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The assistant chief constable frowned. ‘I hear what you’re saying, Mr Barker, and I’ve got no problem with putting Mr Boras in front of the press. But I’d like to check our perspectives here. I suppose that Zrinka’s death is a tragedy for you too. .’

‘Of course, of course,’ Barker exclaimed, a little too quickly.

‘. . being so close to the family, so maybe your professional thinking is affected. As I understand it, Continental IT is a hugely successful company. Last year it returned profits of more than a half a billion euros. Or am I wrong?’

‘No, that’s correct.’

‘In addition to that fifty-five per cent of the shares are held by an investment trust owned by the Boras family; so, although it’s a public company, effective control still lies in their hands.’

The ginger eyebrows rose. ‘You have been doing your homework. You’re an unusual policeman, if I may say so.’

‘I like to know who I’m dealing with. But I’m not so unusuaclass="underline" I had a good teacher. What I’m getting around to saying is that, from where I’m sat, you’re anticipating a crisis that isn’t going to happen. Okay, so some institutional shareholders get a bit twitchy, short term. That isn’t going to affect the employees’ interests at all, and long-term it isn’t going to affect the company’s stock-market value.’

The ex-journalist shifted in his seat, glancing out of the window at the Gyle shopping mall as the car cruised through the roundabout that led into it. ‘Ah, but with respect,’ he ventured, ‘the issues are greater than you know.’

‘So enlighten me.’ Barker winced, slightly, and nodded in the direction of the driver. Mackie caught the implication. ‘Don’t worry about PC Cash,’ he said. ‘In this car he never hears what’s said in the back seat. Isn’t that right, Wattie?’

A voice came from the front. ‘I beg your pardon, sir?’

Boras’s assistant frowned. ‘On that basis, then.’ Nonetheless his voice dropped to little more than a whisper. ‘At this moment,’ he continued, ‘Mr Boras is negotiating an agreed takeover of Continental IT by a very large American company. In these circumstances the share price is of paramount importance. Nothing can be allowed to destabilise it, even in the short term. That’s why it has to be clear to everybody that it is business as usual for Davor Boras, in spite of his grief.’ He sighed. ‘This couldn’t have happened at a worse moment.’

‘Is there an ideal moment for a father to lose his daughter, Mr Barker?’ asked Mackie, quietly.

‘Of course not, but happening when it has, so close to the takeover, I’m tempted to wonder whether the two events might be connected.’

The police officer gasped. ‘Are you suggesting that the Americans might have arranged a hit on Zrinka to devalue her father’s business?’

‘Dark things happen; you must know that.’

‘Yes, but in this case that isn’t one of them. Ms Boras’s murder has got nothing to do with Continental IT. We may not know who killed her, not yet, but we know that much. Mr Barker, you can have everything you ask for in terms of the media. Our PR manager, Alan Royston, will clear our statement with you. When we brief the press, your boss can sit beside our head of CID. All that’s fine.’

‘Thank you very much.’

‘In return. .’ he paused ‘I. . want Mr Boras, and his wife, if she’s up to it, to be available for interview by our investigating officers tomorrow morning. We need to talk to them about their relationship with Zrinka.’

‘They may not like that.’

Mackie made eye contact and held it. ‘I may not give a fuck,’ he said quietly. ‘That’s what’s going to happen.’

Twenty-three

Mario was in the kitchen of his penthouse in Leith’s gentrified quarter; ‘Willow’, from the first Café del Mar Aria album, was playing on his stereo system, yet he was aware nonetheless of the apartment’s main door opening. He did not react; instead he carried on chopping a large red pepper until he felt two slender arms slip round his waist, two firm breasts press into his back, and a head settle on his shoulder.

‘You’re late,’ he murmured, as he turned in her embrace to kiss her. ‘It’s quarter to seven.’

‘Things to do,’ Paula replied, after a while.

‘Such as?’

She jerked a thumb over her shoulder and he followed its direction. A brown-paper bag lay on the work surface. ‘Rolls,’ she murmured, ‘for the morning.’

‘What about the bacon?’

‘Don’t kid me. You’ve always got bacon in the fridge.’

‘I’m that predictable, eh?’

‘Only in your shopping habits. The rest of the time you’re as daft and impulsive as you ever were.’

He pressed her closer to him. ‘Much like yourself, then.’

‘Is that what you think? Is that what’s wrong with me?’

‘I don’t see anything wrong with you. You wanted me to look you in the eye and tell you that, and here, I’m doing it.’

‘I know, love.’ She took a button of his open-necked shirt and twirled it in her fingers. ‘And I love you for your faith in me; but that’s not what we were talking about earlier. I was going on about last night, and the way I felt when I held the baby.’

‘And I told you it would wear off.’ He looked at her, suddenly serious. ‘Hey, you’re not working up to tell me that you want to try for a kid with someone else, are you?’

Her mouth fell open; and then she laughed. At that moment, it ranked among the most delicious sounds that Mario had ever heard. ‘Daft,’ she exclaimed, ‘unpredictable, and at times plain bloody stupid. With or without a baby, I’m every bit as happy as Lou McIlhenney, and it’s all because of you.’

She eased herself out of his grasp, walked to the wine cabinet and took out a bottle of Pinot Grigio. ‘I’m not just unsettled because of last night,’ she said, as she pulled the lever of the wall-mounted corkscrew. ‘I’ve felt this way for a while, and it’s only now that I’ve worked out in my head what it is.’ She handed him a glass, as he looked at her quizzically. ‘The way we live is great; let me say that straight off. It’s easy, no commitment either way, both of us independent. But the thing is, love, I just feel it’s time to become a proper couple.’

‘You mean as in married?’

‘I don’t give a toss about being married. But I want to give you more, I want to make a commitment to you. The independence notion is nonsense; my happiness depends on you.’

He sipped his wine, its chill contrasting with the warm wave that he felt flow through him. ‘And mine on you,’ he told her, ‘every bit as much. Whatever you want, it’s yours.’

‘You always say that. Sometimes I feel that I’m taking advantage of you.’

‘No.’ He grinned at her. ‘Paula, let’s stop faffing around. After tonight, I don’t want you just to go home as usual. Neil and Lou are right, we’re not fooling anyone. I’d like you to move in here. Or, if you prefer it, I’ll move into your place. Or, if you want a third option, we could buy a house together. I’ve been up for this for a while; I felt it had to come from you, that’s all.’ He paused and the grin became a chuckle. ‘Hey, do you think Nana Viareggio’s ready for it?’

‘Nana Viareggio’s ready to see off Armageddon,’ Paula retorted. ‘She can handle the idea of two of her grand-children living together. I know this, because I’ve spoken to her about it. She told me that she’s been waiting for it to happen for twenty years, and if it does, she’ll die happy. . although she did add that she doesn’t plan to do that for a while. As for our mothers, they’re used to the idea.’