Quintin Jardine - Skinner's ghosts

'I'm sorry, Bob,' he said. 'And I have to say that I'm hugely disappointed. Are you stil maintaining your innocence?'

Skinner gave no answer, nor made any movement.

'Mmm,' said Archibald. 'You'd better say nothing anyway. Look, David Pettigrew, the Fiscal is in the next room. He will caution and charge you, formal y. There will be no announcement from this office, but you wil appear in the Sheriff Court tomorrow to be formal y remanded.

'There'l be no plea taken and of course you'l be released on a simple ordination to appear at a later hearing, but at the pleading diet, it'll be for the Sheriff to decide whether bail should be allowed.

I think it's inevitable that the case will be sent to the High Court for disposal.'

He turned back to Cheshire and Ericson. 'You two. Get up to Perth right away and see the man Charles again. I'd like to proceed against him, but I don't have a prospect of success. So, tell him what we've got and see if he'll agree to be a Crown witness, with immunity.'

Mitchell Laidlaw stirred in his seat chair. 'Archie, may I…'

The Lord Advocate anticipated the rest of the question. 'Yes,' he said. 'You may interview Charles also, separately. But I mean you, and you alone. Not Bob, under any circumstances, and not Alex either.'

He rose, ending the meeting. 'Now, let's get Pettigrew in here and start putting this most unfortunate business to rest.'

'That tears it, Bob,' said Laidlaw.

'Charles has given Cheshire and Ericson a statement saying that he paid you the hundred thousand as a bribe, to secure reduced charges. He says that you gave him a sealed envelope with the destination bank inside, and that he passed it unopened to his associate, Douglas Terry.

'Further, he goes on to say that it was Terry – who is of course conveniently dead – who hired the courier and arranged the gathering in of the money. The Crown wil probably argue that Terry may have raised the cash in England, knocking the banknote defence on the head.'

'Does Charles admit to typing the note?' asked Skinner.

Laidlaw nodded. 'Yes, he does.' The lawyer sighed. 'Bob, would Charles have spent a hundred thousand just to frame you?'

The big policeman smiled grimly. 'It sure looks like that, doesn't it?'

The two men, with Andy Martin, were in the living room at Fairyhouse Avenue. 'So where do you think the typewriter thing puts us, Mitch, in terms of our defence?' Skinner asked.

'I've spoken to Miss Dawson about that, by telephone,' the solicitor replied. 'Her view is that it's very serious indeed. It almost completes the chain of evidence. However, she still feels that as long as the Crown can't produce the note which Charles al eges you gave him, she has a slim chance of steering the jury towards a Not Proven verdict, providing she can also convince them that your signature could have been obtained by trickery.'

Skinner turned towards his solicitor. 'The bal 's in your court. You go back to see Christabel. Start work on a defence. As for me, I'm going looking for Mr Noel Salmon. I'm going to do something I should have done long ago. I'm going to scare the shit out of that little man, and with it, hopeful y, a name.'

He smiled, wickedly. 'You see, the one thing that Jackie Charles would find it difficult to do from his hotel suite in Perth Jail is to make a private, unrecorded cal to Salmon, to tip him off about the bank account.

'Jackie's cute. He's turned Cheshire and Ericson back on 234 themselves and got them to buy a statement that could be complete supposition on his part. He's built his story on things that they've told him. The idea that he agreed to pay me off, then turned the mechanics over to Dougie Terry, that's brilliant for two reasons: one, because that's exactly how he used to work, and two, because Terry isn't around any more to contradict him.

'Not that he would have. Dougie the Comedian would have died for Charles. Come to think of it, he did.'

Skinner smiled again, in recol ection this time. 'Jackie to Terry, Terry to someone else, and that someone else did whatever needed doing. One to one al the time, so there was never any corroboration.

That was the way they worked, and it was the reason why we were never able to nail Jackie for any of the big stuff he was involved in.

'That's why the idea of bunging me to reduce the charges is al so much shite. We always needed Terry's evidence to be sure of convicting Charles, so when he got his head caved in, we were stuffed.

'That's something Jackie's overlooked in his eagerness to nail me, and Cheshire and Ericson didn't realise. With Terry dead, there were no other charges we could have made stick. Christabel should be able to take him apart in the box with that.'

He turned to Martin. 'Andy, would you do me a big favour? Don't tell anyone about it, just do it, please. Ask McGuire and Mcllhenney if they would go up to Perth to question Charles. Tell them to get him to go over his statement again, and again, and again. Tel them also, while he's doing that, to drop in plenty of hints about perjury charges, and the penalties.

'Jackie's out on a limb, you see. I reckon he's seen a chance to get even with me, and he's jumped at it. But if we can undermine his confidence, scare him a wee bit about the risk he's taking, hint that there are one or two things that he doesn't know about, then maybe, just maybe, he'll withdraw that statement.

'Will you do that?'

Martin nodded.'Of course.'

'Thanks. But explain to Mario and Neil that this isn't an order. If either of them feels uncomfortable about it, I'l understand.'

'You real y do think Charles is lying, Bob, don't you?' said Laidlaw.

'That he couldn't be the one who's set you up?'

'I'm certain of it. He had nothing to do with that money. He didn't know about it til Cheshire and Ericson went up to Perth and told him, but when they did, a whole world of possibilities opened up in his devious wee mind.

'The one thing he couldn't do, though, was make that phone cal to Salmon.'

'Maybe he had an accomplice?' the solicitor suggested.

Skinner shook his head, firmly, pursing his lips. 'The only three accomplices Jackie Charles ever had in his life were his wife Carole, Tony Manson, and Dougie Terry. And they're al dead.

'No, the person who gave that information to Salmon was the person who set me up, without any assistance from Jackie, or anyone else.'

He stood, abruptly. 'Right Mitch, you'd better go and see Christabel again. I'l meet the two of you at the Sheriff Court tomorrow: nine thirty, as Davie Pettigrew asked. Andy, you talk to Mario and Neil about going up to Perth.'

Martin nodded. 'Are you going after Salmon? Because if you find him, I wouldn't want…'

His friend laughed. 'You wouldn't want me to damage him, you were going to say? Don't worry, son, I'l get the truth out of that wee man without laying a finger on him. Anyway, he can wait till tomorrow.

'This afternoon, I'm going out to Gul ane. I was reminded on Sunday that my golf game's a bit rusty. So just for a break, and to let me do some uninterrupted thinking, I think I'l hit a few bal s. When Pam gets back from York, tell her that's where I'll be, and that I'll probably stay out there tonight, if she wants to join me.'

'Sure, I'll do that.' His right eyebrow rose, with a recollection.

'Speaking of your lady,' he added, 'I had a call this morning from the Central Force. The woman she's due to replace has had a complication of pregnancy, so she's gone off earlier than scheduled. They'd like Pam right away if they can have her.'

'How soon?'

'Thursday, if possible?'

'Can you spare her?'

'I think in all the circumstances, it'd be best if I could.'

'Then talk to her about it. And as long as she's happy, that'l be fine. Then the two of us can get on with sorting out our future. I think I owe it to us both to make an honest woman out of Pamela.'