Стюарт Макбрайд - The Coffinmaker’s Garden

Turned my back for 2 minutes and

Campbell had my other cake slice!

Yeah, he’d looked the type. Still, I’m sure I could make her feel better:

If it’s any consolation, Henry’s eaten that

sausage I was going to buy you. He says

it was delicious.

SEND.

Sometimes, it was the simple things in life that gave you pleasure.

I was halfway through my burger before the next text came in.

RHONA:

Chief Super’s in giving Shifty a pep talk

now.

Can hear it through the wall.

Lots of shouting & swearing.

Apparently we’re an incompetent bunch of

arseholes.

Kid’s mother was all over the lunchtime

news saying the same thing.

Which is great when we’re the ones

slogging our guts out trying to find her kid

before some sicko strangles him.

Chief Superintendent Angus McEwan, the gift that kept on giving.

As if the team didn’t know how important it was to find Toby Macmillan. As if they didn’t know the first twenty-four hours were the most important. As if they didn’t know Toby was probably already dead. Because, let’s face it, Gòrach wasn’t really about the delayed gratification, was he? Well, except when it came to strangling his victims. That he liked to take his time over.

Crunched my way through a couple of chips.

Unless that was part of his evolving MO, of course. Andrew Brennan is a victim of opportunity: no planning involved, dumped where he was killed. Oscar Harris: abducted, killed and the body hidden. Lewis Talbot: abducted, taken deep into the woods, killed over a long time, then hidden so well we didn’t find his body for nearly two months.

Maybe Gòrach had got himself a hideaway: somewhere he could keep a small boy for a few days? God knew there were enough abandoned buildings and shacks in the thick swathe of forest that ran from Camburn Woods to the Murders. Moncuir Wood alone was big enough to lose a small town in.

Might be worth chasing up.

Shifty,

Got an idea for you: get a thermal-imaging

camera and a helicopter. Do a sweep of

the woods. See if you can pick up Toby

Macmillan’s heat signature.

SEND.

Another bite of burger. Chewing as I stared out the window at the castle.

Wonder what Alice was up to...

Look at me: sitting here; shoving fried food into my face, one-handed; crouched over my phone like a braindead teenager. Supposed to be a grown man.

Rhona tells me you’ve been puking your

ring all day. Perhaps it’s time to lay off the

booze for a while, before we have to have

an intervention?

Henry says “Hi.”

SEND.

You know, an intervention might not be such a bad idea. Maybe it’d help Alice live to see her thirty-third birthday.

‘So this is where you’ve been hiding.’

Wonderful.

And Mother thought the universe hated her .

I looked up and there was Jennifer Prentice, hauling out the chair opposite and sinking into it.

Big glass of red wine in one hand. A tight smile that barely dented her frozen face. ‘Wasn’t hard to find you, in case you’re wondering. Your pretty little detective sergeant girl said you’d both skipped lunch, so I looked for the nearest restaurant to the police station, open on a Sunday afternoon, that lets dogs in. And there you were, sitting in the window.’

I went back to my burger. ‘Sod off, Jennifer.’

‘She’s quite something, isn’t she? DS Franklin? Bet she’d be great in a threesome. That lovely dark skin of hers, all naked and glistening. It’d look very sexy next to mine, wouldn’t it? Our limbs intertwined, lips and tongues exploring each other. You’d like that.’

And with that delightful image, the burger curdled in my mouth.

I dumped the rest of it back on the plate. ‘Whatever you want, might as well bugger off right now, because you’re not getting it.’

Ding-buzz .

UNKNOWN NUMBER:

I’m sorry

Odd...

Maybe Alice had borrowed a phone from one of Shifty’s team and that’s why the number wasn’t recognised? That’s what happened when you got too drunk to put your mobile on to charge overnight.

‘Now, Ash, is that any way to talk to an old friend? One who has a proposition for you?’ Jennifer’s wink wasn’t anywhere near as appealing as the waitress’s. ‘And not a sexual one this time.’ She looked over her shoulder.

I followed her gaze.

Helen MacNeil was outside, standing with her arms folded, back against the railings, coat buffeted by the wind. Face like she was trying to stare down the world.

‘Thank God, right? I mean, can you imagine that in the nude?’ Jennifer faked a shudder. Then leaned forwards. Glanced left and right as if someone might be eavesdropping. ‘Six million pounds. I checked it out: Steve Jericho’s place got knocked over fifteen years ago. Hallelujah Bingo, cash-in-transit job. Official report was they made off with twenty grand, but unofficially Steve Jericho had got his hands on Nigel Cavendish’s stash — all the stuff he’d robbed from private collections and museums, going back to the seventies.’

‘Cavendish?’ Why did that name sound—

‘Hacked to pieces in his living room with a machete. Anyway, Helen says Billy “the Axe” Macgregor was the one who nicked Steve Jericho’s stuff. No one ever found the armoured car, or its driver.’ Jennifer’s eyes widened. ‘She says it’s still in Oldcastle, and she knows where .’

‘Did you follow me all the way here for that?’ I scrubbed my hands clean on the napkin. ‘Not interested.’

‘Four million for her and two million for us .’ A glistening pink tongue flickered around Jennifer’s lips. ‘That’s one million pounds each, all we have to do is find Gordon Smith. And you’re doing that anyway! It’s a win-win.’ She sat back and toasted me with her glass, before downing a mouthful.

Ding-buzz .

UNKNOWN NUMBER:

I didn’t want 2 let them arrest U but I had

2 run

grandad doesn’t like it when I talk 2

people

Wait a minute.

Wait a bloody sodding minute.

Ding-buzz .

UNKNOWN NUMBER:

We go 2 the Xmas market every year as a

treat but U was shouting at me & the

police was there & if they cot us he would

B V angry

I don’t want 2 make him angry

I scraped my chair back, grabbed the phone and stuffed it into my pocket. ‘I’m not going to do anything with you, Jennifer. Not now. Not ever.’ Gave her a smile as I hauled on my jacket. ‘And Helen offered me two million, so why the hell would I need you?’ Picked up my walking stick and Henry’s lead. Nodded at the half-eaten burger and chips. ‘You can finish that if you like.’

Dumped fifteen quid on the bar on the way past, and limped into the windy sunshine.

Fiddled my phone out again and hit the call icon at the top of the two unknown text messages. It rang twice, then disconnected.

Ding-buzz .

UNKNOWN NUMBER:

U can’t call me!!!!!!!! Grandad doesn’t no I

have this phone! He can’t find out!!!!! If

he finds out it’ll upset him & he’ll be angry

with me!!!!!!!

Holy shit. It was her.

Leah, tell me where you are and we’ll

come get you. You don’t have to be

scared, we can fix this if you tell me

where you are.

Send.

Ding-buzz .

UNKNOWN NUMBER:

I don’t no where we R! I’m frightened!!!

He’s bin there all my live & I love him but

he scares me so much

He’s coming back I have 2 go!!!

Right, there was only one thing for it.