Skinner's ghosts bs-7

by Quintin Jardine

  He crumpled the tabloid in his hands, twisting it in his fury and tearing it to pieces. Throwing it into a corner, he turned to his daughter, putting his hands on her shoulders and looking her in the eye. 'I am so sorry, my love, that you and Andy have been mixed up in this. It's not right, it's not fair, and it's al down to me.'

  She looked at him solemnly 'Dad,' she began, 'I've only got one thing to say to you.'

  He waited, looking at her anxiously. 'Go on.'

  'If the Spotlights done nothing else, it's proved to the world that you've got a nice bum for a forty-six-year-old.' She smiled at him, suddenly and brightly, and hugged him. 'Pops, if you think for one second that I won't stand by you in this…

  'You, Sarah, and Pam, you're al grown-up people. Just do what's best for my wee brother, that's al I ask. But I know you wil.'

  Bob heaved a great sigh of relief. He turned to Andy Martin, who was smiling also.

  'Right, people,' he barked. 'What am I going to do about this?'

  Martin answered him at once.' We, Bob. What are we going to do?

  I for one am going to have that little bastard Salmon arrested and charged with breach of the peace. I reckon we might be able to make that stick, on the basis of that bedroom shot.'

  'I'd love to let you, Andy,' Skinner replied. 'You know that. I'd love to use all my power to have this little man broken like a butterfly on a wheel. For Pam's sake, I'd like personal y to knock ten bells out of him in a quiet room somewhere.

  'But none of that is going to happen.' He turned to his daughter.

  'Alex, right now, you get on the phone to the chairman of this new law firm of yours, my footbal -daft chum in North Berwick. I know you're only a raw new apprentice there, but in this you're acting for me. I want an opinion from him on whether we can go to court to secure an injunction stopping publication of this crap. If it's possible, do it.

  'If he says it isn't, I want him to issue through the firm a statement on my behalf saying that my relationship with Miss Masters is an entirely private matter, setting out the legal position between Sarah and me, and saying – if he thinks that we have a case – that writs for defamation wil be issued on Monday morning by both Pamela and by me.

  'Any press statement from me should issue through your firm, not the force. Got all that?'

  Alex nodded. 'I've got Mr Laidlaw's number too. I was given a list of senior partners' contact numbers. I'll cal him now from the bedroom.' She rushed off to make the cal.

  Skinner turned back to Royston. 'Alan, I should crucify you for letting Salmon back into Fettes against my orders, but I'm not going to. For the Chief's sake, you need to be back on the job now: and anyway, I was only going to chew you out on Monday, nothing worse.

  'Unless an injunction sticks, Sir James wil be asked tonight for a response to the story. He'll need your objective guidance and support.

  I want you to come with me now, to see him. I have to tell him about this, personally. Once I've done that, I'l withdraw so that he can't be accused of acting under pressure from me.'

  Royston nodded. 'I agree with al of that, sir. But there's someone else involved. What about Pam?'

  Skinner could see his anxiety. 'Look, Alan,' he said. 'I know that you and she were close once, but don't worry. I'll look out for her in this.'

  He turned away from the press officer, took out his mobile, and 36 K.

  dialled Pamela Masters' number. She answered, sounding hesitant and a little afraid.

  'Listen love,' said Bob, 'to what I have to say. We've got a media problem, and it could be messy. Stay where you are for now. Don't answer the phone, and don't answer the door until I get there. I'l give four quick buzzes so you know it's me.

  'Before then I have to see the Chief, and I have to go to back Fairyhouse Avenue.'

  'Why do you have to go there?' Her tone was one of bewilderment.

  'Because I have to phone Sarah, and it just seems right to me that I do it from there.'

  'Bob. This problem involves me, yes?' She sounded completely scared now.

  'I'm afraid so, honey. You and I wil be al over the scandal sheets tomorrow, thanks to a wee man with a grudge. But don't you worry: things are under control, and hopeful y we can nip it in the bud.

  'I'll be with you as soon as I can.' He ended the cal just as Alex reappeared in the doorway.

  'Dad,' she said. 'I've got Mr Laidlaw on the line. He wants to speak with you.' Skinner nodded and followed his daughter through to the flat's main bedroom. The telephone was lying off its cradle on a bedside table. He sat down and picked it up. 'Mitch, hello. Sorry to break into your Saturday evening, but this fucking scandal sheet's left me no option.'

  Skinner had known Mitchell Laidlaw socially for twenty years, as a fellow member of an informal group who gathered together on Thursday evening in North Berwick Sports Centre to play enthusiastic, if largely unskilled, indoor five-a-side football. However this was the first time the two had ever spoken on a professional footing.

  Laidlaw's career had paralleled that of Skinner, as he had risen through the legal ranks to become Scotland's leading litigation solicitor, and finally, head of its largest law firm, Curie, Anthony and Jarvis, which Alex had joined a month earlier on leaving university.

  ' So I gather from your daughter, Bob.' Skinner was struck at once by his friend's tone. There was no hint of the normal Thursday-evening banter. Mitch Laidlaw sounded solemn and totally professional.

  'Alex has read the article to me, and described the photographs. I admit that charging the people involved with breach of the peace is a nice idea, but even if the Sheriff convicted, he'd be overturned at appeal for sure, and your force would be open to an action for malicious prosecution. So you were right to veto that.

  'As for an injunction, I'm afraid that we just don't have time to injunct successful y. By the time we had drafted it, and rounded up a judge, the article would be in the hands of the broadcast media, and I suspect in the hands of the Spotlights sister publications.'

  Skinner growled. 'You mean there are more of these damn things?'

  'Oh yes. This isn't the first time I've had to deal with this magazine on behalf of angry clients. There's an American version, one in Australasia, and issues in French, German, Spanish and Japanese.

  The chain is US-owned, and each version is marketed purely through supermarkets, at checkouts and at in-house newsstands.'

  'Okay, if we can't stop them, can we sue the bastards?'

  On the other end of the line, he heard Laidlaw take a deep breath.

  'Can I ask a very delicate question, Bob?'

  'If you have to.'

  'I do. Are you completely confident of Miss Masters' integrity?'

  'One hundred per cent,' the policeman replied without hesitation.

  'Good. In that case, I'd say that she has a very strong case in an action for defamation. The paper implies beyond challenge that her relationship with you is motivated by a hope of personal advantage.

  Tell me Bob, what was the sequence of events here? How did the relationship – which Alex says you don't deny – how did it develop?'

  Skinner reflected for a few moments. 'Let's see. The first time I ever met Pam was when I chaired a promotion board for prospective sergeants. It was a twenty-minute interview and she passed unanimously.

  'A few months later, my Executive Assistant was promoted and I was looking for a successor. I remembered Pam, interviewed her and gave her the job. My marriage was in trouble before that. In fact her appointment virtual y coincided with my moving out.

  'We worked together well and amicably for a while. We had a few late shifts, which led to a few meals together. I realised early on that I was attracted to her, but our physical relationship didn't develop until after Sarah had taken our son to the States. We spent two nights under the same roof, once at her place when I was snowed in, and once in Gul ane. But we didn't actual y sleep together until my separation from Sarah had been legal y recognised. I can give you dates later,
Mitch, but that's the sequence of events.'

  'That's good,' said the lawyer. 'Now what about Miss Masters' post as your assistant?'

  'As soon as I saw how things would develop, I moved her out of my office. I transferred her to Andy Martin's personal staff, and took Sergeant Neil Mcllhenney as her replacement.'

  'Ah!' said Laidlaw. 'So because you and she were entering a physical relationship, Miss Masters actually lost her important, fast-track job as your Executive Officer?'

  'Absolutely.'

  'Then al she has to do to pursue a defamation action is to decide on the quantum of the claim. That is, how much the accusation that she was prepared to sell herself for advancement is worth to her, or 38 at least how much a court is likely to think it worth.'

  'What do you think?'

  'Hmm.' Mitch Laidlaw contemplated. 'She has good career prospects, yes?'

  'Yes. She was a late entrant, but she can expect to make Chief Inspector, as a minimum.'

  'Well in that case, I think they'd settle out of court for at least a hundred and fifty thou. Maybe two hundred. Plus costs, of course.'

  The solicitor paused again. 'She'll need to instruct me personally if she wants to proceed, but that can be done tomorrow.

  'Now. About your own case. That's not so clear-cut, I'm afraid.'

  'Why not?' Skinner protested.

  'For a couple of reasons. First, you are a very senior officer. Even if Miss Masters sues successful y, the defence against an action by you could be that you used your position, a glamorous and powerful position, to turn the lady's head, or to pul her, if you want a Thursday-night term. Second, you may be separated legal y, but you are stil married.'

  'Hold on, Mitch,' Skinner protested. 'The article says that Sarah went to the States on holiday and that I've been having it off behind her back.'

  'No, Bob. You read it that way, but it didn't actual y say so. The phrase used was "staying in the US with her parents". In any event, their defence would be that an action for adultery would succeed, and if one was lodged and decree granted before your case reached the Court of Session we wouldn't have a chance.

  'To sum up, if you instruct me I'll lodge a writ for defamation on Monday, but with no great expectation of success. In that case, any short-term benefit which may accrue to you would be lost when you were forced to drop your action and meet defence costs.'

  The big policeman sighed. 'So what do you recommend?'

  'I wil issue a statement on your behalf, saying that your relationship with Miss Masters is private and personal, with no professional overtones, and that it began after you and your wife entered a formal separation agreement. I wil say also that I have advised you of the potential for an action for defamation, and that you wil consult with me on Monday to determine the course of proceedings.

  'That'l put the Spotlight thing into some sort of perspective, and it'll make the rest of the media think carefully about carrying on the story.'

  Skinner grunted agreement. 'Okay. I know I couldn't be in better hands, Mitch. So you do as you advise. How wil you go about it?'

  'I'll give the statement to our marketing officer, and tell her to issue it in an hour. We'l say that you have nothing to add to the statement, but you'd better make sure anyway that your force press 39 people are briefed to refer to us all callers who come on looking for you or Pamela. If Alex has my home number, she'll have the marketing lady's as well.'

  'Okay,' said Skinner. 'I'll alert everyone. Look, thanks again Mitch.

  We'l speak on Monday.'

  'Earlier if necessary,' said Laidlaw. 'Incidentally, Bob,' he added.

  'I'm very impressed with that daughter of yours. We haven't allocated her to a department as yet, so I think I'll take her into mine.'

  Skinner smiled across at Alex, who stood by the window, watching him. 'Be careful about that, mate. She could wind up ruling your life too.'

  12

  'My goodness, Bob, what a position to find yourself in. Mind you, I have to say – as I'm sure no-one else will have – that you've only got yourself to blame.'

  'What for. Jimmy? Not pul ing the bedroom curtains?'

  Skinner and the Chief Constable were alone in the Proud sitting room. Lady Proud, at her husband's suggestion, had taken Alan Royston to the kitchen, to make coffee. The DCC had watched his commander's face grow increasingly red as he had studied the Spotlight exclusive.

  'Don't be flip with me, man. You have to know that public figures are always in the spotlight… no pun intended.'

  The big detective growled. 'But not to that extent, surely.'

  'Obviously they are, Bob,' said the Chief, waving the newspaper.

  'Much as I regret it, this sort of media behaviour is still legal in this, and in most free countries. However much I might deprecate this man Salmon and his rag, you were there for him to see, and to photograph.

  'I have nothing against Sergeant Masters, Bob, but I am very fond of Sarah, as you know, and I am heart sorry to think of her on the other end of this situation.'

  'So am I, Jimmy, but at least I've got time to warn her.'

  'Confession rather than warning, I think,' said Proud, sadly now.

  'Tell me, Bob, why? What did you see in this lass?'

  Skinner sat in one of the Chief's big armchairs. 'Have you ever been lonely, Jimmy?' he asked, then continued, without waiting for an answer. 'Well I have. For about fifteen years, after Myra was killed, I had this big, cold streak inside me. I brought up my daughter, I did my job as hard and as best I could, I socialised with the lads. But always it was there – that big, cold lump that set me apart from the rest.

  'I know now what it was. It's cal ed bereavement, and all widowed people carry it around inside them. Some have faith that helps them to handle it, that even lets them draw strength from it. But I lost my wife young, and I never came to terms with the fact. At least not until Sarah came along. When I met her, that coldness began to disappear, until at last, it was gone altogether, and I was really happy again, after half a lifetime.'

  He leaned back in the chair. 'Then, out of the blue, it seemed, things went pear-shaped between the two of us, very suddenly and completely unexpectedly. I'd just assumed that we'd be happy ever after.

  'It doesn't matter whose fault it was, whether I was wrong or whether she was, or whether, as is most likely, we both were. We had just lost the way. We were broken asunder. And with that, and no doubt with my uncovering the circumstances ofMyra's death as well, that big, cold beast of bereavement was back with me.'

  He looked up at Proud. 'Loneliness is the only thing in life that really scares me. Jimmy. The prospect of it makes me crazy.

  'Fortuitous or whatever, Pam was there for me when I needed her most, to help me fight off my fear. I believe that everything I've done since then has been proper, except that I chose to be secretive about it. I should have told my family, I should have come clean with Sarah when I saw her in May, and I should have taken you into my confidence.

  'For al of that, I apologise to you.' He stopped.

  'First time in my life I've ever had to say that to you, and it'll be the last. Like Pam said to me, it's a bugger when you discover you ain't the person you thought you were.'

  The gruff old Chief Constable stood over him. 'Apology accepted, son,' he said, and sat down, facing Skinner. 'Don't be too hard on yourself.

  'Now' he muttered, grimly, 'what are we going to do about this bloody man Salmon?'

  'That's the point at which I have to leave you to make your own decisions, sir. If nothing else, I have caused embarrassment to the force. It's for you to determine your course of action without input from me. That's why I've brought Royston with me.

  'He'll brief you on the questions that are likely to come up, and advise you on the shape of your responses. The content is up to you.

  If you want to suspend me forthwith, I'l respect that and make no public reaction myself.'

  'Hah!' the Chief roared. 'Suspend you! Do you think I'd let
a wipearse like Salmon, and his paper, deprive this city of its finest police officer? I'm going to stand by you, just as you've always stood by everyone under your command.'

  The silver-haired Sir James paused, and his expression became serious once more. 'There is one thing, though, of which we should both be conscious. We have a new government in power, elected on the crest of a wave of concern about probity in public life. Its party members are in the ruling majority on the Joint Police Board.

  'The one area in this job where I'm still ahead of you, Bob, is in the politics of it. For you they don't exist, but believe me, they do.

  I can hold the Chair of the Board in line, but some of the members, as you've seen for yourself, are unpredictable. A few are downright anti-polis! We even know of a couple with criminal records.'

  Proud rose, walked over to Skinner and laid a hand on his shoulder.

  'I have friends in the Scottish media that even you don't know about.

  Most of the press won't run with this story. Unless, that is, the Board gives them no option. I'll do my best on that score, I promise.

  'Now, let's see what advice Master Royston has to give me.'

  13

  There was a long silence at the other end of the line. 'Let me get this straight,' said Sarah at last, her New York tones more drawn-out than ever. 'You're telling me that you're having an affair, and that because of it, our lives, our child, and the state of our marriage are going to be all over the gutter press.'

  'I can't soften it, love,' said Bob. 'That's what's happened.'

  'This woman, the Pamela creature. Were you screwing her before you visited with Jazz and me in May?'

  'Yes. I'm sorry: I should have told you back then.'

  A snort bounced off the satellite, and crossed the Atlantic. 'Oh no you shouldn't! With my folks around, while you were under their roof! That would not have been the time to tell me I'd been traded in for a younger model.'

  'Pam's older, actually,' said Bob, automatically, cursing himself at once. 'Oh darlin', I'm sorry. Listen it's not like that. My world was upside-down at the time. I'm not making excuses, but it just happened.'