Fatal Transaction: A DCI MacBain Scottish Crime Thriller

by Oliver Davies

  My heart lifted slightly, and I glanced at Fletcher briefly to see that she was also eagerly awaiting Dunnel’s next words.

  “So I’ll let you run with this plan. But,” Dunnel held up a finger just as I opened my mouth, and I quickly subsided, “I reserve the right to pull the plug at any moment if I think things are about to go south, and I will be part of the team that goes to the concert.”

  “That seems fair, sir,” I said, relief flooding through me that we’d gotten his okay.

  “Pick the rest of your team, compile an official report on the plan, and get it to me ASAP,” Dunnel ordered. “You haven’t much time on this one.”

  “Will do,” I promised as I stood, Fletcher following suit a second later. “We’ll get right on that.”

  Dunnel nodded and looked back to his computer while Fletcher and I skedaddled out of his office before he could suddenly change his mind. I shut the door behind us, the latch engaging with a soft click, and then I let out a huge sigh as I met Fletcher’s eyes, and she wiped imaginary sweat off her brow in agreement.

  We hurried to our desks, and I moved my stack of reports into a drawer to make space to work, digging around until I found a blank piece of paper and a pen. I sketched out a rough drawing of the theatre’s layout, making each door with an X. I drew little squares for the booths and circled one of the ones at the back.

  “Okay, so we may not be able to control which booth Alec and Carmichael get, but let’s pretend it’s this one for now,” I said. “We’ve got three entrances to cover. I figure we just need one person in the back alley since it will most likely be locked, then we’ll want at least one person on the emergency exit and two on the front entrance.”

  “We’ll be on the floor itself, I assume,” Fletcher said, taking the pencil from my hand so she could draw us in as little stick figures. She gave me a grumpy expression while her avatar smiled cheerfully. I scowled at her, but that just seemed to amuse her and prove her point. “So we need at least four people for backup, including Dunnel.”

  “Let’s make it five just to be safe,” I decided.

  “Why don’t we bring in the same people we used for the Holden takedown?” Fletcher suggested. “We know what they’re capable of, and we know they’re all good under pressure. I’m pretty sure most of them have a light caseload at the moment.”

  “Good idea,” I agreed. “We can put DS Homes on the back door.” I began to draw more stick figures across the makeshift blueprint, filling in their faces with initials rather than actual features. “We can stick Reid and Falkner at the front entrance and Elker on the emergency door. Ideally, we’d pair him with Dunnel, but I expect Dunnel will want to be inside with us.”

  Fletcher spun toward her computer and opened up a fresh email to ask our proposed team to come to our desks to talk about being part of the operation.

  “Are we asking them to engage with Carmichael if the opportunity presents itself, or are they there strictly to be our eyes on the street?” she asked.

  “I wouldn’t tell them not to try to nab him if he flees and comes toward them,” I said. “But we need them to keep as low a profile as possible, so we don’t spook him. We know he’s got a team, but who’s saying that he’ll bring them all with him. Either way, having the extra numbers will certainly work to our advantage.”

  Fletcher sent off her email, and I knew it wouldn’t be long until we had everyone gathered around our desks, since everyone we worked with tended to check their email rather religiously. Fletcher and I started to debate about how long we should let Alec talk with Carmichael, but we didn’t get very far before the four members of our proposed team appeared before us, each one of them dragging a chair over so they could sit down.

  “So you’ve got a job for us?” Samuel Elker asked. He was another inspector, although his short, burly physique made him look more like a boxer than anything else. His nose had been broken at least twice while on the job, giving it a perpetually squashed look that made him seem constantly angry, though he was actually one of the nicest guys I knew.

  “Yes,” I began. “You all know about the bank robbery case we’re on?”

  The whole group nodded. The station was small enough that everyone knew about every case, and we all tried to help each other out where we could.

  “Well, we’ve got a plan to take them down, and we need backup,” I said. “We were hoping you’d help us out.”

  “What’s the plan?” DI Rosa Reid asked. She was the oldest of the group, a few streaks of grey in her otherwise blonde hair, and she was about as level headed as they came, even if she had a tendency to stick to the book.

  I pushed the rough drawing across the desk so everyone could see it. “We’re luring Carmichael to a concert the day after tomorrow. He’s already agreed to show up and speak with our plant. We need people on the doors to track him as he comes in and keep eyes on him if he tries to escape.”

  The four other inspectors and sergeants leaned forward so they could take a closer look at the diagram, brows furrowed in concentration.

  “Where will you be?” DS Falkner asked as he pushed his dark brown curls away from his forehead. Two of his fingers were in a splint from an incident with a mugger last week, but they didn’t seem to be bothering him.

  “Floating around the concert,” I answered.

  “Has Carmichael seen you yet?” the last member of our team, Homes, asked. She was younger than everyone else, having only been a sergeant for just over a year, and although she appeared to be in a constant state of anxiety, unable to sit still, her face always disconcerted, I knew she was just as solid as the rest of them.

  “Unfortunately, yes,” I admitted, glancing over at Fletcher. “He’s seen both of us.”

  “We got into a brawl with him the other day,” Fletcher added. “So I’d say he got a pretty good look at both our faces.”

  “How are you going to keep him from recognising you then?” Homes wondered, and the others nodded along in agreement with her question.

  “We’ll have to be careful,” I said. “We’ll make sure we’re not dressed like police, and we can wear hats, too. Sunglasses would be better, but those would just make us more noticeable inside a dim theatre.”

  “We could bring dates,” Fletcher suggested. “And then split up. We’ll be less recognisable if we’re not together.”

  That would be a great idea if Rayla hadn’t just asked me if we could take a break. Fletcher seemed to remember that fact a split second after she finished speaking because her face contorted, and she winced.

  “Sorry, Callum. I forgot,” she said. Homes and Reid glanced at each other, no doubt wondering what was up in my love life. The two of them had started a romance book club, and they also loved poking their noses into other people’s relationships.

  “I’ll talk to Rayla,” I said, shaking myself slightly. “Maybe she’ll agree. If not, I’ll figure something else out. What about you? I thought you weren’t really dating right now.”

  Fletcher waved my concern away and winked. “Like it’s hard for me to find a date.”

  I laughed and rolled my eyes, then switched my attention back to the assembled team.

  “Dunnel will be a part of the team as well,” I told them. “Ideally, we’d put him on door duty as well, but I’m assuming he’ll want to be on the floor with us. He’s reserved the right to pull the plug at any time, so we need to make sure that we do this as cleanly and stealthily as possible. We can’t let Carmichael make us until it’s time to move in on him. Is that clear?”

  “Crystal,” Reid said.

  “Who is Carmichael meeting with?” Elker asked. “Do you have someone else going undercover or what?”

  The others looked at me expectantly, waiting for the answers. Of course, they’d noticed that I’d conveniently left that detail out.

  “That part is a little more complicated,” I began slowly, trying to buy myself time to decide just how much I was going to reveal about Alec. “Let’s call h
im a confidential informant. Fletcher and I have been working with him on the case. He used to know Carmichael, which is the only reason the man agreed to a meeting. I’ll point him out to you on the day, so you know to steer clear of him, but I don’t want you interfering with him in any way, okay?”

  Falkner and Reid both looked a little sceptical, and they no doubt hated that I was so vague about this, but I knew they’d understand that there were some things you simply had to play close to the chest. It was the nature of the job. So the two of them nodded, giving me their okay, and the other two went along with it as well.

  “Do you have a picture of Carmichael for us?” Falkner asked. “So we know who we’re looking for?”

  “We’ll need to check with Martin to see if he’s found us an actual photograph,” I said. “Otherwise, we’ll work with the sketch artist to get you an image. He’s got two other people on his team, but I don’t know if he’ll bring all of them to this meeting. We’ll make sure you know what they look like, too.”

  “This isn’t just about a bank robbery,” Fletcher reminded the group. “One of these people killed Barney Crane, the bank manager. We’re pretty sure it was an accident, but that may just make these people more dangerous. They could lash out unexpectedly if they feel cornered or threatened, and we don’t want anyone else getting hurt. It would probably be better to take them outside the theatre, away from all the civilians, but if we have to go after them inside, then we need to be careful and keep them isolated.”

  “I’d rather get this done without any sort of fight,” I agreed. “But that’s probably not going to happen, so we need to be careful. We also need to make sure we can figure out where he’s stashed the money since he’s not likely to bring it with him. Our informant might get that out of him, but we’ll still want to be sure we’ve got the leverage to drag it out of Carmichael or one of his employees.”

  “It sounds like a solid plan,” Elker said. “I can’t speak for everyone else, but I’m in.”

  A chorus of murmured ‘ayes’ ran around the group, and I nodded appreciatively, glad that we’d gotten everyone on board.

  “Glad to hear it,” I said. “We’ll get those sketches to you tomorrow and check back in on the day of the concert, alright?”

  The team agreed with that and then stood as a unit, shuffling away from my desk to get back to their own work. Fletcher and I watched them go for a moment, and then I opened up a document to write out everything we’d just discussed so I could send it to Dunnel.

  “So, how long are we willing to let Alec talk to Carmichael for?” Fletcher asked me as I worked. “He’s already said he won’t wear a wire, and I’m almost inclined to agree with him on that. We don’t want Carmichael searching him and finding it. But how will we know what’s going on between them? I feel like we’re putting a lot of trust in Alec, and I don’t entirely know that he’s earned it.”

  “We need to give him a little time to gain Carmichael’s trust and learn where the money is,” I said. “Carmichael’s not going to want to tell us that after we arrest him. Maybe we can have Alec keep an open phone line to us, or we just bully him into wearing a wire. But I do agree that the wire’s a risk.” I paused, fingers still clattering across the keyboard, trying to think. “If one of us were going undercover, we’d get Carmichael to take us back to the money or set up a secondary drop, but Dunnel’s not going to let us do that with Alec, so we need this wrapped up while we’re at the concert, ideally.”

  “Yeah, Dunnel’s definitely not going to let Alec go anywhere with Carmichael,” Fletcher snorted. “But the longer we wait to move in, the stronger the chance that Carmichael will spot us.”

  “I say we give Alec a half hour before we move in,” I decided. “That seems like enough time. Any longer, and Carmichael might grow suspicious.”

  “That sounds like a plan to me,” Fletcher agreed.

  I added the details we’d just discussed to my report and sent it to Dunnel for his approval. I was pretty sure it was solid enough for him, but I had to admit that there were some variables there that I didn’t like, such as Alec’s refusal to wear a wire. We’d have to do something about that when we spoke with him next.

  “I think we’ve done what we can for today,” I said as I leaned back in my chair and rested my hands on my stomach. “Tomorrow, we’ll check in with Martin. Maybe he’s got something for us that we can use to stay in contact with Alec without putting a wire on him.”

  “And we can work with the sketch artist,” Fletcher added.

  I nodded. “We’ve already scoped out the theatre, and I think we should stay away from there until the concert. We don’t know if Carmichael will do his own study of the place, and we don’t want him seeing us until it's time to make the arrest.”

  “Makes sense,” Fletcher agreed. “Do you want to grab dinner tonight?”

  “I would, but I need to talk to Reilly,” I said. I took out my phone and found two more missed calls from him, though he hadn’t left another voicemail. “Did you know my mum asked him to come spy on me?”

  Fletcher had just brought a water bottle to her lips, and she choked on the sip she’d taken, spraying droplets across her desk. She wiped her mouth as she set the bottle down, then raised her eyebrows.

  “What? Really?”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. “Yep.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’ve been ‘acting weird,’” I parroted. “And she thought I’d be more likely to talk to him than to her.”

  “That’s… a little bit messed up,” Fletcher said.

  “I confronted her about it when I brought the Kraken to her place,” I explained. “I told her everything that’s been happening. Now I just need to decide how much I’m going to tell Reilly.”

  “I could come along if you wanted,” Fletcher suggested. “Moral support and all that.”

  “Thanks, but I think it’s better if I do this alone,” I said as I gave her a small, somewhat tired smile. “I don’t think I’m going to tell him everything, and he might find it odd that you’re there and guess that I’m leaving something out.”

  Fletcher nodded and clapped me on the shoulder. “Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow then. I’ve got to go find myself a date for the concert.”

  I grinned. “Good luck with that.”

  Fletcher winked and shot finger guns my way. She was totally convinced she’d be able to find a date in such a small amount of time, and I had no doubt that she was right about that. She was a catch, after all.

  Fletcher left first while I finished up a couple of odds and ends on my computer. Dunnel shot me a reply to my report, though it was terse and merely reminded me that he was more than willing to shut us down at the first sign of trouble, as if I wasn’t already well aware of that fact.

  Thirty minutes later, I shut down my computer and stood up, slinging my overcoat across my shoulders. I called Reilly as I walked for the door, my stride swift and purposeful. He picked up after four rings, relief evident in his voice as he answered.

  “Callum. I was worried you wouldn’t call.”

  “We should talk, Reilly. Meet me at Gellions Bar in half an hour.”

  Sixteen

  It wasn’t long before I was pulling up outside Gellions Bar, barely able to squeeze into a tight parking spot on the street, wedging my car in between two others, though as I stepped onto the kerb, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d be able to get out of the spot at the end of the night unless one of the other cars moved.

  I’d been to the Gellions a couple of times before, and it was actually the place where I’d first met Lena Taggert, hanging around after her band’s performance to speak with her about Finn Wair’s kidnapping. I’d spent several nights there after that case had wrapped up, hoping she would show up again, but she never did, and tonight, as I walked through the doors, I found that old dream kindling to life inside my stomach, even though I knew it was foolish and just about impossible.

  And sure eno
ugh, she was nowhere to be found as I looked around the pub. It looked like it was a session night, a ring of musicians sitting together in the corner and chatting until someone decided it was time to launch into the next tune. A low hubbub filled the pub as the rest of the patrons drank at the dark wooden tables and leather booths, their faces mostly lit by candlelight, the overhead bulbs dim and barely there.

  Reilly was already seated at the bar, a glass of whisky before him, although he didn’t seem to have touched it much, too busy swirling it around in one hand. His side profile looked worried and tired, and I sighed, feeling a little bit bad about how I’d spoken to him last time.

  I sat down on the empty stool beside him and ordered a whiskey neat from the barman when he swung by to greet me. Reilly didn’t say anything the entire time my drink was being poured. He just stared at the side of my face and continued to swirl his glass, his lips pressed so tightly together they’d turned white.

  The barman set a glass on a cocktail napkin in front of me, and I thanked him, leaving Reilly hanging as I took a small sip, the whisky peaty and rich.

  “So I spoke with my mother,” I said, spinning my seat so that I was facing Reilly. “She confirmed that she called you in to interrogate me.”

  He nodded, his eyes dark and hooded. “Look, I know I shouldn’t have made up that stuff about Charles, and I should have just talked to you straight, but that’s not exactly how I was taught to do things. You know that.”

  I hummed softly. “I don’t appreciate being lied to like that, Reilly. I wish you had just asked me directly. The whole smoke and mirrors thing makes me think you don’t trust me, and we worked together for too long for that to be the case.”

  “Of course, I trust you,” Reilly said quickly, his grip tightening on his glass as he set it down with a clink. “I was just trying to give you a chance to talk on your own terms. I didn’t want to force you into a confession or anything. But I can recognise that I handled it all wrong, and I’m sorry.”