‘True. The answer is that as much as possible I plan to live in my own house. I will have a driver and I plan to use him.’
‘That’s in Gullane?’
‘Sure. Where . . .’ He halted in mid-sentence. ‘Ah, you thought I might stay in Aileen’s flat.’
‘Well, yes.’
‘That won’t be happening. It will become apparent soon, if only because we’re both public figures, that she and I are no longer together.’
Payne was silent for a few seconds, as they resumed their climb. ‘I see,’ he murmured. ‘I’m sorry to hear that. So that’s why you weren’t with her at the concert.’
‘That was part of the reason. Anyway, it’s not public knowledge yet, although I came close to making it so in my press briefing, when that bloody News person wound me up. It is something I’ll have to deal with, and soon, but not right now. Once we’ve both calmed down, we may issue a joint statement, but we’re both too hot to discuss that just now.
‘So,’ he continued, ‘Gullane is where you’ll reach me most of the time. When I have to stay here I’ll use a hotel; Hanlon’s already said he’ll pick up the tab for that . . . without me even asking, would you believe.’
They reached the top of the stairway; Payne turned left, and headed along a corridor that was blocked by a glass doorway, with a keypad. He opened it with four digits and led the way into a complex with more than a dozen rooms around a small central open space, with four chairs surrounding a low table, on which magazines were piled.
‘This is it, Chief, your new command suite. Your office is facing us.’
Skinner stared ahead. ‘It’s got glass walls,’ he exclaimed.
‘Relax,’ his aide said, noting his indignation. ‘There are internal blinds between the panels. I’m told that Chief Constable Field kept them open all the time.’
‘That will change; they’ll be closed permanently. I never did like people watching me think.’
‘There’s a bathroom and a changing room as well. They have solid walls,’ he added.
‘Just as well, or I’d be going back to Jock Govan’s old suite. Do I have a secretary?’
‘Of course, but she isn’t here today. I called her and told her what was happening, about you, and your appointment. I didn’t want her finding out from the telly. She offered to come in, but I told her not to.’
‘What’s her name?’
‘Marina Deschamps.’
‘Mmm,’ Skinner murmured, then he blinked. ‘Deschamps, you said? Wasn’t that Toni’s birth name?’
Payne nodded. ‘Yes. It’s her sister; the chief brought her with her. She insisted on it, apparently, before she accepted the job.’
‘Eh? The bloody Human Resources director didn’t think to tell me that last night.’ He frowned. ‘What about the mother? Are we flying her up here?’
‘The Met took care of that. They got her on to the first Glasgow flight this morning.’
‘I wish to hell they’d left her down there.’ He sighed. ‘I know I have to pay her a courtesy call, but I’ll leave that until tomorrow. Meantime, the sister should be regarded as on compassionate leave. Does she have a contract of employment?’
‘I don’t know for sure, Chief, but I’d imagine so.’
‘She’s a civilian, yes?’
‘Yes.’
‘Okay. Tell the Human Resources director that her contract will be honoured. If she wants to stay here in another capacity, she can. If she wants to leave, then she may do so at once, but she’ll be paid as if she’d worked a full notice period, whatever that is. Then tell him to find me a replacement, pronto, someone with full security clearance, mainly to manage my mail and yours.’
They had been walking as they talked, and reached Skinner’s new office as he finished issuing his orders. The door was locked, but Payne took a ring with three keys from his trouser pocket and handed it over. ‘I had the lock changed,’ he said. ‘Easier than searching through Ms Field’s things and getting Marina’s back from her.’
‘Good thinking.’ He detached a key from the ring, used it to unlock the door, then handed it to the DCI. ‘Yours,’ he said then stepped inside. As he did so he felt a sudden and unexpected shiver run through him. ‘Weird,’ he murmured. ‘I have never imagined doing this, not once.’
He looked around. The room was larger than the one he had left in Edinburgh, but furnished in much the same way. His desk was on the left, facing a round meeting table, with six chairs that slid underneath it. Beyond, there was another door; he could see through the unscreened glass wall that it led into another office.
He pointed towards it. ‘Secretary’s room?’
‘Yes,’ his aide replied.
‘Where are you going to go?’
‘I hadn’t given that any thought.’
‘Where’s the deputy’s office?’
‘That’s the one beyond the secretary’s.’
‘Then use that. It’s vacant.’
‘Okay, Chief, thanks.’ Payne walked behind the desk and opened a door behind it. ‘Your personal rooms are through here,’ he said. ‘There’s a safe in the changing room, but apparently nobody knows the combination, unless Marina does. I’ll ask her. If she doesn’t I’ll . . .’ He smiled. ‘Actually I’m not sure what I’ll do.’
‘Too bad Johnny Ramensky’s dead,’ Skinner chuckled.
‘Yeah: the last of the legendary safecrackers. As for the rest,’ the DCI continued, ‘all of Ms Field’s things have been removed, from the changing room and the bathroom, and everything from the desk as well, that wasn’t office-related. Her business diary is still there, so you can see what she had in her schedule. There are also some files. I had a look at them, a very quick look, and then closed them up again. They seem to contain her observations on her senior colleagues.’
‘Then take them away and shred them,’ Skinner instructed him. ‘I don’t want to know about her prejudices and her grudges.’ He grinned. ‘I prefer to develop my own. What’s the general view of Michael Thomas?’ he asked. ‘You can be frank, don’t worry.’
‘Unfavourable,’ Payne replied, without a pause for thought. ‘I knew him as a constable, way back, after I’d made sergeant. He was “Three bags full” then, before he started to climb. Much later I was stationed in his division for a while when he was a chief super. He virtually ignored me. He has a reputation for efficiency, but also for being a cold fish. He was a big supporter of Toni Field, at least he kissed her arse regularly enough.’
‘I know that from ACPOS. He was her regular seconder in the debate on unification. What about Bridie Gorman?’
‘Now she is well liked. She spends a lot of time out of the office, in the outlying areas of the force. I think that suited her, and suited Chief Constable Field as well, for they were complete opposites, as cops and as people.’ Payne scratched his chin. ‘Obviously I don’t know what perceptions were outside Strathclyde, but the view in here was that Field planned to get rid of every chief officer apart from ACC Thomas. She’d already axed the deputy, and it was common knowledge that Mr Allan was next.’
Skinner nodded. ‘Yes, I could tell that at ACPOS too. She didn’t even try to be civil to him. Any word on him, by the way?’
‘Yes, I checked. He’s still in hospital, suffering from what they’re now describing as shock. They’re going to keep him in for a couple of days. I don’t know how he’ll feel about coming back.’
‘Then see if you can find out for me. Go and visit him, this evening if you can. Max is only a few months off the usual retirement age. If he’s up to talking about it, tell him that if he’d like to come back, I’ll be happy to see him, but if he doesn’t, I’ll sign him off for enough sick leave to take him up to his due date.’
‘Yes, Chief; I was planning to go and see him anyway. He’s always been good to me.’
‘Fine. Now who’s here, in the building now?’
‘ACC Thomas is. He said he’d be in his office, and that he’d like to see you as soon
as possible. And ACC Gorman’s in as well. She came down from Argyll overnight.’
‘Does she want to see me too?’
‘No, she said to tell you she was about if you needed her, that’s all.’
Skinner smiled. ‘Okay then, let’s talk to her; I can spare a few minutes before I have to see Lottie. Ask her to drop in, then give Mr Thomas my apologies, tell him that I’ll fit him in tomorrow morning, and that he’s free to salvage what’s left of his Sunday.’
As Payne left, he walked over to the desk, tried the swivel chair for height, and found, as he had expected, that it was set far too low. He stayed in it for only a few seconds, then pushed himself out. There was something not right about it, something that made his spine tingle. He knew what it was without any deep analysis. Less than forty-eight hours before, Toni Field had been sitting in it, and at that very moment she was lying in a refrigerated drawer in one of the city’s morgues, unless she was being autopsied by Sarah’s opposite number in the west.
He knew that he would never feel comfortable in her old seat, and so he wheeled it over to the secretary’s office, and left it in there with a note saying, ‘Replace, please,’ scribbled on a sheet torn from a pad.
He had just stepped back into his own room when he heard a knock on the door. ‘Come in,’ he called.
‘I can’t,’ a female voice shouted back. ‘This door self-locks. It can only be opened with a key or from the inside.’
He stepped across and admitted his visitor. ACC Bridget Gorman was in civvies, light tan trousers and a check shirt. ‘Afternoon, Chief,’ she said. Her manner was tentative, not that of the Bridie Gorman he knew.
‘Hey, Bridie, last week at ACPOS it was Bob,’ he told her. ‘It still is, okay? Come in and have a seat.’ He showed her across to the table and pulled out two of the chairs.
She glanced across to the desk, taking in the missing swivel but saying nothing. ‘Wouldn’t be right,’ he replied to her unspoken question. ‘I feel bad enough being here.’
Gorman frowned, and her forehead all but disappeared behind a mop of black but grey-streaked hair. ‘I know,’ she murmured. ‘It’s just awful. And it could have been Aileen.’
‘No,’ he said. ‘I don’t believe it could, and neither does DI Mann.’ He explained why.
She nodded. ‘Yes, I can see that. Somebody like them, they’d know exactly who they were shooting, I suppose. But why? Why Toni Field?’
‘They didn’t need to know that.’
‘But they’d know who wanted it done.’
‘Not all the way up the chain, not necessarily.’
‘Do you think it was related to something here?’
‘Come on, Bridie,’ Skinner murmured, ‘you know the rule: speculation hinders investigation.’
‘Aye, I suppose I do. Did you say that Lottie Mann’s involved?’
‘She was on duty; she took the shout.’
‘Granted, but . . . Lottie can be like a runaway train. Max Allan was always careful how she was deployed.’
‘I know that,’ he conceded. ‘But last night was chaos. The hall was full of headless chickens, but she turned up and took charge, even put me in my place. I liked that. It means she’s my kind of cop. What’s her back story? She said she has a family, but that’s all I know about her.’
‘That’s right,’ she confirmed, ‘she has. Her husband used to be a cop too. His name’s Scott, as I recall. I’ve got no idea what the wee boy’s called.’
‘Used to be, you say?’
‘Yes. He left the force a few years back. No, that’s a euphemism; he was encouraged to resign. He had a drink problem and eventually it couldn’t be tolerated any more. The job probably didn’t help, for he seems to have got himself together after he left it. The last I heard he was working in security in a big cash and carry warehouse out near Easterhouse.’ She smiled. ‘There’s a story about Lottie and an interdivisional boxing night . . .’
‘I’ve heard it. Max Allan told me.’
‘Aye but did he tell you the name of the cop she flattened? It was Scott; that was how they met.’
Skinner laughed, softly. ‘There’s a love story for you. Somebody should make the movie.’
‘Fine, but who would you get to play Lottie?’
‘That would be a problem, I concede. Gerard Butler in drag, maybe.’ A name suggested itself. ‘Joey Morocco?’
‘Mr Glasgow? Our movie flavour of the month? He looks good, granted, but I wonder sometimes if there’s any real substance to him. I’m pretty sure I’d back Lottie against him over ten rounds.’
‘Maybe I’ll make that match,’ the chief murmured. ‘It would fill Ibrox Stadium. Bridie,’ he said, his tone changing, ‘I know you’re as surprised to see me here as I am to be here.’
She contradicted him. ‘No, I’m not. What happened, happened. I think they’ve done the right thing. This force always needs a strong hand; Max is too old, I don’t have the experience in the rank, and neither does Michael, whatever he might think.’ She frowned, concern in her eyes. ‘How is Max, by the way?’
‘He’s okay, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll be back. But whether he is or not . . . I have to get some hierarchy in place here. That means I need to appoint a temporary deputy chief. Even if Max was here, I’d want that to be you. Are you up for it?’
She was silent for a few seconds. ‘How can I say no?’ she asked when she was ready. ‘But what are you going to tell Thomas?’
‘I don’t plan to explain myself, if that’s what you mean, Bridie. The Police Authority gave me the power to designate my deputy, and you are it.’
She smiled, and said, ‘This might sound daft, Bob, but . . . what will I have to do as deputy?’
He returned her awkward grin and replied, ‘To be honest, I don’t know yet, not in any detail, because I don’t know yet what the demands of the job will be on me. Mind you, they have just cast doubt on my plans to go to my house in Spain in a couple of weeks’ time, something I’ll have to break to my children. Holidays might prove to be out of the question.’
‘Aw, what a shame,’ she exclaimed, like a kindly aunt. ‘The poor wee souls.’
‘It might not be a complete disaster. I’ll ask their mother if she can clear some time to take them instead.’ He sighed. ‘As for your question, all I can say is that you’ll deputise for me whenever it’s necessary.’
‘I’d better go and practise looking important then,’ the ACC chuckled. ‘Was there anything else for now?’
‘No. My usual practice is to have a morning session with my senior colleagues. I’ll probably carry that on here; Lowell Payne will advise everybody. He’s going to be my aide while I’m settling in here, maybe for longer.’
‘Good,’ she declared. ‘I like Lowell. He tends to fly below the radar; that may be why he hasn’t risen higher.’
‘I don’t think he’s bothered about that. I know him well, from outside the force, and I’m glad to have him alongside me.’ He stood. She thought he was indicating the end of the meeting and was in the act of rising, but he waved to her to stay seated.
‘I’m just about to call Lottie up here, to give me an update on her investigation. You stay here and sit in; belt and braces. Christ, after what happened to Toni, none of us can be sure we’re going to see tomorrow.’
Ten
‘I could get to like this,’ Aileen said. ‘Bob’s garden in Gullane is nice too, but it overlooks the beach. He refuses to plant trees to give it a bit of privacy; says he likes the view.’ She picked up her glass from the wrought-iron table. ‘Well he’s bloody welcome to it!’
Don’t get to like it too much, Joey Morocco thought. He had been on the astonished side of surprised when Aileen had called him the night before, almost raving about being imprisoned by her husband and seeking sanctuary for a day or two, but they had enjoyed regular liaisons a few years before, and the occasional fling since.
Their history together had been enough to overcome his caution about ta
king another man’s wife under his roof, even when the man was as formidable as Bob Skinner was said to be.
Nonetheless, when she had defined their renewed relationship, ‘just fun, convenient uncomplicated nookie, no more than that’, he had been relieved. He was bound for Los Angeles in a few days, for the film project that was going to make him, he knew, and the last thing he wanted was a heavy-duty woman in Scotland with her claws in him.
‘Are you sure that’s really what you want?’ he asked. ‘To end your marriage?’
‘Bloody certain,’ she replied. ‘I don’t actually know what drew me to him in the first place.’ She grinned. ‘No, that’s not true, I do. I wanted to find out if he matched up to the waves he was giving out. Very few do, in my limited experience.’
‘Did he?’
‘At first, yes. Then I made the mistake of marrying him. It all got mediocre after that, but I suppose that’s life. I’ll learn from it, though; once is enough.’
He smiled.
‘And you’re relieved to hear that, I know,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry, Joey. My career is all planned out, and it doesn’t take me within six thousand miles of where you’re going.’ She looked around the suntrap garden once more. ‘But this is nice. I like it here; it suits me. I’m guessing that when you go to the US, you won’t be back here very often, so if you need a tenant, let me know.’
‘I will,’ he promised. ‘The way my commitments are, I won’t be back for at least a year, so that might work. You’d be a house-sitter, though, not a tenant.’
‘No,’ she declared. ‘It would have to be formal. I couldn’t be seen as your bidey-in, even though you were never here.’
He shrugged. ‘Whatever,’ he murmured, hoping secretly that it would all be forgotten by the next morning. ‘Want another drink?’ he asked.
Aileen pressed her glass to her chest. ‘No, I’m fine,’ she said. ‘I’m not a big afternoon drinker . . . or evening, come to that. You’ve seen me in action before. You know I can’t handle it.’
‘True,’ he conceded. ‘If you’re sure . . . I think I’ll get another beer, if you don’t mind.’
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