Quintin Jardine - Skinner’s round

Probably silk, the policeman thought to himself.

She stared at him as recognition dawned. 'You're Bob Skinner, aren't you? Yes, of course you are. You have that brilliant American wife. I met her a few months ago at an event for disabled charities. Hector and I have done our bit for them since the accident. We feel we have to give a lead.'

She paused, and her right hand went to her chin in a gesture of habit. 'I seem to remember she was pregnant. Has she…'

Skinner smiled. 'Yes, last May. We have a wee boy called Jazz. Getting bigger by the day… and louder. That's his American half, of course.'

Lady Kinture smiled. 'Give her my best, then. Sarah, wasn't it?'

`That's right.'

`This is terrible news about our friend Michael. I can hardly believe it. He had breakfast with us. What happened?'

Skinner hesitated. 'I'll let Lord Kinture explain, I think.'

She frowned at him, questioning. She might have pressed him, but they were interrupted by a loud knock on the window. Skinner looked down and saw the Marquis close to the glass, beckoning and nodding to someone outside. 'It's the PGA chap,' he said. 'I want a word with him.'

`Yes,' said Skinner. 'So do I, but if you don't mind I'd like to speak to him first.'

The Marquis frowned. 'Well, I suppose. Tell you what, when you're finished send him up to the house. Susan, let's go home, and I'll tell you all about poor Mickey.' He pushed a lever on the arm of the wheelchair. It hummed into life and swished its passenger towards the open doorway, with Lady Kinture following, like a golden outrider.

` Superintendent, if you think I'm going to let a family squabble deprive me of one of my very best officers, you're kidding yourself I will NOT approve your request for transfer to another force, AND I will make it clear to my brother Chief Constables that any one of them who takes you on will be on my shit list.'

I appreciate your confidence, Sir James, but I am really serious. ACC Skinner said I should consider my future career, and that's what I've done.'

`Look Andy, most of us say things in the heat of the moment, then back off from them when the temperature goes down. Bob spoke to me yesterday, after our Tuesday meeting with the Police Board. He told me that he'd surprised Alex at your place last Friday morning, first thing.

`He said that he'd exploded and that there'd been a huge barney on your doorstep.'

`That's a pretty accurate summary of our last meeting.' Martin's voice was heavy with irony.

Sir James Proud looked at him, kindly. He had seen the younger man through one or two bad times, but could not recall him ever being so downcast.

OK, but there's more. He said that when he got home, Sarah had given him a going over, and had made him calm down a bit. He sees now that maybe he did go over the top. I wouldn't say he's completely happy. He really feels you both let him down.

`But all the same, I think that if you went to see him and talked it through… Maybe, as a gesture, if you apologised, even.' He angled his great silver head, looking tentatively at Martin. The younger man's green eyes flashed.

Sir James went on quickly. 'What I don't understand is that you and Alex are supposed to be away on holiday. Bob told me you flew to Florida on Friday. So why are you sat here, now?'

Martin smiled for the first time, but without humour. 'That's the nub of it, sir. The ACC doesn't know the damage he's done. You tell me to talk it through with him. I tried to do that last Friday morning, and Alex accused me of taking his side, to protect my career! So I had an even bigger fight with her than the one with Bob, and she packed up and left. I went through to Glasgow after her, but she wasn't there. Eventually I cancelled the flights and told Henry Wills, up at the University, that we wouldn't be using his place after all. I called her number all weekend, but no reply. It wasn't till Monday, when her flatmate came back from a weekend at home that I found out where she'd gone. Remember that band she sang with last year, after the Festival show? Square Peg, they're called.'

`Vaguely. Square Pegs and the like are beyond me.'

`Well, Alex had told me that they're going on a tour of Europe and that they'd asked her if she would be one of their backing singers. She'd turned them down, but she called their manager last Friday morning and asked if the job was still open. It was. She left her flatmate a note telling her that we'd had a bust-up and that she was off, there and then, to join the band for rehearsals in Dublin.'

His jaw tightened. 'So, sir, I don't see me apologising to the ACC. I've spent the last two days thinking about this. He told me that I'd betrayed him. All I can see is that he's broken up the best relationship I've ever had in my life. You know, I was hoping that Alex would come back from Florida with a ring on her finger. Then Bob steps in and we don't even make it to the airport.

The last thing that he said to me was that I had no future under his command. So I've taken him at his word. I've considered my career path, and I've come to the conclusion that it has to lead me away from him, and right now.'

Sir James pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the window. He looked out across the playing field, seeming to be lost in thought, as a tense silence hung over the room. After almost a minute, he seemed to nod slightly. Then he turned back to face Martin. 'Look son, I'm not going to take anyone's part in this. You are all my friends and I will always be available to every one of you. All I'd say to you is that Bob and Alex have always been closer than any father and daughter I've ever known. Now they've blown up at each other, out of the blue. As for you and Bob, you've been the best of friends for years. This conflict between the three of you… it's so sudden and unexpected that none of you knows how to handle it.

`Maybe you never will sort it out. I don't know. But I do know that if, as I could, I were to phone Jock Govan and get you transferred into Willie Haggerty's job in Glasgow Special Branch — it hasn't been announced yet, but he's been made head of CID — I wouldn't have done any of us any favours.

`No Andy, this is what I'm going to do… and this is the Chief Constable speaking now.' He moved back to his chair and sat down again, facing Martin across the coffee table. 'I've got a problem in East Lothian. Charlie Radcliffe told me yesterday that he's going into hospital.

He's going to be off for at least four months, and that's only if everything works out OK.

That's too long for an area to be without its commander. You're equivalent rank, and a spell in the uniform branch will be good for your career development. The decision is made, Superintendent. You're going to Haddington, on a temporary basis, as area commander.

You'll report to ACC Operations, and through him to me. The only time Bob'll be in your chain of command is in my absence, when he deputises.'

`What about my job as Head of the Drugs and Vice Squad, sir?'

`That'll be Bob's problem. Serves him right in a way.

`No more discussion. Your leave's cancelled. Report to Haddington tomorrow. Charlie goes under the knife next Monday, so you won't have much time for a handover!'

‘You’re not going to tell me to cancel the tournament, are you?'

Arthur Highfield, the Secretary of the Professional Golfers' Association, looked at Skinner apprehensively. They stood in the middle of the practice putting green, set before the wide arc of the conservatory, which opened out from the clubhouse bar, doing double duty as sitting area and viewing gallery.

The big policeman shook his grey mane. 'No, Mr Highfield. No need for me to do that. No point either. I'll want to keep the VIP changing room and the Jacuzzi cubicle sealed off, in case our scientists want a second look at anything, but otherwise you can have the place back.' He paused. 'You don't anticipate any trouble with your sponsors?'