Quintin Jardine - Fatal Last Words

‘What about the box, and the cigars?’

‘We’re getting them. My new friend the chief commissioner of Victoria State Police herself has decreed that. They’re in a secure container on their way to the airport even now. You’ll have them tomorrow.’ He laughed. ‘Mind you, I don’t envy the lab, trying to lift DNA off the cigars that are left. They’re handmade, in Cuba; we might have bother summoning witnesses from there.’ He chuckled. ‘Almost as much trouble as you’ll have trying to find me for the rest of my holiday. As of tomorrow, we’re up in Queensland, in a Nissan Movano, and our mobiles will be switched off.’

‘ This is not how I imagined I’d be spending my first day as chief constable,’ said Bob Skinner to Neil McIlhenney as he swung off the A1(M), heading for Darlington. They had made good time from Edinburgh: it was still well short of midday.

‘I don’t imagine it was,’ his friend replied. ‘Your time’s even more valuable now. Then there are the perks of the job; you could have had a driver take us down here, and take you to and from the office, for that matter.’

‘I don’t plan to use that privilege unless it’s official and there might be alcohol involved; an ACPOS dinner, for example. Aileen gets picked up from home by her government car. If I had one as well, how long would it be before the tabloids caught on? I’m probably not flavour of the month with them, after our pal Laidlaw crapped all over their big picture special yesterday.’

‘Yeah,’ McIlhenney chuckled, as they joined a line of traffic on a single-carriageway road. ‘Too bad Mitch retired from our Thursday night football in North Berwick. I miss his silky skills.’

‘He’d probably sue you for describing him that way.’ Skinner sighed. ‘Maybe I should quit too; that would be a good picture for the sports page. I can see the headline: “Superintendent kicks fuck out of Chief Constable”. Yes, maybe enough’s enough.’

‘Away you go. You need it; we both do. It lets us mix with guys outside the job on a regular basis. Taking me along there was the second biggest favour you’ve ever done me.’

‘I needn’t ask what the biggest was.’

‘No. Introducing me to Louise tops the lot.’ McIlhenney hesitated. ‘She has told me about you two, you know, that you went out with each other at university. You never mentioned it.’

‘Of course not. It was for her to do that.’

‘Do you ever wonder what would have happened if you’d stayed together?’

‘It wouldn’t have worked. We were too career-minded, both of us. If we had, though, I suppose you and I might have wound up with pistols at dawn.’

‘Like you and Andy?’

Skinner winced. ‘No. That’s different. That won’t be a duel; if it comes to a fight, it’ll be my rules.’

‘You mean if he applies for the deputy’s job?’

‘I mean if he applies for any fucking job in Scotland; as from October, that’ll be the First Minister’s stepdaughter in those photographs. Aileen hasn’t seen them, nor will she, but she’s nearly as angry as me. But let’s not dwell on that.’

‘October?’

‘Yes. A quiet do; registry office wedding, just us and witnesses, then a blessing by Jim Gainer, with guests, then a reception in the Parliament building. . for which we will be paying the standard fee, incidentally. Keep it to yourself, but look out for the invite.’ As he spoke, a sweet female voice from his satellite navigation system told him to turn right in three hundred yards. He obeyed and found himself heading north once more, for a mile or so, until a structure that could only have been a prison came into view. ‘HMP Brankholme,’ he said. ‘Looks pretty secure; it would take a battalion to break in here, so getting out would be something of a challenge.’

‘If you have the money. .’

‘Nah. The staff here are meant to be incorruptible, and bribery’s the only way you could do it.’

‘I bet Ainsley Glover or Henry Mount could have dreamed up a plan.’

‘Maybe, but I doubt if Dražen Boras is a reader of either of them. They’re too parochial; he moves internationally, just like his old man Davor does.’ He frowned. ‘Now there is a guy I really do not like.’

‘Are you saying you like Dražen?’

‘I like some people I’ve put away,’ said Skinner. ‘Lenny Plenderleith for one. Dražen? No, I never could, because he killed my friend and he has to pay the full price for that. But in terms of evil, of ruthlessness, I reckon the father’s a league above the son. From our conversation this morning I’m coming to believe that Dražen genuinely regrets that Stevie died. But from my meetings with his dad, I don’t believe that he gives a fuck.’ The navigation system interrupted again, advising him that he had reached his destination. ‘You can form your own view of junior in a few minutes.’

Entry to the prison was complicated. Their warrant cards were checked. . Skinner’s still showed him as deputy chief constable. . and Skinner’s car was checked, engine compartment, boot and beneath, before they passed the second gate, where a second layer of security awaited. Eventually they were greeted by a tall woman in a dark suit, with close-cropped brown hair, and a manner, as she introduced herself, which indicated that she had no problem functioning in a predominantly male work environment. ‘Ngaio Arnott, Deputy Governor. I processed Boras’s call to you.’

‘Did he have trouble persuading you that he was serious?’ asked Skinner.

‘Yes, especially since you’re possibly going to be a witness in his trial. If it had been anyone other than you, I’d have refused on those grounds, but he assured me that he has essential information unrelated to his own case, so I decided on public interest grounds to let you decide whether to speak to him or not. You’re here, so I guess I made the right decision.’

‘He could still be taking the piss, but if he is I’ll look like a mug, not you.’ The chief looked at her. ‘What sort of a prisoner is he?’

‘Exemplary. He’s courteous, he does what he’s asked rather than what he’s told. . and that makes a huge difference in a place like this, as I’m sure you’ll know.’

‘Does he mix with other prisoners?’

‘He’s not isolated, as such, but he keeps himself to himself. As a remand prisoner, he’s not required to work, so he exercises a lot, in his cell and in the gym, when it’s available to him. He reads the business press every day, and his library withdrawals show an interest in foreign affairs.’

‘Is he resented by other prisoners?’ McIlhenney asked her.

‘Do you mean has anyone ever had a go at him? No. He’s not a man to invite that sort of attention. As you’re about to find out for yourself; he should be in the interview room by now.’

Arnott led the way through a series of corridors, until she stopped outside a plain grey door, and peered through a spyhole. ‘Yes,’ she murmured, ‘he’s here.’ She opened the door, and ushered the police officers inside, announcing them both by name and rank.

Dražen Boras sat at a table, facing them; it was fixed to the floor and he was shackled to it, handcuffs through a bolt in the surface. He smiled as they entered. Skinner gazed at him, appraising him. He wore a skin-tight black Nike vest, and the evidence of his gym work was clear to see in well-defined musculature. He was clean-shaven, and somehow, even in prison, he had managed to maintain a tan. ‘Welcome, gentlemen,’ he greeted them. ‘I’d rise, but they won’t let me.’

The chief constable looked at the deputy governor. ‘I think we can lose those,’ he suggested. ‘We’ll be fine. Dražen knows I’d just love him to have a go at me.’