Autographs in the Rain

by Quintin Jardine

  'Come and meet him, once you've dropped her off. I don't relish watching

  what I think he's going to show us, so I wouldn't mind some company,

  Besides, another set of eyes might see something Mackenzie's and mine

  don't.'

  David Mackenzie leaned back in his chair and looked at Gwendoline Dell

  as she entered his office. 'Off the hook with the Super?' she asked.

  '; He wiped his hand across his forehead in a mock gesture. Thank God,'

  he said. 'Or thank Bob, at least.'

  'Good for you. Now are you going to tell me what landed you in it in the

  first place, and what you've been doing all week while I've been running

  myself ragged trying to find John McConnell's grandfather clock, not to

  mention his girlfriend?'

  'No,' the inspector replied, seriously. 'I won't expose you to it until I

  have to, and even then I'll think twice about it.'

  'Sexist pig!' she exclaimed. 'Don't you go treating me differently to a

  male officer.'

  'Don't worry; I'm not. I wouldn't let anyone see this stuff unless it was

  absolutely necessary.' He swung his chair round to face the computer which

  sat on a table beside his desk. 'Now bugger off, Gwennie, and don't come

  in unless I call you.'

  The sergeant turned and left, with a frown and a disdainful sniff.

  Mackenzie pressed the start-up button of the PC. He was waiting for it to

  boot up, when his phone rang. He picked it up. 'I thought I said no calls,'

  he told the switchboard operator.

  'This is one you said you would take, sir,' the man replied. 'Miss Mair.'

  The inspector's eyebrows rose; he smiled. Tut her through.

  'Miss Mair,' he said, heartily as the call was put through. 'Margaret.

  What can I do for you?'

  'Don't be familiar with me, young man. You can do nothing for me, I

  assure you. I, on the other hand

  260

  75

  'What time do you have to be on set tomorrow?' Neil asked too casually.

  'Why?' she smiled. 'Do you want rid of me, already?'

  'Not for one second. But the boss has got someone coming to see him

  and he's asked me if I can sit in on the meeting.'

  'In that case, my dear, you can drop me off any time you like.' Louise

  paused, as if she was considering something, touching her lips in one of the

  trademark gestures which were familiar to millions of movie fans around

  the world.

  She caught him looking at her, and clenched her fist quickly. 'I can't

  stop doing that,' she said, 'not even on camera. Catherine the Great, one

  LA hooker, a lady brain surgeon, several stressed-out housewives and now

  a Scots criminal lawyer have all had that same mannerism.'

  Til bet it suited them all too.'

  'It looked pretty daft on Catherine the Great, I have to say. In this case,

  though, it was masking a brilliant idea. Do you think that the kids would

  like to come on set tomorrow? We're shooting the big surprise ending, but

  if we put them on Scouts' honour, or Guide's honour or whatever it is these

  days, I'm sure they'll keep the secret till the movie comes out.'

  'Hey, could they do that? I've got this complicated arrangement for

  Spence, with the boss bringing him up town, and Mario ... That's my pal

  Mario McGuire. You haven't met him yet; he's head of Special Branch and

  his wife's a detective super... picking him up from Fettes and taking him

  to his mini-rugby at Murrayfield. But I'm sure that Lauren and Mark would

  love it. Wait a minute while I make a phone call.'

  He went into the hall, returning a few minutes later. 'Sorted. Sarah will

  take them to Parliament House for ten o'clock, then she'll leave the two

  younger ones with Alex and go shopping. You are one popular lady right

  now, I'll tell you. Never mind the kids; the greatest gift you can give a

  mother with five youngsters on her hands is an afternoon of freedom in

  Jenner's and John Lewis.'

  As he looked at her, he saw a peculiar expression cross her face. 'What?'

  he asked.

  'Oh nothing. You just walked over my grave, that's all.' She tapped her

  chest. 'Once upon a time,' she said, 'one of my most secret dreams was to

  be able to take pleasure myself from a gift like that; to leave the kids with

  someone, indulge myself, then go home in the knowledge that they, and

  their dad, would be waiting for me.

  'Long gone, that dream.'

  He took her in his arms and held her close, rubbing his face in her hair.

  There was much that he could have said to her, but not at that moment.

  Eventually she looked up at him. 'What about Christmas?' she asked

  quietly.

  'Yes. Come what may, suppose we catch this man tomorrow, the kids

  and I will come with you to Los Angeles. I'll book the flights tomorrow.'

  'No,' she said firmly. Til book them.'

  'Hey,' he protested. 'That isn't part of the deal.'

  'Yes it is. It's my Christmas present to you. It's more than that, in fact;

  it's a very inadequate thank you for all you've done for me, for all you're

  doing, for all you're giving me. So please me by saying not another word

  about the subject.' She stopped his reply with a kiss.

  'There's only one other thing I wish I could do for Christmas,' she

  murmured.

  'What's that?'

  'Give my dad his mind back. But all the money in the world won't do

  that. He's all alone now, there in his head. In every respect in fact. He has

  no friends any more. Most of them drifted away years ago; there was one

  old guy from his working days, but even he seems to have stopped coming

  around now.'

  She sat on the sofa, pulling him down beside her. 'My life's going to

  change in a lot of ways, love. One of them will be the amount of time I give

  to my father. Being back here for this movie, seeing him the other day as he

  was, made me realise how selfish I've been, and not only towards him.

  T thought I could discharge my obligations with money by paying for

  nursing care and such like. But in reality, I've just abandoned him, dumped

  him on my kid sister, made him her problem while I've gone on pinning

  gold stars on my CV. You know what's going to happen to me at New

  Year? They're going to make me a bloody CBE!

  'When they offered it to me, months ago now, I accepted because I thought

  262

  AUTOGRAPHS IN THE RAIN

  it would be nice for my father. Nice for him? They could be turning me into

  a giant carrot and he wouldn't notice the difference. Lucy was delighted

  for me, of course, but that didn't make me feel any better.

  'Things are going to be different. Dad's always resisted the idea of going

  into a nursing home. But he's a kind man and if he could still think straight

  he would accept that it's inevitable. So I'm going to make it happen. He'll

  be looked after in the best place I can find, and I'll be there to see him every

  week.'

  'And where will this place be?' Neil asked.

  'Close, love,' she whispered. 'As close by as I can find.'

  There's nothing positive yet, sir,' said Jack McGurk. 'I'm on observation

  here at the moors site, and co-ordinating. Mr Pringle is watching Lander's

  place, and Donovan, my DC on this job, is pa
rked at the Alvarez woman's

  house.

  'Half an hour ago she left Coldstream, heading north, then ten minutes

  ago, Lander left his house. Superintendent Pringle said I should call you to

  keep you advised.'

  'Good for Dan,' Andy Martin retorted. 'But what about Gates? Who's

  watching him?'

  'Gates is ours, sir, any time we want him. He owns the secret site, and he

  used the fish there to restock Sir Adrian Watson's farm. Even if we can't do

  him for theft and murder, there will be about twenty other things that the

  Crown Office can throw at him.'

  'Not good enough. At the very least, I'm going to charge every person at

  the scene with that girl's murder. We know where Lander and Alvarez were,

  but Gates is unaccounted for. I'm betting that he was there. I want him,

  Jack; I want to see him go down with a life sentence.'

  'I hear you, sir. I'll keep you in touch as things develop.'

  'No. Tell me once you have a resolution. Meantime, I'll call your

  divisional headquarters like Dan asked me to and have an armed response

  team put at your disposal. If you do have to go in there, there will be no

  chances taken with that rifle.

  'Are any of you three carrying?'

  'I am, sir. Donovan's not qualified, and Mr Pringle won't, not any more.'

  'In that case, should you have to go in there, you will lead. You know the

  procedure; clear warning given, then fire in response to a perceived threat.

  Take no risks with officers' lives. You know that there is an armed man on

  that site; I am ordering you to make the assumption that everyone there is

  carrying. I'm timing that order at eight twenty-seven Saturday morning,

  December the sixteenth. I'll back your judgement, all the way.'

  264

  au lUUKAfna n inc, r.ii

  'Very good, sir.' McGurk understood what he was being told. As he

  signed off the call, a cold chill of fear ran through him.

  He went back to the observation slit of the dugout on the moor, and

  watched the site for ten minutes more before the muted tone of his mobile

  rang out again. 'Jackie?' Dan Pringle. 'Yes sir.'

  'We've trailed them both to Sir Adrian Watson's estate; not to the fish

  farm, but up an access road to somewhere else. We're out of sight in a layby

  near the road end. We can't go any further; all we can do is wait here

  and hope like hell that there isn't another way out.'

  'Can you take them down there, sir?' the sergeant asked, hopefully.

  'They're bound to be meeting up with Gates.'

  'Not good enough, son. They could say they're all getting ready for a

  Ramblers' Association hike. We have to get them together on that site, or

  identify them there individually. Only then can we ... Haud on a minute!'

  The superintendent broke off.

  'Jack!' he resumed breathlessly, after a few seconds. 'Two tankers have

  just come out of that access road; Alvarez is driving one, and Lander the

  other. It's a pound to a pinch they're heading in your direction. We'll follow

  them, but well out of sight. I'm not going to blow this by having them spot

  us.

  'Is your armed team set up?'

  'They'll be on their way by now, sir.'

  'Right. Call divisional HQ and have them given precise instructions to

  proceed to your hide flat-out. But Jackie, it's touch and go who'll be there

  first. Whatever else happens, once those two trucks go into that compound,

  they do not come out. Understood?'

  ' Sir.' This time the chill of fear turned into a shiver which it took McGurk

  some time to control. He had never felt so alone. His heart was pounding as

  he peered through the slit, watching the site, waiting, listening for the sound

  of a police vehicle at the foot of the hill behind him, until, after God knew

  how long, two long white tanker vehicles appeared up the rough track, the

  first one blowing its horn as it approached, rousing the caretaker from his

  cabin, bringing him out to open the gate.

  He watched as the two vehicles drove into the compound, taking up

  position between the rows of tanks, among the six which were still full.

  And still, he was alone.

  'Where are you Dan?' he whispered, but it brought him no nearer. 'Oh

  shit.'

  He slipped backwards out of the hide and began to run, crouched, moving

  crab-wise round the side of the hill, trying to stay invisible to Lander, Alvarez

  and their warden. He could hear the tankers pumping as he moved, and

  hoped that they had no super-fast setting.

  At last he came to a small clump near the gate, and hid behind it, gathering

  his breath and his nerve.

  'This is it, Jack,' he said, drawing his pistol, the Walther with which he

  had always felt most comfortable on the firing range, the gun which he had

  never before drawn, far less used, for real. Switching off the safety, he

  launched himself from his hiding place and ran to the gate.

  Vrmed police officer!' he shouted at the top of his voice, but too late to

  stop the site-watcher, who had seen him as soon as he broke cover, from

  reaching his Portakabin and diving inside.

  The others still had their backs to him, watching their tankers as they

  sucked up the fish. 'Lander! Alvarez!' he shouted again. 'Armed police.

  Stop what you're doing and turn around with your hands raised.'

  Although she was further away, she heard him first; she turned as she

  was told, and he, seeing her, followed suit. His hands were still at his side

  as he walked towards the detective, with the woman behind him, as if she

  was trying to use him as a shield. 'I only see one of you, sergeant,' he

  called out. 'Don't you, Harry?'

  As he spoke, the minder stepped out of his shelter, rifle in his hands.

  'And Harry's got a bigger gun than you.'

  McGurk levelled the Walther. 'Drop it or I'll. . .' he shouted, but as he

  did, the man snapped his weapon to his shoulder and sighted it at him. He

  dropped to a crouch; and pulled the trigger. Not one, but three shots rang

  out.

  Even after the post-mortem and the official enquiry, Jack McGurk never

  knew, because he was never told and never asked, whether the man had

  died by his bullet, or that fired by the marksman from the armed response

  team, standing on the crest of the hill. But he did know how close he had

  come himself. For the rest of his life, a tiny crescent-shaped nick out of his

  left ear would always be there to remind him.

  The three of them - McGurk, Lander, Mercy Alvarez - stood, or

  crouched, frozen by the echoes of the gunfire, until a shout shattered the

  silence. 'You two! On the ground, now! Face down, hands on head.'

  The two fish farmer lovers did as they were told, instantly, lying there as

  Dan Pringle and DC Donovan marched past the sergeant, to frisk them

  266

  AUTOGRAPHS IN THE RAIN

  roughly and cuff their hands behind their back with plastic ties. Finally

  they were hauled to their feet.

  As the armed team swarmed into the compound, McGurk walked over

  to the dead man. 'Who was he?' he wondered.

  Dan Pringle came to stand beside him. 'I can tell you that. He used to

  work at Mellerkirk, until he got laid of
f after the first robbery. No wonder;

  Gates had another job for him.'

  'His name was Harry Conroy,' said Glenn Lander. 'He was Ray Anders'

  father. Ray's mother did a runner when he was a kid, and he and his sister

  were adopted by a family in Yorkshire. Ray traced his old man eventually,

  and came back up here to set up his business.'