Autographs In The Rain Part 15

The phone rang. 'Yes. As you're about to hear.'

He picked it up. 'Sir Adrian? Good; Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Martin, Head of CID. I thought I'd give you a call

Pye, across the desk, saw his boss pause and nod.

'Yes, Superintendent Pringle's told me about your discussion. Yes, sure . . .

'Dan's a plain-spoken man, sir, and he's spent most of his career in the city. But there's no better, or more committed, detective officer on this force . . .

'I'm glad you appreciate that, sir. I'm sure you'll appreciate also that he didn't intend to threaten you, any more, I doubt not, than you meant to give the impression that you were threatening him, or were dismissive of his efforts and those of his officers . ..

'No, of course not. We have a simple operating principle in dealing with the public: equality for all under the law. Every law-abiding citizen can expect the same treatment from us, sir, and no individual is subjected to inappropriate scrutiny, unless he or she is suspected of committing a crime or offence, or unless we have reason to believe they may be about to commit one ...

'Why should I believe otherwise, sir? I played rugby in the Borders many times in my career. I've been in many a club bar after many a match ... I may even have seen you once or twice. And I can't recall ever seeing anyone have an excessive amount to drink and get into a car .. .'

Pye searched Martin's face for any sign of sarcasm but found only bland innocence.

'Sure, Sir Adrian: a slight excess of zeal. Yes, of course I'll convey your apologies to Dan also. I'm glad you see it that way, and I'm pleased that you're so supportive of the work we're doing to trace these thieves . . .

'And good afternoon to you too, sir.'

He replaced the receiver. There you are, Sam,' he said. 'Smoothed over.

And I never told a single porky either.'66.'What! What about never seeing anyone in a rugby club get into a car over the limit?'

Martin grinned. 'I never looked. Anyway, although I didn't play for all that long after I joined the force, word gets round if there's a copper in the bar.

'I do remember Watson, by the way; he was pointed out to me at a club once. Real a.r.s.ehole, and he was p.i.s.sed as a rat.'

He swung round in his chair to face Pye. 'So, Sergeant. Why's your face been tripping you all morning? ... as if I had to ask.'

" 'You know?'

'Of course I b.l.o.o.d.y know. Superintendent Rose called me as soon as Mackenzie and Dell had left last night; she told me what had happened.

Then about an hour-and-a-half later, after you and Ruth had been to see the Big Man, he phoned me, absolutely f.u.c.king incandescent with anger.

'What was on that tape Ruth played him? He wouldn't tell me.'

The young detective winced. Then don't ask me to tell you either, sir.'

'That bad, eh. It could be "Goodbye Mr Mackenzie", then. Because the said DI had a surprise early morning visit from DCC Skinner, cleared in advance with Max Albright, the Strathclyde Head of CID... I phoned him this morning, just in case another diplomatic mission was necessary.

'Max said that Big Bob called him at home last night... I knew he was going to ... and asked formal permission to jump on Mackenzie's toes from a great height. He told me he said to go ahead, please, because the bloke's been in need of it for a while, only he couldn't find an excuse.'

Martin leaned back in his chair and grinned at Pye. 'Then, just before Dan's conscience call from the Borders, the DCC phoned me from his car, on his way back through here. Ruth's off the hook, Sam, with a grovel from the Bandit as well. He said we should listen to the news any time after midday.'

He checked his watch. 'It's close on twelve thirty now.' He reached back to a small table to switch on a small Sorry radio. Before he could do so, his office door opened unexpectedly and a tall, beautiful woman, in full bloom, stepped into the room. 'h.e.l.lo Karen,' Pye exclaimed, jumping to his feet and pulling a chair from the wall up to the desk.

'For G.o.d's sake, Sammy,' Karen Martin laughed, 'I'm not that pregnant!'

She turned towards her husband. 'Hope you don't mind me being early for lunch, but shopping for a lump dress took less time than I thought.'

Andy grinned back. 'Miracle of miracles. No, that's fine; but hold on for68.AUTOGRAPHS IN THE RAIN.

a minute, okay. There's something we want to hear.' He pushed the radio's

'on' b.u.t.ton.

They had to wait for only a minute before the bulletin began. The second item was a report of a midday press conference held in Glasgow by Strathclyde Police, to announce that a full-scale murder investigation was under way into the death of Mr John McConnell, of c.u.mbernauld.

It included a short soundbite from Detective Inspector David Mackenzie, appealing to the public for information about Mr McConnell's last days, and in particular for any sightings of a tall, dark-haired woman, and a blue car, seen outside his house on the afternoon when he was believed to have

died.

'Well, there you are,' murmured Martin, switching off the Sorry as his ex-detective wife looked at him, with her former professional curiosity aroused. 'The wrath of G.o.d hath fallen upon the woeful Bandit, who repenteth, plenty.''Where do we start, though, sir?' asked Gwendoline Dell. 'Now that your fii$t principle of detection's been stood on its head, "Never look further than the obvious without good reason", how do we actually progress this investigation?'

'Don't chance your arm, Gwennie,' Mackenzie growled. 'We're going to do the things that the uniformed numpties who handled the thing until the post-mortem report came in never bothered to do.

'For a start, no one's even talked to Mr McConnell's GP. We don't know anything about the old man's medical history. All we have is a.s.sumption and hearsay. For all we know the mystery woman in the blue car could have been a doctor. The old boy might have been under treatment for something that didn't show up in the PM.

'We should go back to the people we've interviewed so far, see if we can get them to be more specific about the things they told us. For example ...

not that we're going to get it... a registration number for that motor would be more than useful.

'You get your wheels turning on that, instead of sitting there laughing to yourself about me getting turned over.'

'As if I would, sir,' the blonde sergeant chided, with the very faintest of smiles.

'Gaun, b.u.g.g.e.r off,' Mackenzie laughed. 'There's something else I've got to do and you're not sitting in on that. Seeing a grown man crawl can be an awful experience.'

He waited until the door closed behind Dell and he heard her footsteps recede down the corridor, before picking up the phone on his desk and dialling a number which Bob Skinner had left him.

Bob Skinner. Mackenzie felt a cold pang at the memory, still fresh, of his introduction to the man. He knew within himself that it would stay fresh, always. What a mixture; cold and terrifying one minute, then, message transmitted, received and understood, affable, positive and helpful the next.70.AUTOGRAPHS IN THE RAIN.He had heard stories about the Edinburgh DCC; his old boss, Willie Haggerty, spoke of him often. But nothing had prepared him for the reality, or warned him of the extent of the folly of crossing him.

He made the call and heard two rings at the other end of the line before the woman answered. 'Ms McConnell,' he began, doing his best not to sound ingratiating, 'this is an apologetic David Mackenzie, from c.u.mbernauld.'

'I've been told that it's up to me whether I accept your apology or not, Inspector,' she said coldly,'... but it's been suggested that I should, and so I will. What can I do for you?'

'You could come through here, if you'd be good enough, and meet me at your uncle's house. I promise we'll let you in this time. Please, if it would make you feel easier, bring someone with you; DS Pye, maybe.'

'Sammy's my boyfriend, Mr Mackenzie, not my minder. Anyway, I don't imagine I'll need company, do you? I'm sure you'll be as considerate today as you were inconsiderate yesterday, bearing in mind that the last time I was in that house, my uncle was lying dead in the bath.

Til need to clear it with both my bosses, but a.s.suming that it's all right, I'll meet you there at four o'clock.''The Ruth business is all sorted out then, boss?' Detective Inspector Neil Mcjlhenney asked, rhetorically. 'What sort of a super-hero does that guy Mackenzie think he is, waltzing on to our patch and giving one of us ... as Ruthie is ... the third degree?'

'Ach,' said Skinner, 'we can all get a bit carried away with ourselves from time to time. The boy Bandit got carried too far away, that's all. He's a good copper, when you strip the bulls.h.i.t away.'

'You sound as if you wish he was working for you.'

'He is working for me. I'm taking a personal interest in this investigation; apart from b.l.o.o.d.y terrifying Ruth last night, they owe it to her to find out what happened to her uncle. f.u.c.king weird, Neil, I tell you. A fit old man till last summer, still with two good hips and playing single-figure golf going into his eighties, shooting well under his age practically every time he set foot on the course, then a few months later he just drowned in his bath.

'Mackenzie's promised to copy me all the reports coming out of his investigation. Meantime, there's something I'd like you to do for me. Get on to the pathologist in Glasgow who did the PM on the old boy, and ask him to fax or e-mail me his complete report, photos and all. I think I'll show it to Sarah, to see if anything occurs to her. I suppose you'd better tell him that, too; I don't want to ruffle any professional plumage.'