But the inspector didn’t seem to have that in mind. ‘No, sir,’ he declared, ‘I’m okay to proceed as we are at this stage. I spoke to a lawyer on the phone this morning and he’s given me general advice on my rights.’
‘Are you happy to have a voice recording only,’ I asked, ‘or would you like video also? Again, that can be arranged.’
‘No thank you, sir. I don’t want to find myself appearing on Reporting Scotland.’ He allowed himself a small smile, at the reference to another controversy that had followed the release to the media of a filmed interview with a suspect who was later acquitted.
‘All right, let’s get down to it,’ Mario said. ‘Were you on duty on Wednesday evening at Gayfield Square?’
‘Yes, sir, I was. There was a pre-season football match at Easter Road; the division was heavily involved, but I wasn’t at the ground, I was in charge of the office.’
‘Did you received a phone call that evening?’
‘Yes, sir, I did.’
I could see that Varley was doing things by the book, volunteering nothing, making us work for every detail of every answer. I wasn’t having that. ‘Yes,’ I repeated, cutting in. ‘It was from your niece, DC Cowan. She told you that she’d just picked up some gossip from her boyfriend about. .’
‘No, sir,’ he said, sharply. ‘She didn’t say that at all.’
‘Oh?’ I exclaimed. ‘Then what did she say?’
‘She asked me to meet her.’
I tried to hide my surprise, but didn’t quite succeed. Mario didn’t even bother trying to conceal his. ‘She did what?’ he barked.
‘She asked me to meet her; that’s what I said.’
‘So, when you were caught on the station CCTV ten minutes later, you were actually going to meet DC Cowan. That’s your story, is it?’ Varley nodded. ‘For the record!’ McGuire bellowed.
‘Yes, sir, it is.’ The inspector paused, and smiled. ‘Would you like to suspend the interview, sir?’ he asked. ‘I don’t mind.’
The big guy was incandescent; he was anticipating the gambit that was going to be played, and so was I. ‘People who try to take me for a ride, Jock,’ he growled, savagely, ‘they don’t usually like the destination when we get there.’
That sounded too much like a threat for my liking and the recorder was live. Time to intervene, I reckoned. ‘Chief Superintendent,’ I said, ‘perhaps I should carry on the interview.’
He drew a huge breath, then exhaled, very slowly. ‘Perhaps you should, Director,’ he murmured, never taking his eyes off Varley.
‘Where did you meet, Inspector?’ I asked.
‘At the end of the street; the top of Leith Walk.’
‘When DC Cowan called you, where was she?’
‘I’ve no idea, sir. But from the background noise, I’m sure she was on her mobile, not a land line.’
‘I see. So you put on your coat, and left the office?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why did you do that?’
‘Why, sir?’ he chuckled. ‘To go and meet Alice, of course.’
He was trying to wind me up, as he had Mario. ‘Sorry, Inspector. Why did you put on your overcoat? Do you know what I was doing on Wednesday evening, around the time you left the station? I was sat out on my balcony, looking down at the Water of Leith, with a beer in my hand. I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and I was killing midges by the dozen. It was a warm, muggy evening, and you’re telling us that you put your uniform coat on to go out and meet a family member? Enlighten us, please. Why would you do something so strange?’
He shrugged, and smirked at me. ‘I didn’t want to be seen in uniform.’
‘Meeting your niece, and her a cop as well?’
‘Yes, sir. It might seem strange but that’s what I did; you know it, you’ve probably seen the CCTV.’
‘Sure, it’s the “Why” I’m still struggling with. Let’s go back to DC Cowan’s call. Did she say why she wanted to meet you?’
‘No.’
‘Did you ask her why?’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘Why should I have?’
‘Because you were on duty,’ I suggested. ‘In charge of the station. Come on, man; your niece calls and you walk off the job just like that?’
He spread his hands. ‘Point taken, sir. I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.’
‘Not accepted,’ I snapped. He was beginning to rile me too. ‘However, that’s probably a matter for a different inquiry. So, you put on your overcoat and stepped out into a warm steamy evening, to meet Alice. Who got there first?’
For the first time, Varley hesitated for a second before replying. ‘I think I did,’ he offered.
‘You think?’ I repeated. ‘Come on, man; this was less than forty-eight hours ago.’ I leaned forward, hustling him.
‘Okay, okay, I was first, definitely.’
‘How did she arrive? Was she on foot? Did she get off a bus?’
‘Taxi. She got out of a taxi.’
‘How was she dressed?’ I fired the question at him.
‘In civvies.’
‘Don’t be evasive, Mr Varley. What was she wearing?’
‘Jeans and a blouse,’ he retorted.
‘So, she hadn’t got dressed up to meet you. Did she seem in a rush?’
‘Yes, I suppose she did.’
‘Make-up, was she wearing make-up?’
He shrugged. ‘You can’t always be sure with Alice.’
‘Come on, Inspector, you must know. We’ve just seen her. She’s got this big bleb on her nose just here.’ I touched mine, on the right side. ‘Was it covered up or not?’
‘No,’ he answered. ‘No it wasn’t.’
Beside me, McGuire didn’t move a muscle. ‘Good,’ I said. ‘We’re making progress. So there you are on the street, the pair of you, she with a bleb on her nose, you sweating like a pig in your uniform coat. That’s the scene, is it?’
He nodded. ‘That’s the scene.’
‘Who began the discussion?’
He frowned. ‘I did, as I recall. I said, “What’s the panic, Alice?” or something like that.’
‘And she said?’
‘Her reply was “Freddy’s in trouble”. Naturally I asked her “Freddy who?” and she replied that she meant Freddy Welsh, Ella’s cousin.’
‘And your good friend.’
He stared at me. ‘I wouldn’t say that, Mr Martin. He’s more a friend of Alice.’
I let my eyebrows rise. ‘Is he? Why do you say that? He’s a cousin of your wife and your relationship with Alice is on your side of the family, not by marriage. So why should he be more friendly with her than with you?’
Varley winced, as if it was paining him to go on. ‘This is where I get into really deep water,’ he murmured. ‘Alice and Freddy, they’ve. .’ He let his voice tail off.
‘They’ve a what? Spell it out, man.’
‘A relationship, sir.’
‘Do you mean a sexual relationship?’
‘Exactly.’
‘How long has it been going on?’
‘For six years that I know of.’
I leaned closer, pressing him. ‘How do you know about it?’
‘I saw them, at a wedding,’ he replied. ‘They’d been dancing, and I saw them go outside. I followed them. They got into the back of Freddy’s car and he gave her one.’
I frowned. ‘That’s pretty specific; you’re sure they had sex?’
‘Her legs were practically round his neck, and his arse was going like a fiddler’s elbow; I was close enough to see. What would you call it?’
I looked at him, letting my face register disgust. ‘You spied on them?’ I gasped, contemptuously.
‘She’s my niece,’ he blustered. ‘I was worried about her.’
‘Wow!’ I exclaimed. ‘Six years ago, Alice was well into her twenties, Inspector. Her sex life was entirely her own business. Did you get a kick out of it? Did you masturbate?’
He stiffened. ‘Fuck off!’ he yelled.
‘So what did you do?’ Mario asked him, rejoining the interview. ‘Did you give them marks out of ten, or did you express your concern to Alice later?’
‘No. I did speak to Freddy, though. I told him he was out of order.’
‘How did he take that?’
‘He said much the same as Mr Martin, that she was a big girl. I never mentioned it again.’