In the Cage Where Your Saviours Hide

by Malcolm Mackay

  Gallowglass laughed at him. ‘You think a guy like you can lay a glove on a man like Folan Corey? Get your head out of your arse, kid, Corey’s running rings around you and you don’t even know it.’

  ‘You’re living in the past and you don’t have a future without my help.’

  Gallowglass looked past him to Moira and said, ‘You’ve blundered again, up to your armpits in shite. You should go call Corey right now, tell him you’re sorry and that you’ll do what he tells you.’

  Darian said, ‘Shut up, she’s not calling Corey. You’ve broken in and committed an assault on me. Do you really want to have to sit in a police station and explain that? Even if Corey gets you out, it still neuters you, makes you useless to him. He can’t have one of his little dancing monkeys on the police radar, he knows that. The only thing you’ll be able to do for him then is be his patsy.’

  He ignored Darian again and said, ‘Go call Corey.’

  Darian turned to Moira and said, ‘Can you wait in the kitchen? I’ll come and get you when we’re done here.’

  Moira looked at Gallowglass and at Darian before she walked out of the room and left them to it. With that distraction removed, Darian felt he could make some progress. ‘You need to tell me everything. Tell me what Corey’s had you doing for him.’

  ‘You don’t need to lean over me, kid, I’ll talk to you.’

  ‘Talk the truth, and all of it. I bet there are a bunch of cops who would love to charge you with something if I called them up right now.’

  ‘Oh please, you think I haven’t heard every half-arsed threat under the sun? I’m the one who’s usually delivering them, so don’t try to scare me with that crap. You’re just some wee kid who thinks he can be a superhero without the cape. Let me tell you, junior, you can only save people who want to be saved and that isn’t me and it isn’t most people in this shithole city. People won’t take you seriously either, not with your father worse than Corey. You can’t throw a punch at him.’

  ‘I can get other people to throw the punches for me, just like he does. He’s got his little failed projects, the cops he took under his wing and didn’t train properly, didn’t protect.’

  ‘Ha, aye, very good. That your clever wee attempt to turn me against him, is it? Pretend that everything I did wrong was actually his fault, that you sympathise with me? Very good.’

  ‘So you’re happy working as muscle for Corey?’

  ‘It isn’t like that, I don’t just go round intimidating third-rate crooks like your new best pal Armstrong. I do all sorts of important things, for Corey, for Challaid.’

  ‘For Challaid? You don’t really think this is your civic duty?’

  ‘Take the piss all you want but you said to tell the truth and I’m telling it. I’ve stopped more crime since I left the police than I ever did when I was a cop, and that’s not a word of a lie. Not all justice comes from authority. Not all good is done by the decent.’

  ‘Stopping more crime than you did as a cop is not a high bar given that you’ve always committed more than you prevented.’

  ‘Not true, son of a killer, not true. You said the truth so you got to stick to it, too. I did my fair share of heavy lifting when I was a copper; my record was worth pinning to the wall. But, see, since I’ve left, that’s when I’ve been able to go after some really bad eggs, exercising crime prevention that’s done more for this city than you’ll do in your self-absorbed little life.’

  ‘So Corey has you operating as part of his own private police force. Does he pay you for your work, or is it all out of the goodness of your bloated heart?’

  ‘I’m not doing charity work. I’m good, but I still got to eat.’

  ‘So he pays you by stealing large sums of money from people like Moira Slight because he thinks a crook like her can’t complain.’

  ‘Nah, nah, that’s not what this is. Corey isn’t Robin Hood. The little I get paid he doesn’t need to rob the rich for. This is something totally different.’

  ‘So tell me all the gory details.’

  ‘Well, if anyone’s going to be telling gory details it’ll be me.’

  A new voice from the doorway behind Darian. He spun round to see Corey standing there looking amused, MacDuff behind him looking like he’d rather be anywhere else in this world or the next. Darian looked down at Gallowglass again, at the smile that told him it was three against one and the circle Corey was running round him had just formed a noose.

  THE CHALLAID GAZETTE AND ADVERTISER

  23 July 1950

  HERO WITH HIS OWN STREET

  World heavyweight champion boxer Cliamain Craig was in Cnocaid on Friday morning for his final public appearance before his title fight against German challenger Lothar Eisenberg on Saturday night at Challaid Park stadium. He attended the unveiling of a new street name for a development near the waterfront in Cnocaid that will now be called Cliamain Craig Square. Mr Craig was full of smiles and seemed relaxed as he pulled the curtain aside to reveal the street sign in his honour. Mr Craig said, ‘I’m thrilled to receive such an honour from my home city. It means the world to me to be recognised in this way.’

  There had been speculation about the city council recognising its most famous son since Mr Craig won the world title in London almost eighteen months ago, although it had been expected that any honour would be in Whisper Hill, the area of the city Mr Craig hails from. Nonetheless he was in fine mood ahead of what many are saying will be the biggest fight of his life, and the undefeated champion, with a record of forty-eight wins (thirty-eight by knockout), no draws and no defeats, was buoyant.

  When asked about the sell-out crowd of over 60,000 for his fight on Saturday evening Mr Craig was quick to praise the fans, saying, ‘I can’t wait to fight in front of so many people, and in my home city. I want to thank all of the fans who have bought tickets and who plan to come along and cheer me on.’ Indeed, the fight will provide the largest crowd Mr Craig has ever fought in front of, and the largest ever for a sporting event in the city that isn’t football or camanachd. It’s thought many of the fans will be travelling from the east of the city and people are reminded that trains will be extremely busy in the hours before and following the fight, which is scheduled to start at 8 p.m.

  Mr Craig’s trainer, Mr George Lyall, was in confident mood ahead of the fight, declaring that his fighter has never been in better shape. ‘We respect the German, he’s a fine fighter, but Cliamain has been working hard to ensure that he’s in the best possible shape to defend his title in front of his home crowd. We’re confident about the fight ahead.’ There was much cheer in the gathered crowd and among the dignitaries present as the towering figure of the world champion told the crowd he would knock out his opponent during the fight.

  The street named in his honour is currently being developed by Glendan, and is a picturesque cul-de-sac with family housing and a small square at the end of it. It’s expected that families will begin moving into the houses by September and all of the houses on Cliamain Craig Square will be occupied by the end of the year.

  DISPUTE OVER DOCKING COSTS

  Fears have been raised that an increase in the cost of docking ships at the south docks in Bank will lead to all docking in the future being carried out in Whisper Hill, and the end of centuries of tradition in Challaid. A spokesman for Murdoch Shipping, who own several warehouses on the Bank docks, said, ‘Docking charges have been rising steeply every year, but only at Bank. Ten per cent increases every year are pushing companies north to the new docks, where prices have been frozen in each of the last four years.’ Fears have been rising since Duff Shipping began to dock all its ships in Whisper Hill two years ago.

  It’s thought there has been shipping of some sort using Bank for almost a thousand years, with some arguing the culture of the city is being irrevocably changed by the move – P12.

  41

  DARIAN STOOD AND looked at the two detectives, but he didn’t say a word, not until he had some idea of how hot a fire he h
ad stepped into. Three to one were odds he couldn’t beat, but he didn’t yet know the price of losing. He needed to find out what had brought Corey there so damn quickly.

  Gallowglass, sitting comfortably back in the chair now, said, ‘I told her to phone, and I bloody well knew she would.’

  Darian’s face fell and Corey chuckled. The detective said, ‘Well, you’re half-right, which is still half more than young Mr Ross here. My dear friend Moira texted me much earlier and told me Darian was waiting for you with open arms. She called me again as we were heading here to tell me Mr Ross was in the corridor and about to bop you on the head. I told her that, if she got the chance, she should intervene on your behalf.’

  Gallowglass rubbed his head and said, ‘Yeah, well, I don’t think much of her aim.’

  ‘Ah, never mind, you were taking one for the team. You see, Moira was sitting here all evening in the company of the noble Mr Ross and decided she didn’t want him here anymore, but he wouldn’t leave. That was when she asked me to send a friend round to remove him but when that friend entered the house, with her permission, he was attacked by Mr Ross. A terrible set of events.’

  Gallowglass said, ‘Don’t see why she had to clobber me in the process.’

  ‘A temptation too great to resist, I’m sure.’

  Darian said, ‘How you don’t choke on the shit you’re so full of I don’t know.’

  Corey laughed. ‘Oh, Darian, Darian, no need for insults, we’re all friends here. This isn’t about me beating you, it’s never about that, never. It’s about the job, doing it properly, making sure the people of Challaid are protected from corruption in all its many forms, and making sure the bad guys are hobbled. You’re young; you don’t understand that the best way to do my job is not always the way it’s portrayed on television by heroic but quirky detectives. I mean, you’re not going to learn much working alongside Sholto Douglas, God love the man. I want tonight to be a valuable lesson for you, but here isn’t the place to teach it, in another person’s house. Come on, the four of us will go for a drive.’

  Corey stood in the doorway with an arm extended out into the corridor where Darian had thought he’d won this fight. Gallowglass got up from the chair and stood in place, making sure Darian was thoroughly surrounded. MacDuff, who hadn’t spoken a word yet, led him out through the front door and down the path.

  As they went through the gate Corey said, ‘We’ll all go in my car, just for this wee trip.’

  Corey was enjoying himself, and the casual tone of his voice suggested he was well used to the pleasure of such victories. As MacDuff held the back door of the car open for him and he dropped in, Darian cursed both Corey and himself. It was humiliating to think of how that old crook viewed him, the daft kid grasping out for heroism he never had a chance of catching, sickening to realise that Corey didn’t fear him at all.

  Gallowglass sat on the back seat beside him and MacDuff drove, the city rushing past. Corey was in the passenger seat, looking back over his shoulder at Darian. He said, ‘So what part of my fair city are you from, Darian?’

  ‘Cnocaid.’

  ‘Cnocaid, of course. You’ll have grown up in a good neighbourhood, not far from here, not far from the station where your old man worked. I remember him, you know, I worked with him. A nice, middle-class family, comfortable. Your parents probably hoped you’d become a doctor or a lawyer, something like that. Mind you, I didn’t know your mother. Maybe she was the artsy-fartsy type, hoped you’d be a playwright or a poet. Was that her type?’

  Darian sat in silence, knowing there was no answer that mattered when Corey just wanted to hear the sound of his own voice.

  ‘Oh, come on now, don’t be like that, sitting there in a big huff and blanking me. You had a grand plan to bring me crashing down and I went and spoiled it for you so now you’re pouting. Well, Mr Ross, I’m afraid your plan was doomed to failure from the start, and it was doomed because of the simple fact that I am a far more honest cop than you have ever given me credit for.’

  They were driving north, still in Cnocaid, taking a route direct enough to suggest the driver was aiming for somewhere in particular.

  Darian said, ‘You can lean on me all you like, it won’t change anything. You can get your gullible gorilla here to knock me about, but you know you can’t overreach. If you killed me there would be hell to pay.’

  ‘Kill you? Bloody hell, lad, you need to cut back on that sort of talk; it’s making you sound awfully stupid, and you didn’t sound blindingly bright to begin with. Nobody respects that sort of melodrama outside of a Greek play. I can put my hand on the holy bible and say that I have never killed another man, have never tried to kill another man and have never asked anyone else to kill another man. I know you want to think the very worst of me and the best of yourself, but you need to get it out of your head that I’m the devil in a Debenhams suit and that all the world’s morality emanates from your good self.’

  Darian decided to revert back to silence. They were driving along Cliamain Craig Square, the square itself gone now, the area redeveloped and turned into a cul-de-sac of half-empty business units. No one much remembers the life of the man it was named after, just his death and the aftermath. At this time of night there were no lights and no people. MacDuff pulled the car over to the side of the road and Corey got out. He opened Darian’s door and nodded for him to follow.

  Corey said, ‘We’ll go for a wee walk.’

  He led Darian down between two buildings, along the damp grass, Gallowglass a short distance behind and MacDuff staying at the car. It wasn’t quite a long walk in the woods, but it was designed to feel that way.

  As they moved up a slope Corey said, ‘You think I was there to try to extort money out of Moira Slight, don’t you? I bet that’s what she told you, the old she-devil, and because you’re so desperate to believe I’m the big bad wolf you accepted every word without question, even though questioning should be your instinct. I’m disappointed in you, very disappointed, but I suppose I shouldn’t expect anything better when you’re learning from your father the killer, your brother the thug and Sholto the coward. The reason I was there tonight is a reason you actually agree with me on.’

  ‘Is that right?’

  They reached the top of the rise at the back of the buildings and stopped. The view looked down on the loch, the lights of the city around it and of the boats on it.

  Corey said, ‘I love this area. It’s worth reminding yourself now and again that there’s beauty in this city, even if you have to go looking to find it. Now, I’m about to agree with you so you should savour the moment in picturesque surroundings. I don’t believe that Randle Cummins killed Moses Guerra, I don’t think the half of a wit he has left is strong enough for the job, so I continue to look for the person who did the deed, a person that will be easier to find when they think I’ve stopped the search. My investigations in that direction led me to the doorstep of my long-time acquaintance, Moira Slight.’

  ‘You thought Moira was involved?’

  ‘I thought, indeed still think, that Moira may have a good idea of who was involved, even if she wasn’t in the middle of it herself. I’ve known she was handling dodgy accounts for a while, it’s why I always kept close to her, a hell of a potential informant for the anti-corruption unit, and she has proven useful several times. Now, Moira’s been chatty enough in the past, throwing others overboard to protect her place on the gravy boat, but she wouldn’t tell me a thing about her work with Guerra and she got downright evasive after a while. So I’ve been leaning on her to loosen her lips, give me a few details about Guerra’s recent business activities, and then you came stumbling into the picture like a frightened rhino, armed with nothing but your righteous hatred of my good self. You’ve probably done me a favour, mind you, turning up and rattling her the way you did. She thinks she can handle me because she knows me, but you’re new and new is dangerous. I have a better chance of getting the truth out of her now.’

  ‘Happy
to have helped.’

  ‘Ah, degenerated to sarcasm now, Darian, a new low. My point is that you and I are chasing the same shadows on the Guerra killing but the difference is that I actually have a net in which to catch the person responsible. You, on the other hand, would be doing yourself a considerable favour if you stopped getting under my feet every day of the bloody week.’

  ‘A threat? What sort of low is that?’

  ‘There you go with your exaggerating again. That was hardly a threat and pretending it was is the sort of childishness that gets a young man a reputation as unreliable. This is me generously trying to teach you, seeing as you’ve only been learning at the feet of failures so far in your life. You’re very lucky I’ve taken an interest in your future, so I’m willing to impart all this wisdom.’

  ‘I feel lucky.’

  Corey chuckled and shook his head. He turned on the spot and said, ‘You can take a walk back to your car; I’m sure a young lad like yourself will enjoy the exercise on a fine night like tonight.’

  Corey walked away from him, Gallowglass ten yards behind, falling in beside his former boss, and they made their way back to MacDuff at the car. Darian gave them a few minutes before he started his walk. Letting them get clear, taking in the view and calming down.

  42

  AS HE WENT into the office the following morning, Sholto said to him, ‘I hope she was worth it.’

  ‘Eh?’

  ‘Whoever left you looking as knackered as you do. If it wasn’t some buxom beauty then you had a waste of a night.’

  Darian decided not to ask who the hell used the word buxom anymore and just said, ‘Good one.’

  ‘All my jokes are good ones, you just don’t listen close enough to realise. I’ll assume it was Maeve Campbell and I’ll delay my lecture on the subject of that woman if you tell me you’ve made progress with the Murdoch case.’

  ‘The warehouses? Not unless you consider ongoing confirmation of their legality progress. There’s nothing to see there, Sholto, and I’m not going to make stuff up.’