‘Well that’s bloody convenient.’ Valentine thrust the pencil down on the desk. ‘Just what the hell is going on here? I’ve got a murdered ex-squaddie, a missing ex-squaddie – make that two of them missing including this Finnie character – and now Ayr’s answer to Arthur Daley and Terry McCann rolled into one has done a bunk.’
McCormack squinted. ‘I think it’s still progress.’
Valentine wasn’t so sure, he checked his watch, his ten minutes were up and he had to go and see the chief super. ‘Where’s Phil and Ally got to? They should be here by now.’
‘They’re still on the east coast, sir.’
‘You’re joking?’
‘They stopped overnight, apparently they’ve got a lead to follow up today.’
Valentine stood up, stepped away from his desk. ‘So on top of everything we’re two men down today.’
‘It could be worse,’ said McCormack.
‘How, just how could it be worse, Sylvia?’
‘We could be three men down.’
‘Just hold that very thought.’ Valentine headed for the door.
32
As he stood in front of the vending machine waiting for his coffee cup to fill, Valentine told himself that he’d had a long career, and it wasn’t without merit. There had been the predictable lows too, and the encounter with CS Martin that awaited him was definitely going to be another of those, but he had a lot to be proud of.
When he’d taken a knife in the heart, and been declared dead, that would have been a good enough reason for many to leave the force but he stayed on. He knew that financially, he really had no option though. And now that they’d moved to a bigger house, and moved his father in with them, those restraints had only tightened. The girls’ demands were growing more costly every year and there’d be university to consider soon. Clare’s spending might have been curtailed for now but that was a result of their huge splurge of late, she would be back to her old ways as soon as the sheen of a new house wore thin. A dull ache started deep inside his chest, somewhere in his damaged heart.
The DI picked up the cup, watched the slow trail of steam rising; the sharp aroma signalled the coming bitter assault on his tastebuds. He wouldn’t miss the King Street coffee, that was for certain. He turned towards the long corridor and made his way to the chief super’s office. He took a sip, it was hot, burning, and he jerked the cup away too quickly: a sliver of grey liquid landed on his white shirt front.
‘Shit.’ She’d notice that, right away. Dino was always pointing out the minor flaws that everyone else ignored, she presented them like evidence she was gathering to back up her own superiority.
Valentine rubbed at the coffee stain with his cuff, spreading the mark to a wider surface and transplanting some of it to the pristine cuff.
‘What’s the point?’
He knocked on the door and stepped back.
Silence. Maybe she’d gone out. He wished.
‘Come …’ Why did she always say that? It was like some ridiculous parody of a company boss from a seventies sit-com. As he opened the door he found he was grinning to himself.
‘Should I deduct from your demeanour that you’ve had a break, Bob?’ said Martin.
‘I always caution the team against wild deductions, chief.’ It was a bad start, and he knew it.
‘Sit down, Bob.’
She closed the desk diary she’d been studying, sat back and pointed her elbows to the floor. There was a pause that lasted for a few seconds and then she snatched a deep breath and started to speak. ‘It’s hard to know where to begin with you.’
Valentine stayed calm, ignored the fact that he already felt like a child visiting the headmaster.
‘I mean, it’s as if you’re trying to provoke me with all these nonsensical actions.’ She paused again, seemed to be waiting for the DI’s response, when she saw that none was on the way she raised her voice. ‘Do you know who my first call was from this morning?’
‘I don’t.’
‘William Reynolds, I’m sure the name doesn’t ring a bell, but when I tell you he’s the boss of a Dr Caruthers that you’ve been upsetting at Ayr Hospital then you might get the gist.’
‘Oh, right.’
‘Yes, Bob. Reynolds is chief executive of the local health board, not someone we want to fall out with given how often we’re in and out of their facilities.’
Valentine played with the crease in his trousers. ‘Look, does this Reynolds bloke know that Sandra Millar is a murder suspect?’
‘I don’t care if he does or not, Bob. I don’t want you upsetting him, or Dr Caruthers, or Major Rutherford, or the tea lady in the canteen at Killie Hospital, these are people we have to work with, our community, remember that.’
When she’d stopped shouting her voice reverberated in Valentine’s ears. ‘Do you understand me, Bob?’
‘Yes, I understand.’ He pushed away the crease in his trousers, brushed at his thighs as he tried to provide a defence. ‘It’s not been the easiest of cases …’
‘Now, I’ll stop you right there. None of the cases you handle are easy, Bob. You’re a murder squad detective, that in itself should give you a clue as to what to expect in your in-box.’
‘I’m well aware what it is I do. If I can be allowed to finish …’ He glanced at the chief super, she tightened her mouth. ‘This case, chief, is not your classic hot-blooded murder. It might look that way, but every time we take a step forward we’re yanked three steps back. It’s not straightforward, not a matter of joining all the dots in the constellated disadvantage, there’s more to this, much more.’
‘Bob, I’ve had two hospitals complain about you since Tulloch was stabbed, I’ve had to hose down the bloody army because of your attitude and to top it all, no, to put the cherry on the top of this steaming pile of shit that you are calling a murder investigation – and I’ve been through your files so I know what I’m talking about – I find out you’ve been withholding evidence from me.’
Valentine uncrossed his legs, as he leaned towards Dino’s desk, the temptation to scream back at her was only halted by his ramping heart rate and the warnings of his medics about stress. He eased himself back in his chair and drew breath.
‘The post-mortem report was an oversight on my part.’
‘What was that?’
‘I’d like to apologise, there’s no excuse for not passing that on immediately. I should have done, and I didn’t.’
The admission blindsided the chief super. She clearly didn’t believe she was hearing it. ‘Are you trying to cover for someone on the squad – Ally forget to deliver it to me, did he?’
‘No. It was my fault.’
‘Well it wasn’t Phil, he’s too bloody anal about admin. Was it that Glasgow girl, Sylvia?’
‘I just told you. I take full responsibility, it was an oversight.’
‘And you’re not even going to play the old overloaded-with-work tune?’
The DI stalled, he hadn’t expected her to react in this manner. He’d made a serious error, she had every right to question his judgement, suspend him or worse. But now it seemed like she suspected him of reverse psychology, a double bluff that she refused to fall for, only the truth was much simpler.
They stared at each other over the desk, dredging each other’s gaze for a solution to the impasse. The silence was broken by the telephone sounding like a bell between rounds.
‘Hello, CS Martin.’
It felt like an intrusion to listen to the call, Valentine got up and paced around the room. The conversational tone of the call had quickly changed, concern crept into the chief super’s voice. She crouched over her desk now, slouched into the receiver like it was her only means of support.
‘What … Say that again … When?’
CS Martin didn’t move, her shoulders appeared locked in a downward-facing angle to the desk, where her free hand was a tense fist.
Valentine became aware of the rapid change in the room’s atmosphere. He returned to his seat and tried to look innocent whilst discerning what the talk was about.