‘I don’t have a wife to impress any more, Max. Not that I ever did impress her; she buggered off eight years ago, remember? Apart from that, though, yes I do. You were in uniform too long, or you wouldnae have to ask me. What’s scruffy in the office is standard dress code in some of the places I have to go. I adapt it too. Skinner thinks I’m a Celtic supporter because I was wearing a shamrock lapel badge the first time we met. What he doesnae know is that I’ve got a Rangers badge as well that I wear when it’s called for.’
He winked. ‘You’re right, by the way. Lottie and me, we do seem to be teacher’s pets right now. He sent us off on a secret mission this afternoon. To come clean, that’s why I’m here. . not that it’s no’ nice to see you enjoying your happy retirement, mind.’
‘So what’s the secret?’
Provan glanced around the bar, checking that there was nobody within hearing distance. ‘It’s very secret,’ he said, ‘so anything I say’s between us, kapisch?’
Allan nodded. ‘Of course.’
‘One of our professional colleagues has done a runner,’ Provan continued.
‘I see. And what district would this officer belong to? He’s one of our own, I’m assuming, a Strathclyde officer. . and a man.’
‘No, he’s Edinburgh. . but it is a he.’
‘So why are you in on the act? And why’s Bob, for that matter?’
‘Because he used to be one of ours: Bandit Mackenzie.’
Allan stared at him and his eyebrows rose. ‘Indeed!’ he murmured. ‘No wonder the third floor’s in a panic. What do you need from me?’
‘Anything you can tell me about him that might give us a pointer to where he might run to. The investigation’s bein’ coordinated by a DI in Edinburgh, and he’s got every force in the country with a coastline checking ferry terminals. They’ve been playing their cards close, but I’m guessing they found a ferry website open on his computer.
‘If that’s right he didnae go out of Troon, that I know for certain, having spent the afternoon reviewing tapes down there. When I phoned the guy Wilding, he told me that there wis no advance booking, but there had been a possible sighting today in Hull, bound for Esbjerg in Denmark, right car, right colour, but a dirty number plate that couldn’t be read on the CCTV. They won’t know for sure till it gets there.’
‘He never worked directly under me,’ the veteran said, ‘but there’s one thing I remember about David Mackenzie, wherever he goes, he won’t be able to speak the local lingo. I remember he applied for a secondment to Interpol, when he was a detective sergeant, but got knocked back because he didn’t have a second language.’ He took a mouthful from his pint glass. ‘But you don’t think he is on a ferry, do you, Danny?’
‘I’m no’ sure,’ he confessed. ‘Skinner, though, he’s been talking to a psychobabbler; he didn’t tell us who, but he seemed to rate him. His “expert” view was that he’d be more likely to run to somewhere closer to home, somewhere in his own comfort zone. Personally, I think profiling’s all shite, but I’m just a common foot soldier.’
‘That’ll be right,’ Allan scoffed. ‘You’re an anti-authoritarian little sod but there’s nothing common about you, and there isn’t a single idea you’d dismiss out of hand.’
‘Maybe not,’ Provan sniggered. ‘I just don’t like these boys coming out of university and spouting wisdom straight from their degree course. Just suppose the guy’s right, can you think of anywhere that Mackenzie might head for?’
He frowned. ‘There is someone you might talk to. I know a man, a priest in East Kilbride, and I’ve heard it said that he took the young David Mackenzie under his wing. He did that sort of thing. But not in the way that makes the headlines these days.’
‘What’s his name?’
‘Tom Donnelly: Father Thomas Donnelly. He’s quite a man; a pretty charismatic guy.’
‘And I’ll find him in East Kilbride, you say?’
‘No, not any more: priests retire at seventy now, and Tom’s a couple of years beyond that. The church owns some properties to house its own, and he lives in one of them, a nice wee cottage from the looks of the photo he sent me last year.’
‘Is he likely to know where Mackenzie might go in a personal crisis?’
‘It’s possible, that’s why I mentioned him. But the truth is, if he’s had some sort of a breakdown, if he’s not in his right mind, who knows where he’d go? I’m in your camp when it comes to psychology; I think it’s all crap too.’
‘We’ll probably check the priest out anyway. Where is this cottage?’
‘It’s in Tighnabruaich.’
‘Tighnabruaich! That’s away in the back of beyond. Do ye no’ have to get a plane to get there?’
‘That wouldn’t help; there isn’t an airfield for miles around. The only realistic way is by car. But don’t worry, you’ll do it in a day easily.’
Thirty-One
‘How far did he go?’ Sauce Haddock asked, seated, with his feet planted on his DI’s desk.
‘He got off at Darlington,’ Jack McGurk told him from his chair in the corner of the office cubicle. ‘He strolled off the platform all nonchalant, with a rucksack over his shoulder, straight into a reception committee in the shape of two transport cops and an armed support team from the local force. They went on the assumption there was a firearm in the rucksack, and had him down in the ground in seconds. He’s being brought up here this morning.’
‘Are they sending him back on the train with an escort?’
‘No, he’s being driven up. The English are taking him as far as the border; I’ve got a car waiting for him there.’
‘When do we get to interview him?’ Sammy Pye asked.
His colleague shrugged. ‘As soon as I’m done with him, Sam, but I can’t tell you how long that’ll be. He may be your prime suspect, but he’s nailed on for the murder that I’m investigating, and the chief super says that gives me first crack at him. The drugs people will want to interview him as well, for sure, but they can wait. They’re a bit embarrassed. Apparently they had no idea he was a dealer; he’d never appeared on their radar at all.’
‘In that case they must be loving us, since we gave them the red faces by finding the stuff. . even if it was by accident.’
McGurk smiled. ‘Don’t be looking for a Christmas card; that’s all I’ll say.’ He glanced at Haddock. ‘Oh, by the way, Sauce, when they cuffed Booth in Darlington, he screamed. They took him to the local hospital, straight away, so he couldn’t claim police brutality later. He had an X-ray and they found a couple of broken bones in his hand.’
There was real malice in the young DS’s eyes. ‘That’s the best news I’ve had for a while, Jack,’ he said. ‘I’m pleased that I left a mark on that bastard, ’cos he sure left one on me. You know that after he kicked me, Sammy made me get myself checked out in A amp;E?’
‘I’m not surprised.’
‘You’re going to charge the man with serious assault as well as murder, I hope.’
‘Too fucking right we are!’ the acting DI declared. ‘Of course that means the prosecution’s going to need medical evidence about the nature and extent of your injuries.’ He grinned. ‘The doc was satisfied you were okay, I take it; you can never take too much care of the family jewels.’
‘Aye, she was.’
‘She? Did you tell Cheeky it was a woman?’
‘Not a chance. We have no secrets, but sometimes it’s best to leave out the odd fact.’
‘Speaking of family jewels,’ Sammy Pye said, ‘we’re going to need the box that we found in Booth’s flat. It’s central to the case we’re building against him.’
‘That’s why I came down here,’ McGurk told him. ‘This is a very unusual situation. We’re both investigating the same guy for different murders in different locations. We need to be bloody careful that neither of us contaminates the other’s evidence chain.’
‘That’s true,’ Haddock agreed. ‘So give us the jewel box and Bella Watson’s sparklers. They’re our motive.’
‘They surely are, and if you don’t have them, you don’t have the beginnings of a case against him.’