Autographs In The Rain Part 35

'No, of course not; she isn't back on the list. So far, I've drawn a blank with my check on drugs-related deaths. The fatalities are nearly all on smack, and most of them found in derelict buildings, not drowned in their baths.

No, I need Ruth's help again, that's all.'

'Let's see if she can, then.' Skinner leaned forward, picked up one of histelephones and buzzed twice. Less than half a minute later, the door opened.

'Christ, Ruthie,' he murmured, 'were you waiting outside?'

'More or less, sir. Mr Chase was in my office with about a day's worth of dictation; I just excused myself and ran.'

Skinner scowled. 'I must tell ACC Chase that anything he dictates over the weekend will have to be typed up by Jack Good. You've got your work cut out as it is, looking after the two of us five days a week.'

'It's part of his game plan, sir. He wants a secretary of his own.'

'He can have one,' Skinner retorted. 'But Good goes back to traffic.

That's the deal and I'll tell him, too.' He turned to Mackenzie. 'Sorry, David. We're washing linen here. Now, how can Ruth help you?'

'I want to take this investigation off on another tack, sir. I sat down yesterday and I reviewed everything we know about this death. There are questions all over the place; the drugs in the old man's system, the missing syringe that was used to inject him, the ident.i.ty of the woman, the video camera, what happened to all his possessions and his money . . .

'Then it came to me that there's another gap in our knowledge - one that we can fill. We know very little about the victim himself. We know that his only two living relatives were Ruth's mother, his sister-in-law, and Ruth herself. We know that he was a member of Dullatur Golf Club for about sixty years, till he stopped playing. We know that he was a British Rail manager in Glasgow, until his retirement.

'But that's it; and it's all completely impersonal. It gives me no clue to what this man was like ... and I should know that. So, Ruth.' He looked at her, directly for the first time. 'I'd be grateful if you would tell me about your uncle. What sort of man was he?'

She stared back at him, as if she was slightly puzzled by his question.

'What was he like?'

'Yes. For example, was he your favourite uncle?'

'Inspector, he was my only uncle: my late father had one brother and no sisters, and my mother is an only child.'

'I see. I knew you were his only niece, but I didn't realise that. It doesn't really answer the spirit of my question, though.'

Ruth caught his shrewd look. 'Would he have been my favourite uncle if he had compet.i.tion, you mean? No, probably not.'

'Why not?'

She sucked in her breath. 'I find it hard to say. I went to see him out of family duty as much as anything else; the fact that I hadn't seen him for

150.

AUTOGRAPHS IN THE RAIN.months before his death should tell you something. I may have felt guilty if I hadn't phoned him for a while, but I didn't do anything about it.

'He could be a very remote man. Not cold, just remote. For example, I don't recall my father ever telling any funny stories about him. My dad had a great sense of humour; he loved people. Yet he never had anything to say about Uncle John, even about their childhood, and there was less than two years between them in age . . . Dad was the older. He and Aunt Cecily didn't visit us very often, and we rarely visited them. When we did meet, it was always very formal; I never remember much chat.

'Later, when I got a bit older, I used to duck out of even those occasional visits.' Suddenly she frowned. 'For a while I didn't feel comfortable with Uncle John.'

'Why?' asked Mackenzie, quietly.

'There was this one time,' she murmured. 'I'd be about thirteen, and my mum and dad had a party for my dad's sixty-fifth birthday, and his retirement.

He was head teacher in a big secondary in Kilmarnock. Uncle John and Aunt Cecily were invited; I remember my mum being surprised when they came.

'Well, as I said, I was about thirteen. I was, shall we say, a big girl for my age, but I was still short of any s.e.xual awakening. I didn't have a clue about any of that stuff; nothing to go on save tweeny chit-chat. Nevertheless, I was wearing a very short skirt and a stick-up bra, because I thought they were fashionable and my good old mum had indulged me. She's about twenty years younger than my dad. He was mid-forties when they met; he was married before,' she added in explanation, 'but his first wife left him for a bloke in Glasgow.

'Anyway, there was music at the party. I had a dance with my dad, and then my Uncle John asked me to dance with him. It wasn't the same as dancing with my dad, I can tell you. Thinking about it now, I remember it quite clearly.'

'Are you saying he touched you?' asked Mackenzie.

'No,' she said quickly. 'Nowhere he shouldn't, not in the way I think you mean, anyway. No, there was a slow tune playing, and he danced fairly close; he was leaning over me, then he gave me a hug, and I felt this enormous hard thing pressed against my abdomen. It was just for a second or two, until the record stopped; I wasn't scared ... I suppose I was taken aback, more than anything else.

'I suppose that even then I must have known something about maleequipment, but it took a conversation with a school pal to tell me that dear Uncle John had had a monster erection for his little niece. Looking back now, I have no doubt that he was letting me know it, deliberately.'

'What did you do?'

'Nothing. But I knew that I didn't want to dance with him again. Even after I found out for sure that he hadn't had a stick of rock shoved down his trousers. I didn't say anything to my mum or dad. The terrible thing is that a young girl in that position is afraid that if she does tell tales, she'll be accused of making them up. But I was very wary of Uncle John for a while ,after that; in fact, for about five years, until I was ... how do I say ... not s.e.xually experienced, but s.e.xually confident, I probably made a point, subconsciously, of never being alone with him.'

As she looked at the inspector, her eyes seemed to harden. 'There you are, Bandit,' she said, 'there's an insight into my uncle the victim. He was an old lecher.'

At first Mackenzie gazed back at her as if he could think of nothing to say. 'I wish that was the first time I'd heard a story like that,' he murmured at last. 'But I saw the same thing actually happen to a kid once, at a family party, just like you. She screamed though, and I nailed the guy who did it there and then. I charged him with indecent a.s.sault.

'That was the time I told you about; the time I nicked my own brother.'

For the second time that afternoon, Bob Skinner's eyebrows rose in surprise. 'Have you spoken to Ruth's mother yet?' he asked quickly.

'No sir,' the Strathclyde detective answered.

'You should,' said Ruth. 'Maybe he tried it on with her as well.'152.44.Neil Mcllhenney looked at the three beautiful women who sat in a circle facing him. Stevie Steele had gone, taking with him a printout of John Steed's enigmatic message.

'It's easier for me to give this advice than it will be for you to take it,' he said. 'But I don't want you to get this thing out of proportion. This bloke has made two extravagant gestures so far; unpleasant stunts they were, but stupid too because they were both very risky. For example, Central London is patrolled by armed response teams; if one of them had been in the area when he fired that shotgun, it could have back-fired on him. Fatally.

'We've also found a security tape in the Balmoral which may show a man flipping a room key behind the reception counter. The suspect's back is to the camera but it was still a reckless thing to do.

'If there is a next time ...' the inspector muttered grimly, 'he's cooked.

'That said,' he added quickly, 'he's not going to do it here. No one will break into this house; I promise you that. You believe me?'

Glenys AlG.o.don's eyes dropped to her lap; even Louise looked hesitant for a moment. 'Of course,' she said, not quite quickly enough.

'Listen, Lou,' said Neil. 'If it makes you feel safer I will have an armed woman officer stationed permanently with you.'

Thanks, but no, really. I have faith in you; I'm still just a bit shaken by what happened the other night, that's all.'

He smiled at her. T don't blame you; but it's going to be all right. Honest.'

'Inspector? Can I ask you something?' Lucy Bankier's question interrupted their exchange.

'Fire away,' he said.

'What about our house in Bearsden? I mean, is it conceivable that this man could try something there? Dad's quite frail these days, and I wouldn't want to worry him with any of this, but if there's a chance ...'

'Lucy,' he told her, 'right now, your house in Bearsden is being watched by Special Branch officers.'As my boss said earlier, this sort of incident is being regarded as a form of terrorism these days, and handled appropriately. I'm not SB, but I've been given this role for a variety of reasons, the best being that this is how Mr Skinner wants it. Otherwise, my colleague Mario McGuire or one of his team would be here.'