Quintin Jardine - Stay of Execution

It showed dates listed in sequence. Some were blank while others had entries against them. Steele scanned them and his eye was drawn to one in particular. It appeared on the day of his death, and it read ‘Check AM/BP’.

‘What do you think that is?’ the young man asked.

‘I think it’s interesting. AM could be Aurelia Middlemass, and BP could be. .’

‘Bonspiel Partnership,’ he finished. ‘I reckon my dad was on to her, that she found out and that she killed him to shut him up, making it look like suicide so that when the fraud was discovered it would be blamed on him. What do you think?’

‘I think it’s a possibility, Murphy, that’s all I’ll say. I’ll put it to her when we catch her, you can be sure of that, but without a confession there isn’t enough to make a murder charge stick. Can I ask you, would the financial consequences for your mother be any different if the fiscal decides it wasn’t suicide, and we can convict Middlemass of fraud?’

‘No. After our solicitor showed them the pathologist’s report, which said my father would have died within months, the insurance company paid out on his policy. His pension’s ring-fenced as well, that passes to Mum and there’s nothing the bank can do about it. All I care about is my dad’s memory.’

‘In that case, pal,’ said Stevie Steele, ‘I’ll do all I can to help you protect it.’

‘That’s definite, Chief Skinner?’ asked the chief of Department. ‘Your pathologist is totally certain?’

‘A couple of hundred per cent certain, Mr Lovencrantz. Her findings have been confirmed by tests. I waited for the results before I called you. Colin Mawhinney was drowned in clean, fresh water. . analysis shows that it was from the public supply, not from a pond or river. . then weighted down and dropped into the dock.’

‘That’s no ordinary mugging, I agree.’

‘No chance; he was targeted, and this was a professional hit. He was a strong, fit man, and there were no signs of a sedative in his bloodstream, so we’re looking for two people, at least. Chief, we need all the information you can give us on Inspector Mawhinney. Who were his associates? Has he put away anyone in his career who might have held a long-term grudge against him? You know what I’m talking about. While your people are gathering that information, I’ll be pulling out all the stops at this end. Our security service and Special Branch network has a significant database on organised crime. I have access to that, and I will use it. I’ll be looking for intelligence about known figures from out of town heading for Edinburgh in the last few days.’

‘Thank you for that, Mr Skinner. I’ll call in the chief of our detective bureau, and the head of my Internal Affairs Bureau. They may have to go back a way, for Colin was a senior patrol officer for the latter part of his career, but he did have a detective’s shield for a time. If he upset any Mafia guys, that’s when he would have done it.’

Skinner frowned. ‘Listen,’ he said, ‘I hope you won’t be offended by this, but I have to ask. Is there any possibility that he might have been on the take, and that someone out there felt he wasn’t getting value for money?’

‘I do not believe that for one moment, sir,’ Lovencrantz snapped. And then he sighed. ‘But why do you think I’m going to brief Internal Affairs?’

‘If it’s any consolation,’ the Scot told him, ‘I ran that past Mario McGuire, and he went ballistic at the idea.’

‘How’s Superintendent McGuire handling it?’ asked the chief. ‘I gather that he and Colin bonded pretty well during their time together.’

‘He’s taking it very badly. The body was found in his division, and normally he’d be in charge of the investigation, but I couldn’t allow that.’ He glanced across the desk, at the two men opposite. ‘It’s being headed by Neil McIlhenney, who’s in charge of my Special Branch unit. He’s reporting directly to me.’

‘McGuire must hate to be on the sidelines.’

Skinner chuckled. ‘You don’t know him; holding back the tide would be easier than keeping his hands completely off it. When I gave him his orders I chose my words pretty carefully. He’ll be causing trouble out there; be sure of it. He just won’t tell me about it. . not until he gets a result, at any rate.’

‘We have officers just like him,’ said the American. ‘They tend to be our most successful detectives, so their chief tells me. Mr Skinner, I have Nolan Donegan booked on a flight today. He leaves Newark this evening and is scheduled to arrive in Glasgow tomorrow morning.’

‘Tell him that he’ll be met by Chief Inspector Mackenzie; he’s just transferred to this force, and he still lives in the Glasgow area. But you appreciate, do you, that in the changed circumstances it may be a few days before our prosecutor’s office authorises release of the body?’

‘I understand that, but I’m going to send Donegan anyway. I will also send an officer from IAB. He’ll be carrying with him Mawhinney’s personal file, plus all the other information we can pull together between now and flight time. That will include anything we can get on known crime figures who might have been out of the country in the last few days.’

‘That would be appreciated. We may wind up sending this investigation back to you for completion. Whatever happens, be sure of one thing: we want to catch the bastards who did this every bit as much as you do.’

He hung up and looked at McIlhenney, and at Dan Pringle, who was seated beside him. ‘Apart from what you just heard me promise, have either of you any bright ideas for lines of inquiry?’

‘Eye-witnesses, sir,’ the inspector replied. ‘Somewhere between Paula Viareggio’s place and the Malmaison, Mawhinney was abducted. As you said, he was a big guy, so there must have been some sort of a struggle. We could issue a public appeal for anyone who saw anything like that to come forward.’

‘Tomorrow, if we have to.’

‘Why wait?’

‘Because most of the replies we get will be mistaken or time-wasters; yet they’ll all have to be followed up. In a week when our resources are stretched by the papal visit, that’s a last resort. Before we go there, we’ve a card up our sleeve. I think if you ask our friend McGuire, you might find he’s been making his presence felt on his new patch. Anyone who was on the street at that time on a Sunday was probably going home from the pub, so that’s the best place to start looking for assistance.’

‘They’re not very forthcoming in that part of town,’ said Pringle gloomily.

‘They will be, with an angry McGuire leaning on them.’ The DCC looked at McIlhenney. ‘Go to it, Neil. Dan, you stay for a minute longer, I want a word with you about something else.’

The big inspector nodded and left the room. ‘About these Belgians,’ Skinner continued. ‘I had a talk with Malou this morning.’

‘Did it get you very far?’ The head of CID’s tone said it all.

‘It did, funnily enough, only I’m not sure of the direction I’m headed. And I need to be; these guys are here to play for the Pope, yet someone’s bumped two of them off.’

‘Couldn’t we just send them home?’

‘It’s not that easy; they’re our responsibility now. They’re safe under our protection, and they’ll be safe at Murrayfield. If there are others on somebody’s hit list, we can hardly send them back into danger. We need to solve this, not pass the buck. Besides, they’re not our guests, Dan. They’re here at the personal invitation of His Holiness; if anyone sends them packing it’ll be him. And he won’t, because the wee colonel’s an old friend of his.’

Pringle was astonished. ‘How did they meet?’ he asked.