Eisner looked more worried. Vanessa pressed her slight advantage.
'I believe that on Wednesday you passed a piece of sensitive information to Cy Packard, your CEO. Very few people in North East Constabulary knew about it. I need to know how you got hold of it.'
'If I did, and I'm not saying I did, the communication would be commercially confidential, just like the emails you're trying to get the Federal government to force Hedelco to release.'
Colin looked at Vanessa and shook his head almost imperceptibly. They both knew that they couldn't ask him directly about Richard Fleming. But they also knew that they had indirect confirmation - nothing admissible as evidence but enough to inform their enquiries - that Eisner had got information and had passed it on to Packard. They already knew, pretty well, what Packard had done with it. But they still had no clear motive, either criminal or commercial, for the murders at GRH and on Vermont One.
*
Vanessa was about to leave for the weekend when DS Anil Jasthi phoned to say that he was more than 95 per cent certain that the two MacIlwraith images were of the same person. The other comparison yielded results that were less conclusive, but Anil still put the likelihood that Mathieson and Nuttall were one and the same at over 75 per cent. She would consult the DCS, but Vanessa thought that was enough to arrest them, if they could be found and positively identified.
Sara Hamilton sent an email just before rushing for her train to Aberdeen. She and Aisha had found addresses for three Andrew MacIlwraiths and two Simon Mathiesons. They had found no Thomas Nuttalls. Strathclyde surveillance officers would provide new pictures of all five men by the time she got back to Glasgow on Monday. Aisha had told her mother she would visit on Saturday afternoon and then gone to her hotel to get ready for her date with Cam Ritchie.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Paul MacIver was pleased with the result of his off-the-record chat with the political editor of the Glasgow Banner. The headline on the front page of the Sunday edition was the first thing that caught his eye as he collected the papers from the newsagent on Sunday morning. It had a "Banner EXCLUSIVE" strap line and it read: "Cops and pols at odds on attacks on US firms".
With no sign of any arrests following the murders two weeks ago at Grampian Royal Hospital and on the Vermont One oil rig, highly placed sources have told the Banner that very senior political figures at Holyrood are becoming frustrated at the refusal of the police to consider the possibility that Scotland may be the target of a concerted campaign to undermine and deter US investment. Both murders happened at locations owned or managed by subsidiaries of the American conglomerate Burtonhall Inc.
Within days of the killings, two other American-owned businesses in Scotland, Last Cairngorm and Mercury Fulfilment, were hit. Last's leisure complex near Aberdeen was bombed and, on the same evening, Mercury's warehouse at Cumbernauld was the target of a devastating cyber attack that knocked out all its IT systems. Last was due to open fully within weeks, but that is now unlikely. Mercury's claim that it would be back online "within days" has proved to be wildly optimistic.
Sources say that the police investigations are concentrating "too exclusively" on the purely criminal aspects of all the investigations. They say that "at this very sensitive time", which is code for "in the run-up to the Independence referendum", greater priority should be given to the possibility that opponents of independence may be attempting to destabilise the Scottish economy.
There is also some frustration that the UK authorities have been less than fully engaged with the investigations. Initially, the Foreign Office was reluctant to intervene with the Americans to help North East Constabulary detectives get access to emails thought to be vital to their enquiries. Assistance was given only after detectives agreed to restrict their request to the company, Hedelco, that runs the hospital where Peter Keller was murdered.
There has already been one piece of collateral damage. Lack of progress on the murders has made it almost certain that the NEC Chief Constable is no longer considered a serious candidate for the top job in the new all-Scotland police service.
It may be an exclusive today, MacIver thought, but the other papers will follow it up tomorrow. By Tuesday, when the FM was due to report again to Parliament, the political temperature should rising nicely. And a certain amount of turmoil inside NEC might also keep the pot boiling.
*
On Friday afternoon, Sara Hamilton had given the addresses of three men called Andrew MacIlwraith and two called Simon Mathieson to the area commander at Govan Police Station and requested, on behalf of her SIO, DCI Vanessa Fiske, that photographic surveillance be mounted at each address. The object was to eliminate those individuals whose descriptions and photographs did not match those of the suspects in the GRH and Vermont One murders.
The MacIlwraiths located by the data searches undertaken by Hamilton and Gajani had addresses in the Springburn area of North East Glasgow, in Saltcoats on the North Ayrshire coast, and in Carluke, in South Lanarkshire. The Mathiesons were in the West End of Glasgow, near the University, and in Uddingston, a suburban town just South East of the city. Two officers in plain clothes and trained in long distance camera surveillance were sent to each address on Saturday morning, with instructions to identify and describe the men living there. On the basis of the descriptions, it proved possible, acting on information on the suspects provided by the murder investigation team to the Strathclyde officers, to eliminate one MacIlwraith and one Mathieson. The surveillance photographers at the Springburn and Uddingston addresses were stood down.
The photographs of the two remaining MacIlwraiths and of Mathieson were waiting for DS Anil Jasthi when he got to his office in Aberdeen at eight o'clock on Monday morning. By 0930 he had eliminated the MacIlwraith in Carluke as a possible match to the hospital murder suspect. He phoned Vanessa Fiske.
'Morning, boss. I've got a 95 per cent match on the Saltcoats MacIlwraith and 90 per cent on Mathieson/Nuttall. That's about as good as we ever get with this software. Up to you to decide if it's enough for arrests.'
'Thanks, Anil. I'll talk to the DCS, but I think Colin and I are looking at a trip to Glasgow and Ayrshire.'
*
Vanessa Fiske was relaxing with a good book on Sunday afternoon. She hadn’t read the papers, so she hadn't seen the Banner’s exclusive when DC Duncan Williamson texted her to say that he would like to come round to see her. Vanessa’s partner, Neil Derrick, groaned when she told him that Williamson was coming round to report on his enquiries into Richard Fleming.
‘You had a bloody hard week last week, and I’d be surprised if next week is any easier. And we have to go to GRH for your scan on Tuesday. Couldn’t you at least take a weekend off?’
She put her arms round his neck and kissed him. ‘I’m sorry, darling, I really am. But the tempo of these cases has suddenly been cranked up a notch or two, and I’ll probably have to go to Glasgow this week, perhaps tomorrow, with an overnight and back on Tuesday. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in time for the scan. Wouldn’t miss it! But the sooner I can get these murders out of the way, the sooner we can start some serious planning.’
‘When’s Duncan coming round?’
‘He’s on his way. Be here in about twenty minutes.’
Neil let Duncan in and then went to his study, leaving the two detectives alone in the living room.
‘So, Duncan, what have you got on our Inspector Fleming?’
‘It wasn’t easy, boss. Fleming lives in Stonehaven. It’s a small enough town for things to get around pretty quickly, so I had to be careful not to raise too much interest. I started with the local sergeant. He told me that Fleming kept a fairly low profile. He lives on his own in a flat overlooking the sea and, so far as the sergeant knew, he hasn’t been in a relationship while he’s lived there, which is a couple of years.’
Vanessa interrupted him. ‘ “In a relationship” is an odd way to put it.. I would have expected you to say “had a girlfriend” or even – what’s that te
rm I’ve heard people use?- a "bidey-in".’
‘Well, that’s the point. No-one’s very sure about Fleming’s sexuality. The sergeant said that the talk around the station was that he might be gay, but that he wasn’t doing anything about it because he’s very ambitious, and it might slow his progress.’
‘Well, he won’t have to worry about that any more! If he’s gay, he’ll be able to come out with impunity. But perhaps not immediately, if he ends up in prison. Go on.’
‘He hasnt taken much part in local life, except the occasional pub quiz. I went to the Dunottar Castle and had a word with the licensee who, like many publicans, likes to keep on the right side of the police. I emphasised the need for confidentiality and asked him what he knew about Fleming. Again, the answer was not a lot, but there is one thing that may be significant. Apparently, his regular team captain in the quizzes was a guy called Martin Gilbertson who lives just outside Stonehaven in a village called Fetteresso. Gilbertson works in public relations at Mid-Aberdeenshire Council.’
Vanessa sat forward. ‘Does he, indeed? So he would have contacts in the local press.’
‘Yeah. But there’s something else. According to my source, he sometimes had on his team somebody from Last Cairngorm, an American with something to do with security.’
‘Good work!’
‘The American hasn’t been seen in the pub for some time, and nor has Fleming. But Gilbertson still drinks there most nights. Nothing heavy, just a pint or two after work. The licensee considers him a regular.’
'I need to speak to Gilbertson, but I don't know when. There's a lot going on!'
'Before I go,' Williamson said, 'Have you seen the front page of today's Banner? If you haven't, you should. There may be some shit flying in the office tomorrow.'
*
After she had read the Banner front page online, Vanessa knew she would have to make some phone calls. Duncan Williamson's report on Fleming had made it urgent that she speak to Esslemont, as did the likelihood that she would have to go to Glasgow to arrest her two prime suspects. That would need the co-operation of Strathclyde Police, both in supporting the early morning visits to the suspects' homes and in applying for warrants to search them. She would need to see Colin MacNee to tell him that MacIlwraith, the suspect in the murder of Keller at GRH, had been located in either the Glasgow area or in North Ayrshire and that he would be heading the team that arrested him while she picked up Mathieson/Nuttall.
She knew that she should also be in the office early enough to call DCC Ingram at Lothian and Borders to brief him in advance of his daily meeting with the Justice Secretary. She was in some difficulty, however, in knowing how much to tell him. If she gave him all the details, and if he then had to brief the First Minister, and if the connection between the suspects and Paul MacIver wasn't merely historic, her investigation might be compromised. Her instinct was to keep her report to Ingram very general, but she would have to discuss it with Esslemont. She might be able to delay her report until later in the day, and the fact that Parliament did not sit on Monday might also buy her some time.
She knew, also, that the Banner report would, as Duncan had predicted, cause the shit to hit the fan. The Chief would be incandescent and would demand a report in person from Esslemont, who would want her support, and possibly Colin MacNee's as well.
And then there were Fleming and Gilbertson. She would have to talk to Gilbertson before she and the DCS interviewed Fleming again, and it was possible that she might have to have another go at both Eisner and Mancuso.
Vanessa had just finished making notes covering all that needed to be done next day when Neil came in from his study. She looked at him and smiled weakly as she reached for the phone.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
As she drove into work on Monday morning just after seven o'clock, DCI Vanessa Fiske needed to take her mind off the huge amount she had to do before going to GRH for her scan at four o'clock the next day. She thought about the cliché, much employed by the press, of the "dawn raid". It was a certainly a cliché, but the process was effective, maximising the surprise (and so ensuring that the press would report after the event rather than in real time, except when the police saw some advantage to having the whole thing filmed), and minimising the possibility that the target would be alerted to the fact that his house had been surrounded by cars he didn't recognise, full of people, some in uniform, some not, he didn't know.
She was a little unsettled by the fact that, although she would be in charge of the arrests, she was not in control of the logistics. She was relying on Strathclyde CID to organise the vehicles and the officers needed to make simultaneous arrests, at 0530 hrs on Tuesday morning, in the West End of Glasgow and in Saltcoats or Carluke. She needed to be able to decide when Mathieson/Nuttall, and whichever MacIlwraith she decided to bring in, would learn that the other had been detained. Vanessa remembered the Prisoner's Dilemma scenario, from a course at Bramshill during her time in the Met, but she had never been able to use it in a real investigation. As a way of putting on pressure during questioning, it might be very useful, but only if she could choose at what point to offer each the opportunity to incriminate the other.
As she parked, Vanessa began to think that she might already be over-complicating the process of arrest and interrogation, and she knew that this was because she had very little to go on. These men would be arrested, and their homes and workplaces searched, on the basis of enhanced CCTV images and a relationship that they had had when they were students nearly ten years ago. It was possible, though unlikely, that they had had no contact with each other since then. However, it was vital that their arrests came as a complete surprise and that the search warrants were executed immediately. Unfortunately, nothing was known, or hadn't been when Vanessa left the office on Friday, about where either man worked. DC Aisha Gajani had stayed in Glasgow over the weekend, and she had agreed to do some digging, possibly informally assisted by Cam Ritchie, on Sunday.
But the arrests would not take place for nearly twenty-four hours. There was an awful lot to do before then.
*
Detective Chief Superintendent Esslemont's car was already in the underground car park when Vanessa arrived, and as she climbed the stairs to the CID floor, she saw DI Colin MacNee drive in. The place reserved for the Chief was unoccupied but, Vanessa thought, not for long. She had to talk to the DCS before they both got the inevitable summons to the Chief's presence.
As she walked towards her office, Esslemont came out of the lift carrying a coffee in a paper cup, and a bacon roll. He looked slightly sheepish, not something she had seen before.
'Left very early. The wife wasn't up to make my breakfast.' Vanessa's expression made him look even more sheepish. He knew his younger colleagues called him 'old school'. Maybe they were right. What he didn't know was that Vanessa's expression had as much to do with the taste of morning sickness as with distaste for his benighted sexism. 'We need to talk.'
'Oh, yes, sir. We do.'
*
'These guys don't seem to have any hinterland.' DS Sara Hamilton had just got back to Glasgow and Aisha Gajani was telling her what she had discovered about their suspects.
'Hinterland? Hinterland? What are you on about?'
'Sorry, Sarge. I had this sociology lecturer at uni who was always on about how "hinterland", the things in the background of people's lives, helps to explain their behaviour. Hadn't thought about it for years, but Cam took the same course and he reminded me...'
'Cam? I see...'
Aisha looked a little embarrassed. 'Anyway. We couldn't find any record, anywhere, of the Saltcoats MacIlwraith or Mathieson being employed anywhere, at least not recently. And they're not on benefits. The Carluke MacIlwraith is a primary school deputy head in Biggar, so we'll know where to look if he's our man. Which I doubt.'
'We need to know how they survive, but we can't risk poking about any more. The Boss is going to arrest them first thing tomorrow. We need to join the team mee
ting by video at two.'
*
‘Duncan Williamson dug up some interesting stuff about Fleming, sir. But before we get on to that. I need to talk to you about how I should report to DCC Ingram.’
‘And I need to talk to you about yesterday’s Banner. We should get our story straight before the Chief calls us in.’
‘Maybe we better do that first. His car wasn’t in the car park when I got here, but he’s usually in his office by eight.’
Esslemont looked at his watch. It was 0740. ‘So where did the story come from? Not here. Too much political detail. And we’ve stopped up our leak. Unless there’s another one.’
‘I spoke to Harry Conival last night and he’s pretty sure this was planted by somebody quite highly placed in Edinburgh. He wasn’t prepared to guess who, but he said that it was unlikely to be a minister, though maybe somebody close to ministers.’
By All Means (Fiske and MacNee Mysteries Book 2) Page 16