Skinner's Festival

by Quintin Jardine

  'That’s short notice, boss.’

  'The fuckers who planted that bomb didn’t give us any notice at all!’ said Skinner, tersely.

  He sat silent in thought for a few seconds, then went on. 'Our team has to be tight. I want people I know and can trust – not too many of them, but enough. They’ve all got to be able to take sector responsibility, if they need to, for running a part of what will be, in total, a very big security operation. Naturally, Andy, you’re my second-in-command. As my personal assistant, Brian Mackie has to be in, too. And I’ll have Maggie Rose and Mario McGuire. They’ve been over the course with us already. They’re both tough and we know for sure they don’t get rattled.’

  'I thought you wanted them kept apart, because they’re going together off-duty.’

  'I’ve had second thoughts on that, but you’ll figure out why in a minute. I’ll call their divisional commanders and put them on temporary secondment. Then there’s those two outside, Neil and Barry. They’re in the know already, and they’re good guys, so we’ll have them too. You tell Jimmy Hodgson, the Crime Squad gaffer, that I’d like to borrow the boy Macgregor until further notice. Do it nicely, mind you. He’s his own boss in this place. I

  need someone through in the West, too. Although these lunatics say that it’s the Festival that’s under threat, you never know when this could turn into a cross-border affair.’

  'Who’ll you want over there?’ asked Martin.

  “Willie Haggerty. Who else?’

  'Haggerty? What about McKinstery? He’s Special Branch in Strathclyde.’

  'Not any more he isn’t. He’s out, and Haggerty’s in.’

  Martin’s eyebrows shot up. Skinner smiled at the surprise written on his face. 'You Special Branch guys aren’t allowed to get together as a group – in case you form your own secret police force – so there’s some excuse for you not to have noticed the changes that have been made lately.’

  'What d’you mean?’

  'I mean that you are now the only surviving Special Branch head who was in post during Hughie Fulton’s time. Since I took over, the commander in every other force has been posted

  elsewhere. It’s happened in stages, but it’s happened. McKinstery was the last to be moved.’

  'You’ve done all that?’ Martin’s voice rose in surprise.

  'Let’s say that I’ve persuaded all their Chief Constables that it was a good idea.’

  'But why?’

  'Remember when we had that carry-on last winter, and big Fulton seemed to know everything that we did?’

  Martin nodded.

  'At the time, you and I pinned some of the blame for that on Roy Thornton, up at the Court. As it happens we were right, but only up to a point, for there was a hell of a lot he didn’t know that Fulton still found out. I wondered at the time who the big bastard’s touts were, and it didn’t take me long to find out, once I took over his job. All your opposite numbers in Special Branch were feeding him stuff that even their own bosses – my equivalents – didn’t know. In short, they were all in his pocket.

  Alee Smith, your predecessor, was at it as well. When Sarah and I started seeing each other, he reported it to Fulton, and big Hughie had her vetted.’

  'How did you find that out?’

  'The stupid bastard kept a file on me. As soon as he quit, the locks on his office door were changed, and so he didn’t get the chance to destroy the file before he left. He’s in Ibiza now, retired.

  Be just as well for him if he stays there.’

  'Why didn’t he approach me when I took over?’

  'Take that as a compliment. He must have decided that you were incorruptible, as far as I was concerned. I guess that Alee Smith told him that. Actually, Alee did make one brief attempt to talk me into giving his job to someone else, but he changed horses when he saw my mind was made up, and he backed you instead.’

  'Who was the someone else?’

  'If I told you, it might prejudice your view of a perfectly good copper – who is, incidentally, in the uniformed branch now.’

  Skinner paused reflectively. 'Anyway, all Fulton’s boys are gone now. They’re either back in uniform, on promotion, or they’re retired.’

  Martin shook his head. 'But I liked Davie McKinstery. Alee, too for that matter.’

  'No need to stop loving them, Andy. The fact that they were Fulton’s touts didn’t make them bad people. He set the rules and got away with it, thanks to his reputation and his power. I don’t condemn anyone for not crossing him. Still, when I took over, I decided that I could never trust anybody who had previously reported to Fulton on that basis. Hence the complete and total clear-out.’ Skinner’s tone grew heavy. 'One thing stays the same, all the new guys talk to me regularly. The big difference is that none of them keeps secrets from or spies on his bosses in his home force. It’s an open system now – as far as it can be in our game.’

  Martin stared at the surface of his desk, his brow furrowed.

  'Christ, boss. I knew you had clout, but to clear the whole of Special Branch . . .’

  'Forget it, Andy. It’s history, and only the Chief Constables know that it’s happened. So, for this emergency, it’ll be Haggerty in the West, Bill Finlay in Aberdeen, and Peter Buxton in Dundee – as and when we need them.’

  He stood up and walked over to the window. 'There are two other people I’m going to include on our team. One’s a counter-terrorist specialist from the SAS: I guy I met when I was away at that seminar in Yorkshire last month. His name is Arrow, Captain Adam Arrow, and he’s got years in Ireland and other places under his belt.’

  He paused. Martin looked up at him.

  'Not another one of those guys. Bob, please?’

  Skinner smiled softly. 'No, son. There’ll never be another of them – anywhere. Not while I’m around, at least. Arrow’s a good guy. His speciality is counter-terrorism: IRA, UVF, it doesn’t matter to him. He loathes them all. He’s put a few active service men into early retirement, one way or another. Just recently, he was involved in sorting out something particularly nasty that the Loyalists were planning. Arrow knows something of what

  happened last winter – but not everything.’

  Andy Martin looked at Skinner, and held his eyes. An awkward silence hung in the room, until Martin broke it.

  'Bob, I’m your closest colleague, and you’ve never told even me the whole story of that night. You’ve changed since then, you know. I tell you this as a friend, that I’ve noticed a side to you that wasn’t there before. Just now and again, it’s as if you’re somewhere else, in a very scary place. Maybe only people who really know you can see it.’

  Skinner had his back to Martin as he replied. It was perhaps as well that the younger man could not see the expression in his grey eyes. 'Andy, I try not to let any of my thoughts show on the outside, but that was something of a night.’ Then, suddenly Skinner laughed out loud. 'And I’ve got a fucking great bullet hole in my leg to remind me!’

  The tension broken, Skinner quickly changed the subject.

  'Now, the last member of the team. I want to include Sarah. What d’you think? Can I have my own wife on my team?’

  Martin looked thoughtful for a second, then looked up and nodded. 'Yes, boss, I’m all for it. She knows how you think, and she’s got her Masters in criminal psychology, too. If she can help you, she’s helping us all. And since she’s still a part-time police surgeon, technically she’s an insider as well.’

  'Right, Andy,’ said Skinner emphatically. “That’s our team picked. Now let’s get it on the park. The game’s started and the other side’s a goal up already!’

  EIGHT

  From the privacy of his own office in the command suite. Skinner made six quick fire telephone calls. The first two were to the divisional detective superintendents at the Torphichen Street and St Leonards police stations, who were, respectively, the line officers Maggie Rose and Mario McGuire. He told them that each would be losing his best sergeant for an indefinite
period. He expected no questions or protests, and received none. The third

  call went to a private number.

  The phone was answered on the second ring, and a familiar deep voice sounded on the line. 'McGuire.’

  'Hi, Mario. ACC here. Are you alone, or is anyone I know there with you?’

  'Well as it happens, sir, DS Rose is watching a video in the living-room. Me? I’m in the kitchen as usual.’

  'In that case. Sergeant, I’ve got good news for you, and bad news for Maggie. You heard about this morning’s bang in Princes Street?’

  McGuire grunted assent.

  'Well, I’m setting up a unit to co-ordinate the search for the cowboys who did it. I want my best on it, so you two are in. Get yourselves down to Fettes right away, and meet me in the SB suite.’

  Next he dialled the mobile number of Detective Inspector Brian Mackie, his personal assistant. As Mackie answered. Skinner could hear the din of a crowd.

  'Where are you, Brian?’

  Tynecastle, sir. Kicked off five minutes ago. The Jam Tarts are one down already.’

  'So am I. Give the rest a miss and get into the office.’

  For his fifth call. Skinner switched to a green scrambled telephone on his desk. Seconds later he was connected to an MI5 duty officer. He identified himself, and asked the woman to call

  him back in confirmation. When she did so, he asked her to do everything necessary to have Captain Adam Arrow report to him personally at police headquarters in Edinburgh by 10:00 am the next morning.

  Finally, he called his own home number in Edinburgh. Sarah and he had just moved into a bungalow off Queensferry Street, even closer to Fettes Avenue than the flat in Stockbridge from which they had recently moved. He assumed that Sarah herself would answer his call, but he was wrong.

  'This is 957 0825. Alex Skinner speaking.’

  He smiled at the unexpected sound of his daughter’s voice.

  'Hi, kid. I thought you were rehearsing up to the last minute.’

  'No, Pops. Our director decided that we could only get worse, so he gave us the afternoon off, to rest up. Curtain goes up at 8:00 sharp. Will you be able to get to it, with all this bomb stuff and everything? Sarah told me about it. In fact will you get home at all this evening. Pops? There’s someone here I’d like you to meet. My new leading man, you might say.’

  'Don’t think so. Better postpone the introduction. But unless something else happens, I will make it tonight. So you be good, and if you can’t be good, just be sensational. Now put your

  stepmother on, okay.’

  'I think she’s in the shower. No, I lie. Just a sec. Sarah! It’s your old man!’

  Moments later, he heard Sarah’s soft New York drawl. 'Hello, honey, where are you?’

  'At HQ. Did you get everything cleaned up at your end?’

  'Eventually. No other serious casualties. That poor girl looked in worse shape than actually she was. A bad scalp cut; lots of blood – most of it ended up on me. God, was I a mess. I’ve just done washing it off. Next I’ll have to wash the shower-curtain. It looks like that scene from Psycho. When will you be home?’

  'Not for a bit yet. But, that’s not why I’ve called. Look, I want you up here now. I’m putting a team together and I want you on it. I need somebody with your sort of expertise, so why not you?’

  'Well. . .’ she tried, but failed, to sound matter-of-fact. 'See you in twenty minutes.’

  NINE

  Detective Inspector Brian Mackie had found that getting out of a football ground just after kick-off can be more difficult than gaming entry. Having been forced earlier to park his car a mile from Tynecastle Stadium, he found himself the last to join the team in the Special Branch suite. As he arrived, apologetically, the clock on the wall was just approaching 4:00 pm.

  Nevertheless, Skinner greeted him with a smile. 'Hello, Brian. We were beginning to think you’d hung on there for the pies and the Bovril. Hearts were 3-1 up at half-time, in case you hadn’t heard.’

  'I always had faith in them, boss.’

  'God knows why. OK, grab a seat and let’s get on with it.’

  Skinner walked over to a pin-board fixed to the wall. 'Most of you will know each other, I think. But, Maggie, Mario, have you met Barry Macgregor here?’ The two sergeants nodded towards the detective constable who, at twenty-four, was the youngest of the group by several years. Maggie Rose gave him a friendly smile.

  'Mind you, even if you hadn’t met him, you’d have marked him out, nae bother, as Crime Squad just by the hairdo.’ Macgregor’s mousy-blond hair was shoulder-length. It was pulled back into a pony-tail, and some of it was braided and ringed with white beads.

  The young man grinned, shaking his head vigorously from side to side to make the beads rattle.

  'All of you know Dr Sarah Grace, from various crime scenes and elsewhere. Be in no doubt that, although she’s my wife, Sarah’s here now as Dr Grace, police surgeon, criminal psychologist and fully fledged member of the team. If she slips up, she’ll get bollocked just like any of the rest of you. For me,’ he said with a sudden broad grin, 'the downside is that if I slip up myself, she’ll let me know – in her own special way.’

  Then the smile left Skinner’s face. 'That’s the last laugh you’ll get from me for a while. We’ve been brought together here – and it’s a reunion for all of us but you, Barry – by a very nasty incident which took place this morning. For those of you who’ve only heard the news reports, I’ll tell you now what we’re dealing with – as far as we know. An explosion took place in a hospitality marquee on top of Waverley Market at around midday today. It could be that it was meant to go off at 12:00 noon exactly. There was one fatality, an unfortunate lad named Danny Baker, who was too close to the seat of the blast to have stood a chance. His next-of-kin have been told. Apart from the boy Baker, there were no serious casualties, although around twenty people wound up in the Royal with shock or minor injuries. I’ve just told the Press Office to issue a statement that we are investigating the possibility that the explosion was caused by a faulty gas bottle.’

  He paused for a moment. “This may shock you good people, but that is an out-and-out lie. “Gammy” Legge, the bomb expert, has just confirmed that it was caused by approximately one pound of Semtex. He believes that the explosive was hidden in a metal tool-box, on account of some bits of scorched shrapnel dug out of the poor lad Baker and three other casualties. That fact makes it very clear that we must take very seriously the contents of this

  letter which was delivered to the Secretary of State at St Andrews House shortly after the explosion.’

  He went from person to person, handing each a photocopied sheet. 'Read it, note the details, then each of you make sure you shred your copy before you leave this room. No copies other than mine must be taken out of this building. The original is currently at the forensics lab. Although the lads there will take until this time tomorrow to prove it, I am quite certain that it, and the envelope in which it was delivered, will yield no fingerprints other than those of a couple of security guards, the Secretary of State, DCI Martin and me. They will also tell us that it was originated on a word-processor using a common software package – WordPerfect or some such – and printed on a laser or bubble-jet job with no distinguishing features. In other words, the sort of kit that thousands of punters buy across the counter at Dixons every

  year.

  'However, I could be wrong. You never know, the scientists might find a set of dabs that’ll let us wrap this business up by tomorrow night. If that happens, I will personally treat you all to

  a fine steak dinner – but don’t set your taste buds going in anticipation! Mr Martin has made sure that neither the existence nor the content of that letter will be mentioned in the press, radio or television, for the meantime at least. That will piss off our friends no end, but I don’t expect any further action from them within the next twenty-four hours.’

  Mackie raised a hand. 'You said “our friends�
��, sir. Couldn’t it be just one bloke? Couldn’t this letter be a con?’

  'It could be – but it isn’t. First, it’d be a very resourceful individual who could lay hands on a pound of Semtex unaided.

  Second, at least one person, and maybe two, had the Secretary of State’s residence under observation after that letter was delivered, reporting on arrivals and departures to someone on the other end of a mobile telephone. This is clearly a terrorist group and, to my mind, a very determined one.’

  Martin, at the back of the group, opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it tight as Skinner froze him with a warning look. Only Sarah noticed this silent exchange.

  Skinner continued with barely a pause. 'Because of that, I want every one of you – except Dr Grace, of course – to be armed at all times during this investigation. You’ll have SB arms and

  ammo, issued under Mr Martin’s authority. You won’t need to hand them in at the end of each shift. Each of you draw them from Brian Mackie at the end of this briefing.’

  Martin had already taken his own gun, under Skinner’s authorising signature. He carried it slung in a shoulder-holster inside his baggy leather jacket. Skinner had not drawn a weapon,

  for reasons which he had kept to himself.

  'I hardly need to say that this is only a precautionary measure. I don’t want any Cowboys and Indians out on our streets. But in the unlikely event, and all that, I want you able to respond in any way you need to. Whether they meant it this time or not, these characters have shown that they’re prepared to kill. That means you have to be ready to drop them, if it comes to it. Anyone got a problem with that?’

  He glanced in the direction of Barry Macgregor. The young man understood the reason. Unsmiling this time, he shook his head so slightly that his beads made not a sound.