Stuart MacBride - Close to the Bone

Chalmers pulled up at the kerb. Left the motor running. ‘Not looking good, is it? ’

Logan climbed out into the sunshine.

The whumping blades of a helicopter thrummed from somewhere over Kirkhill Forest; a child’s happy squealing came from nearby, punctuated by the high-pitched yip of a small dog; the distant bagpipe drone of a lawnmower. Tuneless whistling from the man three houses down as he washed his Range Rover Sport.

Logan opened the gate and marched up the drive. A portico jutted out of the building, making a little rectangle of shade from the sun. He pressed the button on the intercom and classical music sounded deep within the house, followed by a dog barking. Something big, with lots of teeth.

A minute later, Ravel’s Bolero faded away. Still nothing from the intercom. But the hell-hound sounded like a gun going off, over and over again.

Logan gave the bell another try.

Chalmers wandered up beside him. ‘Maybe they’re out? ’

‘Or maybe they’re just- Sodding hell, what now ? ’

Steel’s ringtone blared out of his pocket. He hauled out his mobile and pointed Chalmers at a sweep of lockblock leading around the side of the house. ‘Try round the back.’

She looked up at the house, rubbing her thumb across the tips of her fingers. ‘What if the dog-’

‘If it could get outside, we’d be running for our lives with no arse in our trousers by now. Go.’

As soon as she was gone, he took the call. ‘I’m doing it, OK? I’ve just been to the Garfields’, and now I’m at the Chungs’.’

‘ What’s happening with that sodding necklacing victim? How come you’ve no’ got an ID yet? ’

He stared up at the pale-blue sky. A plane roared into view, fresh out of Aberdeen Airport, banking around to head south, or east, going somewhere else. Lucky sods. ‘How many things do you think I can actually do at the one time? I’m looking for-’

‘ What did I tell you about organizing things? You’re no’ supposed to be running about- ’

‘You told me to come out here! You , not me.’

A harrumph. ‘ Aye, well. . Don’t change the subject. ’

‘We’ll get an ID when we get an ID. Now bugger off and let me do my job.’ He hung up. Chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment. Maybe telling Steel to bugger off wasn’t the best of ideas. He switched the thing off.

Chalmers appeared through the gate again. Stopped by the side of the house, and scraped the sole of her shoe across the kerbing that bordered the path. ‘All locked up round there. The only thing moving in there is an Alsatian the size of a horse. So Mr and Mrs Chung are either hiding under the bed, the dog’s eaten them, or they’re out.’ Then more scraping.

Logan took out a business card and printed a note on the back of it in small careful letters: ‘SORRY WE MISSED YOU. CAN YOU GIVE ME A CALL SO I CAN ARRANGE A TIME TO COME OVER AND DISCUSS ANTHONY? ’ Then stuck it through the letter box.

Chalmers had finished with the kerbing, now she was dragging her shoe across the grass. . ‘Where to? ’

Logan marched down the drive towards the gates. ‘Nothing else we can do here. Time to call it a night.’

Logan slid the viewing hatch open and peered into the cell. Blinked. Then backed off a couple of paces, wafting his hand in front of his nose. The sharp-edged stench of stale alcohol curdled the air, making his eyes water. ‘God, it’s like a brewery in there. .’

The Police Custody and Security Officer wrinkled her nose. ‘He was doing tequila shots when they picked him up. I hear he’d downed a whole bottle of Bells on his own first.’

Logan stepped up to the hatch again.

The cell wasn’t much bigger than a hotel bathroom. The red-brown terrazzo floor was littered with discarded clothing, bright sunlight streaming through the little square panes of glass that made up the window. They cast glowing cubes of light on Reuben’s naked back, making the tuft of hair between his shoulder blades shine.

He was lying on his side, bum to the door, naked except for a pair of dark-blue pants and a single sock. Snoring. Like a pig from a horror film.

The PCSO shuddered. ‘Took three of us to get him into the recovery position.’

‘He give you any trouble? ’

‘Nope: all nice and calm. Told Michelle he loved her, then did the same to Mark. But me? ’ She sighed. ‘Always the bridesmaid. .’

Reuben twitched and a deep rattling grunt echoed out into the corridor.

She clacked the hatch closed again. ‘Be still my beating heart.’

Logan looked back, along the corridor. ‘Any chance you can stick him in an interview room? ’

‘Couldn’t even wake him for the Duty Doc’s examination. That lump of raw sex is dead to the world. Going to have a stinker of a hangover tomorrow morning.’

‘Good.’

The nurse looked up from her copy of Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason and smiled. It made little dimples in her plump cheeks. ‘Evening, stranger.’

Logan smiled back. ‘Evening, Claire, how’s Bill’s piles? ’

She stuck out a hand, palm down, fingers spread, then wiggled it from side to side. ‘You know what he’s like. Loves a curry, never thinks of the consequences. Men, eh? ’

‘That’s why you ladies love us.’ He pointed down the corridor to the private room at the end. Blinds drawn. ‘She in? ’

‘Well, she popped out for a bit of shopping, but she’s back now. Why don’t you go in and I’ll be along in a bit? ’

Logan let himself into the room. Dark. He squinted in the gloom. ‘What, you’re a vampire now? ’

He crossed to the other side and hauled the curtains open. Sunlight streamed in, glittering back from the stainless-steel fixtures. Leaning on the windowsill, he looked down at the little chunk of grass pinned to the ground by thin trees, their green leaves shining in the warm evening. A wee grey shape lumped into view, then hunkered down, eating.

‘That rabbit’s back again. And I think he’s got a knife. .’

‘Don’t be daft.’ Sam sat up in the bed. She must’ve had her hair done since lunchtime, because it was a shocking shade of bright scarlet. The tattoos on her arms poked out from the short sleeves of her Skeleton Bob T-shirt. She threw the covers back, exposing a pair of red shorts and thigh-high black-and-white stripy stockings. ‘You bring me a present? ’

He stuck a bottle of Lucozade on the bedside cabinet, then followed it up with a copy of Skin Deep — ‘CYANIDE GIRLS GONE WILD’ and a Now — ‘NICHOLE SPEAKS: ACTING SAVED ME FROM A LIFE OF CRIME’. Then collapsed into the visitor’s chair, arms and legs hanging loose. ‘God, what a day .’

‘Did you get milk and Marmite? ’

‘In the car.’ He slipped his shoes off and stuck his feet up on the bed. ‘Steel’s being an absolute. . pain in the neck. You’d think I’d get some sympathy for getting punched in the nose, wouldn’t you? ’

Samantha poked his left foot. ‘You’ve got a hole in your sock.’

‘But no, all she does is moan and whinge.’

‘Honestly, it’s like going out with a hobo. Give it a decent burial and buy some new socks. Maybe even, shock horror, in a colour other than black? ’

He smiled at her. ‘Thought you goths loved black.’

‘Not when it comes to underwear.’ She bounced a couple of times. Then scooted forward, until she was kneeling on the edge of the bed, looming over him. ‘I want a new tattoo. Something spiky and swirly, with a cat.’

‘Of course, Steel’s only moaning because the ACC’s sandpapering her backside over this necklacing thing. Press are going mental after we caught the guy who killed him.’