Stuart Macbride - Blind Eye

'What, in Thailand? Got yourself a mail-order bride?'

'Cheeky bugger. No, she's from Inverness, a lecturer.' The constable held up a hand. 'And before you say anything: I checked her passport. She's older than I am.'

Logan smiled. 'How much older?'

Shrug. 'Couple of years.'

'Ten, fifteen, twenty?'

'Hey, at least I've got a girlfriend. Unlike some sad bastards.'

'Touche.'

Two pints later and Rennie was in full whinge — going on about how it wasn't fair that he'd been assigned to DI McPherson. 'I mean the man's a bloody jinx, isn't he? "Accident prone" doesn't even come close. And you know what we did today? Went looking for a bunch of stolen shotguns. Shotguns. It's a disaster waiting to happen.' He drained his pint. 'Want another one?'

'I've got the day off tomorrow: what do you think?' 'Come on, it'll be… it'll be fun.' Rennie was a little unsteady on his feet as they wound their way up Union Street. The place was buzzing — people staggering from pub to club. Lots of happy faces and quite a few miserable ones too.

Somewhere up ahead a group of drunken men were singing Sto Lat, a traditional Polish folk song borne on the wings of lager and vodka. A ramshackle chorus of Flower Of Scotland started up in competition.

At least the Poles were in tune.

'No it won't. It'll be bloody horrible,' said Logan as they crossed the road and made their way down Belmont Street, past Cafe Drummond and its little knot of banished smokers.

'You wouldn't be there on your own, we could… could set you up with one of Emma's friends. She's bound to know someone who's desperate-'

'I'm not going to a dinner party.'

They joined the queue for the kebab shop.

'Please? I don't really have any other growed-up friends.'

A lanky man near the front of the queue was swearing loudly into his mobile phone, 'No, you fuckin' listen to me — you tell him he gets over here with the stuff now, or I'm gonnae kill his ma and fuck the corpse!' Denim jacket, ripped jeans, hair down to the middle of his back, cheekbones sharp enough to slice cheese. Heroin: the ultimate slimming aid.

'Anyway,' said Rennie, 'what's wrong with dinner parties? It's what civil…' Belch. 'Civilized adults do.'

The man on the phone was still going strong. 'I don't fuckin' care if he's havin' a fuckin' heart attack! You tell him to get his arse over here!'

'What makes you think I need you to fix me up with anyone? What am I, a charity case…' Logan trailed off. Four men had just marched round the corner from Union Street. Not meandered, or staggered, but marched. They were dressed in the standard CCTV-avoidance costume: hoodies and baseball caps, their faces hidden in the shadows.

Logan nudged Rennie. 'Look left… Your other left. Four IC-One males.'

'Uh-huh. And?'

'Don't you ever read the day book? Someone got stabbed last night on Thistle Street. They got four hoodies on camera, running from the scene.'

'No, I don't want to fuckin' speak to him! You tell him I'm no' fuckin' around anymore… Aye… Don't be fuckin' stupid…'

The four hoodies were less than a dozen feet away now, making for the front of the kebab queue and the swearing man.

Hoodie Number One pulled something out of his pocket. 'Oi, you, Retard! Kevin Fookin' Murray!' He had a face like streaky bacon, with a big prominent nose. The accent was pure Manchester. 'What did I Fookin' tell yeh?'

Kevin Murray ignored him. 'Naw, I'm no' gonnae give him another week, I want it now!'

'You Fookin' deaf, Murray?' One flick of the wrist and the thing in his hand unfolded into a butterfly knife.

Logan swore. So much for a quiet night out — he should have stayed at home with a paintbrush. He grabbed Rennie and stepped forward, getting an outraged, 'This is a queue here, you know?' from the person in front of them.

Hoodie Number One shoved Murray. He staggered, scowled. Then told the person on the other end he'd call them back. 'Fuck's your problem?'

Hoodies Two through Four were fanning out, getting ready.

Bloody hell… Logan glanced up the street, looking for the familiar fluorescent yellow and white police jackets of night-shift. Eleven o'clock on a Friday night, there should have been uniformed officers all over the place, but there was no sign of them. Probably breaking up a fight somewhere.

'I Fookin' told yeh, Murray, but you wouldn't Fookin' listen, would yeh? Had to act the cunt?' He was trembling, spittle flying from his mouth.

Logan dug about in his jacket for his warrant card. 'OK, let's all calm down.' He snapped his ID open and held it up. 'No need for anyone to get-'

Murray took a swing at Hoodie Number One. The punch went wide.

The hoodie's blade didn't.

'AAAGGHH!' Kevin Murray fell to his knees, hands clasped over his face. Blood spilling out between his fingers to spatter on the cobbled street.

The queue disintegrated, everyone retreating to a safe distance to watch the fight. Not one of them stepped in to help break it up. So much for community spirit.

Logan shouted, 'POLICE! You're all under arrest!' And then wished he hadn't.

The three back-up hoodies pulled their weapons out — a cleaver, a combat knife and a machete. All Logan had was a drunk Detective Constable Rennie.

'OK, everyone's in enough trouble as it is, don't make it any worse.'

Hoodie Number One laughed. 'You think you're so Fookin' big, don't yer? Well you know wha'? I eat pigs like you for breakfast…' He snaked his knife through the air in front of Logan's face. Back and forth in curving loops, his hand covered in blue DIY prison tattoos.

Logan felt his stomach clench. Why did it have to be a knife? Why did it always have to be a knife?

Well, Logan had a nasty surprise for him: pepper-spray beat a knife any day of the week. He felt in his pocket, then remembered it was sitting on his desk back at FHQ, waiting to be refilled.

Damn.

He held up his hands, trying to keep his voice level: sound as if he was in control. 'Come on, it doesn't have to be like this…'

Murray was sobbing, lying curled up on the ground between them. 'My face!'

Hoodie Number One grinned, wiped his blade clean on a KFC napkin, then flipped the butterfly knife shut. 'See you round, Mr Pig.' He bounced back a couple of steps, then he and his cohorts were off, bounding down Belmont Street, whooping and laughing.

Logan pulled out his mobile phone and called Control — telling them to get the CCTV team to look out for four white males in hooded tops and baseball caps running onto Schoolhill.

And send an ambulance.

Logan scowled at Rennie. 'You were a lot of bloody help!'

The constable shrugged. 'I'm actually quite pished.' He staggered on the blood-slicked cobbles. 'Aren't we going… going to chase them?'

'Two of us against four armed men? That's a great idea.' Logan pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, folded it into a square, and handed it to Kevin Murray, telling him to keep the pressure on.

Dark red seeped through the white material, saturating it.

Logan sent Rennie to fetch some napkins from the kebab shop, then squatted down beside the injured man.

'You want to tell me what that was all about?'

'Ma fuckin' face!'

Logan snapped on a pair of latex gloves, and pulled Murray's hands away. His nose was split in two, the lower half hanging loose. A deep gash stretched across his right cheek with bone glinting away in the depths, and then it all disappeared in a wash of dark scarlet.

'Is it bad? It's bad, isn't it? Fuckin' tell me!'

'It's… just a scratch. Couple of stitches and you'll be fine.' Lie. Lie. Lie. 'Who were they?'

But Murray just clutched his nose back together and started to cry, tears mingling with the blood of his slashed face.