‘He could be anywhere,’ said Harris. ‘I suspected the Paton boy was his work too. I called him on it and he admitted Joe had gone too far. Supposedly it was an accident, Joe being over-exuberant trying to get information about where the money was, but after that I was out. I broke off all communication. Jesus Christ, I’m a police officer, maybe not a good one, but I know the consequences of where this is all going.’
‘Do you, Eddy?’ said Martin. ‘I don’t think you’ve the faintest idea.’ She picked up the telephone and threw it in his lap. ‘Get onto Leask now, get a whereabouts and get bloody moving.’
As Harris dialled the number the office fell into silence. Valentine tried to weigh up what he had just seen and heard but it was almost too much for him. Eddy had been a fool but could he judge him for that? Every day he himself had dealt with people like Norrie Leask and faced temptation, all it took was a brief loss of concentration or even carelessness and you were in the drink. Valentine was lucky to be a family man – his wife and daughters meant everything to him – but others weren’t so fortunate to have what he did. If Harris had slipped up and Leask had found out then the chances were that he would do anything Leask asked to keep quiet. People were simple to handle when they had secrets. When they were vain and stupid too, like Harris, then they were easy to manipulate.
Harris replaced the receiver on the cradle and looked towards the chief super. ‘That was Joe.’
‘Who?’ she said.
‘Leask’s wingman, he takes care of business, well most business.’
‘He’s a wrist breaker, a raving psycho,’ said Valentine. ‘Stop stalling, Eddy, where’s Leask?’
‘Well, the last place I expected – Brodick.’
‘He’s on Arran?’ said Martin.
‘Dining in fine style as we speak, at the Auchrannie Hotel.’
‘What the bloody hell’s he doing there?’
‘Seems he got a tip-off. He’s been looking for Grant Finnie, or more precisely he’s been looking for his money, Finnie just happens to be in possession of it.’
‘Well he won’t be for much longer if Leask has his way,’ said Valentine.
The chief super reached into her drawer and pulled out her car keys, threw them at Valentine. ‘That’s all we need another murder to add to the two, now unsolved, we already have. Try explaining that to the bloody papers.’
‘What am I to do with these?’ said Valentine, holding up the keys.
‘Get driving.’ She was putting on her jacket, heading for the door. ‘We can’t leave this to the island plod, it’s a potential murder not a missing bobble hat.’
‘We’ll need to get the ferry, preferably one that takes vehicles.’
‘Shit. Tell me this isn’t happening.’
Valentine moved towards the desk, stretched over and pulled the phone towards him. ‘I’m calling Glasgow, get them to send the copter.’
Martin dug her hands into her jacket pockets, leaned her back against the wall and sighed to the heavens. ‘Blow my budget as well, why don’t you … Get onto the Air Support Unit in Glasgow now, Bob.’
45
Valentine directed the helicopter controller at Air Support to collect himself, Martin and McCormack from the Low Green and called ahead for uniform to make sure the area was cleared. There was only one helicopter under contract to the force and he had expected a protracted debate about its usage but got none after offering the controller the opportunity to speak with CS Martin personally. He smiled at the response, but didn’t let on why; the chief super had started pacing her office now, breaking into occasional rants at DI Harris and Major Rutherford.
‘I should put the bloody pair of you in the cells, now,’ said CS Martin. ‘Just about pushed me out the door to front that press conference didn’t you? It’ll be a long time before I live that down.’
As she berated the men, Valentine confirmed the details once more with Air Support and stepped away from the phone. ‘Right, we’ll set off in ten minutes,’ he said.
‘What’s wrong with right away?’ said Martin.
Valentine flagged her down. ‘We’ve got plenty of time, they have to get here first.’
The CS took the opportunity to start once more on the list of grievances she had with Harris and Rutherford. ‘Sylvia, get Phil and Ally in here would you, they can escort this pair of twats down to the interview rooms and make a start on getting full statements.’
‘Hang on a minute,’ said Rutherford. ‘I don’t think you’ve got any cause to hold me here.’
‘Don’t you? Well that’s good I don’t give a bloody toss what you think, Tom. But if you’re looking for a reason to hang around then how about a detailed account of why you saw fit to withhold vital information from my officers relating to Tulloch and Finnie.’
‘I hardly think it was vital …’
‘A boy died, a sixteen-year-old because you wrong- footed my team, or doesn’t that bother you? No probably not, just another bit of collateral damage in your campaign isn’t it?’
Sylvia broke in, ‘Phil and Ally are on their way up right away.’
‘Good,’ said Martin. ‘Tell them to contact the Ministry of Defence with the new facts and get all the case files relating to Tulloch and Finnie’s departure from the army. I want to see heads roll. We’re going to blow this cover-up wide open.’
Valentine took the driver’s seat of Martin’s Audi. The road to the Low Green passed mainly in silence, except for the chief super’s curses every time a traffic light shone red or a pedestrian dared to cross in front of the car. There was very little she could say to mend the situation, an apology would be trite and useless, and wouldn’t bring back the murder victims or those who had been affected by their deaths. Saying sorry might be some kind of balm to Valentine’s ego, but he didn’t want to hear it; he knew Martin was, if not contrite, then feeling an embarrassment verging on shame and that was good enough for him.
‘Sir, would you like me to call ahead, tell the local officers we’re on the way?’ said McCormack.
‘God no,’ said Valentine. ‘You’ll only scare the horses. Or worse, the local team will wade in and we’ll be chasing Leask through the wilds for the next fortnight. No, they can find out why we’re there when we arrive.’
‘Yes, sir.’
At the Low Green the team caught the sound of the helicopter in the distance, a few day-trippers were interested enough to stop and stare at the sky. Uniform were clearing the ground for landing, herding people onto the pavements and stopping dog walkers from heading for the grass. As they waited, counting the moments to the copter’s descent, Martin approached Valentine and said, ‘This is a bloody mess, isn’t it?’
‘It’s not pretty.’
‘I’ll get my knuckles reddened for this, you know.’
‘I don’t think you can be blamed.’
Martin spat, ‘No. And neither do I, Bob, but we both know that’s not going to stop them.’
‘I suppose not,’ he dipped his head. ‘But you shouldn’t blame yourself.’
She calmed for a moment, then resumed her talk. ‘Tell me, did you suspect Eddy of anything, ever?’
The chief super gazed into Valentine, he saw she was checking him for non-verbal cues that might betray him so he held firm. Harris was finished, he knew that, and there was very little to be gained from making matters any worse for him. Despite the situation, the DI saw that Harris didn’t need any more trouble. ‘No, I never suspected Eddy of anything.’
‘No, me neither. His coat’s been on a slack hook for a long time but I thought that was him just getting lazy – turns out he’s been anything but. Silly bastard. He’ll be hung out to dry for this.’
‘And so he should be.’ It didn’t please Valentine to think of another officer being brought down, even Flash Harris. But an officer treating the job with such contempt, that was something altogether different. He couldn’t imagine letting his own standards fall so low, how could anyone else? There was a collective shame that Harris had brought on everyone and Valentine didn’t want to see others in the station suffer because of it.