe that Mathieson and Nuttall are one and the same, and if they are, we are also looking at the prime suspect in the murder of Harvey Jamieson.'

  'The picture on the screen is exactly as Aisha found it. The guys In the video analysis section are doing what they can to enhance it. That may make it possible to compare the image of Mathieson with the pictures of Nuttall from his Ebright ID and the CCTV images. No guarantees, boss, but we may be able to tell, with an exact per
centage accuracy, if it's the same person in both images.'

  'Thanks, Dongle. And please note that I've just said your name without laughing. When will we have something from video analysis?'

  'This afternoon, I think. Anil Jasthi said he would email his results as soon as he has them. Might even come while we're still here.'

  'Aisha, first of all, good work. This is the first thing we've seen that looks like a breakthrough.' Everyone in the room rapped the table in appreciation. Aisha smiled, and blushed a little. 'So where do these two guys live? You wouldn't want to leave the job half done.'

  Fiske's tone was light but the question was serious. Sara Hamilton answered. 'One of the DCs here knew MacIlwraith at uni and thinks he lived outside the city, Lanarkshire or Ayrshire. We're working through the appropriate databases for these areas and, of course, for Glasgow. We've got a number of hits on the names and we now need to check ages. We're assuming that both our suspects are in their early thirties, so we should have it narrowed down by later today.'

  'OK. Once we know how many possibles we've got we'll have to decide how to identify our men. I'd like to avoid bringing in people solely on the basis of name and age, so we may be into surveillance and, if we are, we'll need to rely on Strathclyde for support.'

  DI Colin MacNee turned to Andy Hanna. 'Anything on the financial side to report before you leave us?'

  'Not much. I managed to get hold of the prospectuses Burtonhall sent out to possible investors. They were a bit more bullish about the likely performance of Hedelco and Ebright than the current numbers support, but that's common enough and nothing to kill for. You could just about find a motive in an attempt to prevent adverse operational reports coming to light, but it would be a stretch.'

  'We'll only get that if there's really negative stuff in the emails Keller sent back before he was killed.' Colin looked at Fiske in a way that expected a response.

  'The Foreign Office has agreed to help us to get them without going to court. I'm just about to sign off the brief that Fiona Marchmont and I have prepared. I had hoped to get it off yesterday, but something came up. It'll go today, so we can't really expect an answer from Hedelco until the middle of next week.'

  'They'll resist,' Andy Hanna said. 'It'll depend on whether the Yanks have any leverage and if they're prepared to use it to help us.'

  'Thanks for all your help, Andy. We'll call you if we think you can assist further.'

  'There's one more thing. Just for fun, I had a rake around the public domain information on Last and Mercury...'

  Esslemont stirred. He had said nothing so far, but that wasn't unusual when he sat in on a team meeting. 'A bit outside your brief, Inspector.'

  Hanna had the unfazed look of a man who'd soon be on his way. 'Yeah, probably. I'm sorry. I was pushing the envelope a bit, but you may still want to hear what I found.'

  Esslemont looked at Vanessa, who nodded.

  'As far as I can tell, Burtonhall doesn't have a financial interest in either of them, but there's some cross-membership on the boards. James Roskill's a non-exec on Mercury's board, and Richard Seaton chairs Last's Remuneration Committee. Nothing sinister in that, but interesting. As far as financial performance is concerned, Last is on a knife edge - the up-market leisure sector isn't doing well in the recession. Mercury, like many Internet-based businesses, is making money hand over fist. Their employment practices, however, are, to use their preferred euphemism, "robust". Their car park in Cumbernauld is known as "Picket Plaza". Up to you to decide if any of that is useful.'

  'Interesting, but not immediately relevant,' Vanessa said. 'I'll think about it. Now, if there's nothing else, Colin and I need to go and talk to Eisner again.'

  *

  In Edinburgh, Paul MacIver was preparing for the weekend. The First Minister had spent most of the day in Fife, trying to ensure that her government took the credit for the fact that the sun had come up that morning and for the likelihood that it would set in the evening. MacIver had been at her side throughout, ensuring that the press picked up the best soundbites, keeping her increasingly regal progress to time, identifying for the security team known troublemakers so that they could be kept well away from microphones and cameras.

  In the middle of the afternoon, as DCI Fiske was about to close the team meeting, the FM left her last engagement - the opening of an new hi-tech component plant that had received much public subsidy and provided very few jobs - and set off for her constituency in the North East. MacIver asked the political editor of the Glasgow Banner to drop him off at Leuchars so that he could catch a train to Edinburgh. He intended to be a little indiscreet so that a "helpful" exclusive would appear in the Sunday edition of the paper.

  *

  As the murder investigation team was gathering their papers together for the end of the meeting, Dongle Donaldson looked at his phone. 'Hold on, boss. I've just got the enhanced image of MacIlwraith and Mathieson. Anil's emailed it to you. You might want to call it up.'

  Vanessa logged on, went to her email and opened the attachment. Anil Jasthi had done a good job. The faces of the two principals were much sharper and the supporting cast were now distinguishable from each other. The team looked closely at the new image. The likeness between the MacIlwraith in the student paper and the MacIlwraith identified from the hospital CCTV was compelling, that between Mathieson and Nuttall less so.

  'Anil is running the facial comparison software over both pairs of images. Later this afternoon he'll be able to tell us how certain he is that the two MacIlwraiths are the same person and that Mathieson is also Nuttall. His report should be waiting for you when you get back from talking to Eisner.'

  *

  'Before you and Colin go to see Eisner, I need a word.'

  Esslemont had intercepted Vanessa as she left the conference room and was now walking towards his office. Vanessa followed. The DCS asked her to close the door. He logged on to his computer and brought up the enhanced image of MacIlwraith and Mathieson at the Scottish Freedom Party demonstration outside the university union. He picked up a pen and pointed to a young man in the middle of the line of students standing behind the two suspects.

  'I think that's Paul MacIver.'

  Vanessa looked closely at the screen. She had never met MacIver and she couldn't recall having seen a picture of him.

  'The FM's special adviser?' Her tone was incredulous. 'Are you sure, sir?'

  'Pretty sure. I've met him occasionally when I've had meetings with the First Minister in connection with constituency matters. He's ten years older now, and he's put on a fair amount of weight, but I think I'd be prepared to swear in court that that's MacIver.'

  'So we have evidence that the FM's closest aide was a "known associate" ' - the quotation marks were audible - 'ten years ago of the prime suspects in two murders. What do you suggest we do?'

  'Nothing yet. I just want you to be aware. If you find that the connection is anything other than historic and you think it may be relevant to your enquiries, we'll have to decide how to proceed. Meanwhile, keep me very closely informed.'

  *

  One of Vanessa Fiske's administrative support team had arranged for her and Colin MacNee to see Jack Eisner at the Ebright building at four o'clock. Tammy Wootten was less than warm in her welcome, but she said that as she had some shopping to do, they could use her office.

  'I need to speak to you about your interest in my investigation.'

  Eisner looked at Fiske and said nothing. As the press often say of murderers about to be sentenced, he showed no emotion.

  Vanessa went on. 'I believe that you have received confidential information and I need you to tell me how you got it.'

  'I don't know what you're talking about.' Eisner poured himself a glass of water from the jug on Wootten's desk.

  'Have you been in touch with Frank Mancuso at Last Cairngorm?'

  Eisner looked uncomfortable.

  'I've known Frank for a long time. Naturally, when I came to Aberdeen, I got in to
uch. We had a drink.'

  'Nothing more?' Colin MacNee's tone had become much more aggressive. 'So why did he try to set up Shelley Mehring, who works for me and my wife as an au pair, to pass on information that she might pick up at our house? It can't have been about the explosion at Last Cairngorm. Why did you want an inside track on our murder investigation?'

  Eisner shook his head, but said nothing.

  'We also know that Mancuso attempted to blackmail Shelley.'

  'I'm sorry, inspector, but I can't help you.'

  'Can't or won't?

  Eisner smiled. 'Does it matter? There's no more I can say.'

  'Mr Eisner, you work for an organisation which finds itself a lot closer to two murders than it would like. You came here to try to prevent what you call "reputational damage" to Burtonhall Inc. I don't think a blackmail charge that involved you would help you in your mission.'