Quintin Jardine - Fallen Gods

"That's true, but there aren't too many women like Lou around. Anyway, you have to be looking to land one."

"And was Neil?"

He frowned. "No," he said slowly.

"There you are then. Don't you tell me that you don't know a single woman that you fancy a bit."

He ran his fingers through her silver hair. "I will tell you that I don't know a single woman… or a married one for that matter… that I fancy as much as you."

"Aye," Paula murmured, doubtfully. "Let's see if it stays that way.

"Speaking of Neil," she continued, 'how's he going to take you and Maggie splitting up? He's close to her as well as you, isn't he?"

"Neil was more or less the detonator that set off the explosion," he told her. "He sat me down and talked to me and made me see the whole thing the way it really was. Your ex, Stevie, did something similar for Maggie, at around the same time."

"Stevie, eh," she mused. "He's a deep one, that. You think I'm secretive? He's a kind bloke, though; too gentle for me in the end, but those big soft eyes of his… Oh they have an effect, I can tell you."

"He needs to watch who he looks at then," Mario muttered, darkly.

"What do you mean?"

"Remember Alice Cowan, the girl who worked for me in SB?"

"Yeah, she shops in my deli. What about her?"

"She saw Stevie in a wine bar with someone he definitely should not have been with; a married lady."

"Knowing him, it was probably perfectly innocent; he was probably counselling her."

"Not the way Alice told it."

Paula's eyes widened; she smiled. "Oh dear," she said. "It's not like

Stevie-boy to be indiscreet. Did you talk to him about it?"

"No danger. I'm not getting into that. If he wants to shaft his career, he can get on with it. No, I filed it away mentally, and I told Alice to forget what she had seen, for ever."

"And will she?"

"For sure."

"Won't she tell Neil, now she's working for him?"

"God, no. Anyone but Neil."

Paula's eyes widened even further. "It wasn't his wife, was it?"

"Of course not; I'd have fucking killed Stevie myself if it had been."

"I'm intrigued."

"Don't be. I'm telling you no more. I shouldn't have let that much slip."

"In that case it's forgotten already, honest. But speaking of Neil and his wife, now that we're sort of legit." will I get to meet her?"

"Probably. I'll let the smoke clear, then maybe invite them to dinner at the new place. By that time Neil may have solved his problem."

"What problem?"

"A woman called Agnes Maley."

"Black Agnes? What's she been up to? I thought she'd cut her links with the shady side of Edinburgh."

He threw his arms wide in a dramatic gesture, and his head back.

"Jesus," he laughed, 'you know about that too! Police intelligence; a contradiction, like they say."

"I'm from Leith, Mario," Paula reminded him. "And I'm in the sauna business. So what about Agnes?"

"She's been making trouble for the boss, that's all. Now it looks as if she's about to get a Holyrood seat. Neil wants to fix her wagon before that happens."

"He's going to have trouble then; Agnes covers her tracks, plus she's got a lot of friends."

"How does a female scumbag like her have friends?"

"She helps people. They remember it, not least because Agnes never lets them forget. I heard a story about her the other day, as it happens." She paused.

"Let's have it then," he said, impatiently.

"Okay, hold your horses. Do you know a woman called Joanne Virtue?"

Mario laughed. "Joanne Virtue? The Big Easy? Every copper in

Edinburgh knows her; one or two have known her intimately as well, so they say."

"True enough; your colleague Superintendent Jay for one, from what I hear. Joanne was on the game for years, but she was an honest worker; no drugs, no clap. A couple of years ago, she hung up her G-string and got a job as manager of a sauna at the bottom end of the New Town.

A few weeks back, the neighbours started giving her trouble; it's in a half-posh district and there were one or two noisy incidents. They sent a petition to the council asking for the licence to be withdrawn.

This would not have been happy news for the owner, and might have had consequences for Joanne, so she was really worried."

"I'm not surprised. What did she do?"

"She went to see Agnes. The place isn't in her ward or anywhere near it, and the local Labour councillor had even signed the petition, so you'd have thought that would have been that. But no; Agnes said "leave it with me". A few days later, the petition came up before the committee, and the Labour members voted against it, en masse. Agnes had taken it to the group and told them she wasn't having the girls who work there forced on to the street."

Mario stared at her. "But why would she do that? It's not that long since Agnes had a sauna in her own ward closed on just those grounds."

"Don't ask me. That's as much of the story as I was told. If you or Neil want to hear the rest, you'd better ask Joanne."

"So you've got bugger all," Detective Chief Superintendent Dan Pringle pronounced. "That's the sum total of what you're telling me, is it, Maggie? You're almost a week into this investigation, and you've got no suspects and no positive lines of enquiry."

"I wouldn't quite…" a voice from his left intervened.

It was still short often a.m." and the head of CID was not in one of his sunnier morning moods; he glowered at Stevie Steele. "You shut up, inspector. I was talking to your divisional commander, not you." He turned his hostile gaze back on Rose. "Well?"

"I wouldn't quite say that, sir," she snapped back. "We've been pursuing this investigation diligently since the incident happened. We identified a potential suspect almost immediately, someone who had access to the picture and who was a schizophrenic with a history of religious freakery."

"Aye, you said. So why isn't she still in the frame?"

"Because she was eliminated at an early stage; she was set up. Whoever booby-trapped the Trinity lured her along there so she could take the blame."

"How do you know that?"

"She told us she had a phone call, a voice telling her to go as God's witness. We established that she did have a call at the time she said, but from a mobile belonging to someone in Candela and Finch's office."

"So what about him? Why isn't he banged up?"

"He was," said Rose, impatiently, 'but we had to release him. He denied making the call, and said that someone must have borrowed his phone without his knowledge."

"Did you dust it?"

"Of course we did."

"And did you find any prints other than the suspect's?"

"No."

"Was the girl known to the suspect?"

"They were at university at the same time."

"Well?"

"It's not enough."

"Who else have you got?"

"No one." Rose sighed, exasperated, and glared at Pringle. "Dan, what's got up your shirt? We're doing our bloody best here."

"You're trying too bloody hard then! You've got clear evidence that this schizo girl was enticed along so she'd be there on a plate for you. You've got a suspect with knowledge of her condition…"

"No, there's no evidence that he knew her history."

"Or that he didn't."

"And what's his motive, Dan? Why should this trainee bloody lawyer whose interests don't seem to run beyond the local wine bar decide to fire-bomb a work of art?"

"Maybe he was paid."

"Oh, come on!"

"Maybe he was; but what does it matter? You've got a case against this guy… What's his name?"

"Sheringham."

'… Sheringham. That's all that need concern you for now. Send it to the fiscal."

"What?"

"You heard. Clear your tray. Send the papers on Mr. Sheringham to the procurator fiscal and let Crown Office take the decision on whether to prosecute. I don't see the difficulty in that." He seemed to soften a little. "Look Maggie, I know that you and Mario are on the rocks, and I'm sorry about it, but maybe your private life's been dulling your professional eye, so to speak." She gasped in outraged protest, but he held up a hand to cut her off. "To answer your slightly impudent question, ACC Haggerty has been getting up my shirt, not big-time yet, but it's heading that way. The big fella could be back at any minute and Willie's going to want him to find a clean desk.