‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘Truly sorry. I mean that. There was nothing to stop me sending my head of CID up to see you, with Andy Martin for company. I wish I had now. In fact, I still could. Would you prefer that?’
He got the message. ‘No, no, no,’ he conceded, sharpish. ‘You’re right; you were showing discretion, I suppose. It’s just. . when she mentioned the name Freddy Welsh to me, it set off all sorts of alarm bells.’
‘So you know him?’
‘Yes, but I had no idea that a small-timer like Kenny Bass would have been involved with him.’
‘So what about Welsh?’ I asked. ‘What makes him a man to be feared?’
‘He isn’t. It’s the people he does business with that are.’ He paused, for a few seconds. ‘You really don’t know?’ he murmured. Then he laughed, quietly. ‘You know something, Mr Skinner, you’ve restored my faith in human nature and my belief in the frailty of man. I thought my record might have been in danger, but it’s intact. I’ve still never met a copper who’s as smart as he thinks he is.’
‘I’m under no illusions,’ I told him. ‘People go out of their way to show me how limited I am, so join the list. But bear this in mind; if I’m that fucking stupid I might be reckless enough to name you as the informant in the report that we’re about to make to the Crown Office on Kenny Bass. I’ve got a police officer implicated in this thing, thanks to Mr Welsh, whatever he is, and I’m not pleased. So you be bloody careful whose tail you try to pull. Now, don’t piss me about any further. What do you know about Welsh? You tell me or I’ll have you lifted within the hour and brought to my office. . and yes, there will be photographers outside.’
I’ll swear I heard him growl, like a cornered bear. ‘Okay,’ he murmured, at last, ‘but only for our Cameron’s sake. That’s how this thing started after all. I know Freddy Welsh personally through my main company, the CamMac group. As you’ll know, I’m a developer, building houses, offices, small factories, but I don’t employ a permanent construction workforce. Freddy Welsh is a building contractor, on a reasonable scale. Not huge, but big enough to take on most of the projects I do, or parts of them.’
‘Did you launder money though his business. . when you were in the life, that is?’
‘Hell no. Freddy’s accountant lives up his arse. Little chance of that. No, like mine, Freddy’s company, Anglesey Construction, he calls it, is completely legit. But there’s another side to him. As a young man, Freddy did some military service as a regular; he learned his trade in the army. . he’s an electrician. . and he learned some other stuff too. He did a tour in Ireland, and in Kuwait, and while he was there, he became the battalion armourer. He carried the nickname with him when he left.’
‘What nickname?’
‘The Armourer. That’s what they call him, and that’s what he does. He supplies weapons.’
‘To whom?’ I asked, grammatical to a fault.
‘To anyone who wants to buy them,’ he replied, ‘for whatever purpose.’
‘You mean he’s an arms dealer?’
‘Yes, but not in the way you understand. Let’s say you’re a figure in the other world, and you are planning an operation, an armed robbery, a kidnap for ransom, a hit, anything that needs shooters. It’s a fact of life, that when a gun is fired on a job, it creates a piece of history. It leaves a trace. Jails around the world and death rows in many a place are full of people who either didn’t know that or didn’t take it seriously enough. They use a weapon, they pass it on, someone else gets caught with it, it’s traced back to the original user, and he’s done. Freddy Welsh takes that problem away. His specialty is the supply of weapons that are absolutely clean. Give him a shopping list and he will fill it; he will source what you need. When the job is done, if the customer wants, he will take that weapon back, and he will rebuild it, change its characteristics, whatever, so that effectively it’s become a new firearm all over again. Either that or you use it the once and when you’re done just throw the thing away.’
‘What sort of weapons are we talking about here?’
‘You name it,’ McCullough replied. ‘You want an American Derringer, something you can hide in the palm of your hand yet blow somebody’s brains out, he’ll get you one. You want a heavy machine gun? It’s yours. Gatling gun? Probably. He sources them all from around the world, and he supplies them, cash and carry.’
‘From where?’
‘Nobody knows. Nobody asks. His product is too good, so nobody ever rocks the boat.’
‘Who are his customers?’
‘Everybody,’ he said, slowly.
‘You mean organised crime?’
‘I mean, everybody. If the CIA decided that you knew too much, they’d probably get the gun that killed you from Freddy. If it’s that serious, he’s where you go. That’s probably why you’ve never heard of him.’
‘Have you ever used him?’
‘Me?’ He chuckled. ‘Please, Mr Skinner, you’d never catch me anywhere near Freddy Welsh other than on a building site.’
‘No,’ I murmured, ‘I don’t suppose I would. Your two deceased associates though, that might have been another matter.’
‘Whatever,’ he said. ‘The book is closed now, okay. You and I, we never meet or speak again, unless of course you and your highly placed wife happen to be guests at one of my hotels some time, and I’m there. If that happens, you can buy me a drink.’
‘Don’t let your life depend on it,’ I told him. I ended the call, put my phone back in its place and sat down on the sand, feeling its dampness seep into my shorts as I watched Seonaid jumping over small retreating waves, and as I pondered.
‘Freddy Welsh,’ I murmured. ‘The Armourer and a second-division smuggler like Kenny Bass. What’s wrong with that picture? Unless. . I wonder what else might have been on Kenny’s truck, apart from those fags,’ I mused aloud, ‘and I wonder how much Jock bloody Varley knew about it. You’re weighed in for this,’ I whispered, quoting Welsh’s words to his wife’s cousin. ‘For what, Jock?’ I asked myself, deciding as I did that nobody but me was going to put that question to Mr Bass, and that ‘No comment’ would not be an acceptable reply.
On another day, I’d have driven straight to Saughton to confront the toerag, but I decided that pleasure could keep for a few hours, while I enjoyed another. I lured Seonaid out of the water with the promise of another banana, and together we rejoined the boys. The car was almost finished; it wasn’t a bad likeness of Alex’s coupe, right down to the kidney grille, even if the upholstery was sand. It had wing mirrors. Mark’s idea, James Andrew explained; built around twigs they had found at the high-water mark, and an improvised steering wheel made from a piece of driftwood.
They gave their sister the honour of the first drive. I thought the seat might collapse, but the sand was packed tight, and it took her weight. It even supported Jazz when he stepped over the edge and into the passenger seat. I took a few photographs on my family phone and sent the best of them in an MMS to their mother, with a note that said, ‘Being a dad, when the phone allows.’
The work one allowed for another hour, by which time we had started the walk back home. . or rather three of us had, for Seonaid decided that she’d rather ride on my shoulders. When it rang I was able to reach it without having to set her down. The incoming number wasn’t available for display; hardly surprising since the caller was the deputy director of MI5.
‘Where do I find you?’ she asked. ‘At work or at play? Don’t bother pretending,’ she added, grinning, I imagine. ‘I have technology in this building that can tell me exactly where you are.’
‘Who’s that, Daddy?’ Seonaid chirruped. I put a finger to my lips to hush her.
‘Ah,’ Amanda said, ‘I see.’
‘Yes, but don’t worry, I can still listen.’
‘Okay. Your call yesterday, and those items you sent; it seems we have a situation on our hands, one that needs handling, urgently. This isn’t one that can be passed down the line, Bob, not too far at any rate. Who’s been involved in this investigation, since the body was discovered?’