‘Wait!’
Danny steadied his hand.
‘Dunbar works for Terry.’
‘Terry Gilmartin?’
‘Naw, Terry’s Chocolate Orange. Of course, Gilmartin. Now get the fuck off me. If ye’d telt me it was that mental bastard ye wanted to talk about I’d have telt ye.’
‘Of course you would have. So tell me about him.’
Paxton spat on the ground and sighed heavily.
‘He’s new. And I don’t like him much. Cocky young cunt, aff his heid. He sorted out two of Terry’s boys and Terry liked what he heard, gave him a few jobs to do. I think Terry’s got something on him though, keeps him working.’
‘What kind of jobs?’
‘Frighteners — and worse. Couple of times Terry’s wanted people hurt to send out a message. So he sent this mental fucker to do it. Couple of wee chancers were selling on Terry’s turf so he got this Dunbar to cut them a bit. Stuff like that.’
‘Why do you keep saying he’s mental?’
‘I think Terry must be paying him in nose candy because the guy always seems to be wired tae the moon. But I don’t know if it’s the coke or he’s just a psycho but the guy enjoys it too much. Ye can always tell the bad nutters when they take a real pleasure in their work. He was sent after some poor bastard to pull him back into line and ended up killing the guy’s fucking dug. A dug, can you believe that?’
A bell rang in Winter’s mind: Swanston Street. The ned named Jason Hewitt and his dead bullmastiff.
‘He killed a dog?’ he repeated to Paxton. ‘And did he cut the guy’s arm off as well?’
‘Well, aye. He did that anaw but that was just business. He had nae right to go killing the poor fucking dug.’
Danny looked questioningly at Winter but he just shook his head and mouthed the word ‘later’ at him.
‘So where do we find Dunbar?’
‘It’s on the east coast, doon the road from Edinburgh. Fuck off.’
‘Funny man, Glenn. Where do I find him?’
‘Gilmartin will kill me if he thinks I’ve put ye onto Dunbar. He’s got a soft spot for him, sees him as a pet psycho.’
‘So we make sure that doesn’t happen. Tell me somewhere we can find him, somewhere away from Gilmartin. That will suit both of us.’
‘Munn’s Vaults on Maryhill Road. He drinks in there. That’s aw know and aw you’re getting.’
‘That’s all I need. Okay, Glenn, thanks for your help. You better get back inside before your chicken jalfrezi gets cold. And think of a nice wee story to tell if someone asks why you had to step outside for a while. Maybe tell them some wee lassie’s granddad wanted a word ’cos you were cheating on her. How about that?’
Paxton just grunted, his arm still held in place by Danny’s strong grip.
‘And don’t even think of coming after us, Glenn,’ Danny continued. ‘For starters, I’ll finish off this job on your arm and, secondly, I’ll be forced to tell mad, mental Sam Dunbar and his boss where I got my information from. Capisce?’
‘Aye, okay, okay.’
‘Good. I thought you’d see sense but just in case…’ Danny fished in the man’s pockets till he emerged with a set of car keys. ‘I’ll drop these into the snow at the top of the car park. You can get them there.’
‘Fucksake.’
‘Ah, come on, Glenn. You know it makes sense. The exercise will do you good.’
CHAPTER 29
‘DI Sutton, please.’
‘Speaking.’
‘Aaron, hi. It’s Tony Winter. You okay for a quick chat?’
‘Tony, how you doing? Yeah, sure. Free as a bird. Apart from a caseload that could sink the Titanic and an ex-wife who’s making my life a misery by phoning me every five minutes. What can I do you for?’
‘I wanted to talk to you about that job we were both on in Swanston Street. The dog that was cut in half and the guy that had part of his arm chopped off?’
‘How could I forget? What about it?’
‘I was just wondering if you had any more on it. I’ve been finishing off my filing and noseying through the R2S to see what was doing.’
There was a long silence on the other end of the line before Sutton answered.
‘Well, there’s not much on the R2S because we don’t have much to put on it. Witness statements gave us fuck all, as per usual. Victims were saying fuck all, as per usual. I don’t have a name for it or I’d have pulled someone in. But to be honest, Tony, this is way down my priority list. I’ve got at least a dozen cases that need attention before this one.’
‘Right. So no one’s been suggested as the guy behind this?’
There was another lengthy silence.
‘I said so. You doing house calls these days as well, Tony?’
‘Eh? No. I’m just… It was the dog being cut in half, you know. I took an interest in it.’
‘Didn’t take you for an animal lover.’
‘No, I’m not really. But it made a great picture.’
‘A great picture? Addison always said you were weird. C’mon, Tony, spill. Why are you so interested in this?’
Winter hesitated.
‘It’s like you said: I’m weird. The dog being sliced in two and the guy having his arm chopped off just got me interested. It’s not the kind of thing you forget in a hurry.’
‘Bollocks. If you know something about this, you should tell me. Fuck knows when I’ll get the chance to do anything about it but you should still tell me.’
‘Aaron, I can’t. For a start, what I know might not be right. It could be way off the mark. And… I just can’t. Not yet, anyway.’
‘So why the hell are you phoning me?’
‘Looking for info. You heard of any other cases with a similar MO?’
Sutton laughed.
‘I just love it when civilians start quoting jargon at me that they’ve heard on CSI: Miami. Okay, so what do you reckon his MO is?’
‘Well, the samurai sword, of course. Cutting off arms. And for the record, I don’t watch CSI: Miami. The guy who plays Horatio Caine is terrible. I’m more of a CSI: New York man.’
Sutton sighed heavily.
‘Okay. Here’s what I’ll do: if I get a minute, I’ll look through the computer and see if there’s anything else like this on the go. If there is, I’ll tell you. And if I do, then you tell me what you know. And don’t piss me about. Okay?’
‘Okay.’
‘And Tony…’
‘What?’
‘You’re wrong about Horatio Caine. The guy who plays him is supposed to be as cheesy as that.’
‘You think?’
‘Yeah. Mind you, that thing with the sunglasses gets right on my tits.’
CHAPTER 30
‘How’s your dad?’
‘Not good. The home say he seems to be getting a bit worse each week. They’re seeing him more than I am and I think they’re right. I just can’t stand the thought of him slipping away. I feel like I’m losing him.’
They were in bed together, Rachel lying facing the window, staring at the slate-coloured sky, and Tony tucked in behind, his arms around her. He was naked; she was in pyjamas and still cold despite the heating being on twenty-four hours a day since the cold snap began. According to the telly, the temperature would drop to minus fifteen that night and she was feeling every degree of it. It was just after midnight and they were both on in the morning but, despite being tired, neither was ready for sleep.
‘I want to tell you that everything will be all right but I can’t.’
‘I know. He won’t get better. But maybe… maybe he won’t get worse. That’s the best I can hope for.’
‘But you’re doing all you can do for him. You’re pushing yourself to the edge as it is.’