‘You know the flats; you know the people; you know the good guys from the bad guys and most importantly, you know how they think,’ said Dewar.
‘That still doesn’t get me in there in the first place.’
‘I’ve been thinking about that on the way over. I heard earlier the yobs were letting in ambulance crews. There was also a report about a doctor and a nurse being allowed in to visit a sick child.’
Grant smiled cynically. ‘Sounds like them,’ he said. ‘They all like to think they’re Robin Hood at heart.’
‘Be that as it may, I thought we might borrow an ambulance and answer an emergency call.’
‘Might work,’ agreed Grant.
‘Well?’
Grant sighed and shook his head as if to show it was against his better judgement ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘It’s been a while since I worked the area but some people might just remember me. That could be bad news.’
‘I take your point, said Dewar. ‘But maybe with a cap on and a change of uniform …’
‘I must be crazy but okay, I’ll do it,’ said Grant. ‘I’ll organise an ambulance and some uniforms.
‘We’ll have to choose our time,’ said Dewar. ‘That means waiting until we see how the night’s going.’
‘If the yobs come out to play again tonight it might not be possible at all,’ said Grant. ‘They may use fire barriers again to stop any invasion of what they see as their territory.’
‘If you monitor things here, I’ll do the same. It won’t take us long to meet up if the moment seems right.’
Dewar drove on down to the Scottish Office. There was a message waiting for him from Sci-Med in London. The Ministry of Defence hadn’t stone-walled this time. They had stated categorically that smallpox had never been used in any experimental programme instigated by them and had at no time been seriously mooted as a potential biological weapon either during the second world war or afterwards in the cold war period. They cited the existence of a highly effective vaccine as sufficient reason to rule out its use as a potential agent.
‘Well, well,’ muttered Dewar. ‘Where does that leave us?’ He looked for the other message he was expecting but found nothing. There was still no reply to his enquiry about the location of Michael Kelly’s last job.
Dewar found Hector Wright down in the operations room updating his epidemic map with the day’s figures coming in from the hospital.
‘How’s it looking?’
‘See for yourself,’ replied Wright.
Dewar took a closer look at the map of the Muirhouse estate with each red-flagged pin indicating an confirmed smallpox case. He asked what the blue markers were.
‘Schools and church halls to be used as vaccination centres. Many of Mary Martin’s team have spent the day preparing them. All we need now is the vaccine.’
‘And the black ones?’
‘Temporary morgues, should we need them. At the moment the crematorium is coping.’
‘Gut feelings?’ asked Dewar.
‘The vaccine has to come tonight, not just for practical reasons but for psychological ones too. If we don’t have some good news soon all that fear and uncertainty out there is going to change to anger and resentment.’
‘I understand the police have been telling the people the vaccine will be available from tomorrow,’ said Dewar.
‘I think Tulloch was trying to stave off another night like last night. It’s a big gamble. If the vaccine doesn’t come and all hell breaks loose tomorrow, I suspect the superintendent’s going to be spending a lot more time with his family.’
‘I hope he’s successful for personal reasons apart from anything else, said Dewar.
Wright looked at him quizzically.
‘I’ve got to go in there tonight.’
‘What the hell for?’
Dewar told him.
‘Bloody hell, that’s all we need,’ exclaimed Wright. ‘The loonies in charge of the asylum.’
‘Maybe you can show me on the map exactly where Aberdour Court is?’
Wright turned back to the map and traced a curving pattern in the air with his pen. He homed in on one spot and then looked at Dewar over his glasses. ‘Right in the middle of the no-go area. You must be mad. Surely the police, if they knew what was at stake would …’
‘I’ve already been down that road,’ interrupted Dewar. ‘I’ve been talking to Grant at police headquarters. The likely backlash from a mob-handed police raid might make things infinitely worse in the long run than they are at the moment. The vaccination programme would be hopelessly disrupted and the epidemic would almost certainly spill over into the rest of the city.
Wright shook his head but he saw the sense in what Dewar was saying. ‘Need company?’ he asked.
Dewar smiled. ‘That was a kind thought, and a brave one,’ he said but Grant and I have worked out a plan we think will work providing the streets aren’t blocked off.’ He told Wright about using an ambulance.
Wright looked dubious. ‘As I understand it, the yobs have been letting ambulances through in the daytime. No one’s tried it at night yet.’
The same thought had occurred to Dewar. He shrugged and said, ‘If we don’t try it we’ll never know.’
A meeting of the crisis management team was scheduled for seven but it was nearer half past before enough people had arrived. Tulloch sent his apologies but the night had already started as far as he was concerned. He was needed elsewhere. Mary Martin was late through welcoming the new volunteers and assigning them tasks for tomorrow.
‘Do you have enough people?’ asked Wright.
‘I think so. The response has been good. I’m going to continue using my own people for new patients and contacts because they have local knowledge. The new people will be used mainly to man the vaccination centres. They are all qualified so little or no training will be required. They can get straight into it.’
George Finlay was the last to arrive. He didn’t bother with apologies. He simply smiled and said, ‘I’ve just heard. The vaccine is on its way.’
The relief round the table was palpable. People just hadn’t realised how tense they had become over the delay with the vaccine. It was like having a dull, nagging headache suddenly disappear.
‘The first shipment is due in at the airport at around eleven tonight. If the vaccination centres are functional we’ll take it directly to them. What d’you think?’ asked Finlay.
‘Fine by me,’ said Mary. ‘They’re all set up and ready to go. Just as long as Superintendent Tulloch manages to keep the trouble confined to the no-go area. I don’t want my people being stoned or fire-bombed.’
‘I’d better put the superintendent’s mind at rest about the vaccine and tell him his gamble paid off,’ said Finlay. ‘Maybe he can continue with the street broadcasts throughout this evening. Might help to keep things calm.’
‘Good idea,’ said Dewar without declaring an interest.
‘When shall we open the centres for business?’ asked Finlay.
‘The sooner the better, I would have thought,’ said Rankin.
‘First thing tomorrow,’ countered Wright. ‘If we open the centres through the night we’ll just be ensuring a large number of people on the streets during the hours of darkness. I don’t think Superintendent Tulloch would welcome that.’
There was no real dissent after Wright had pointed this out.
‘Very well, seven thirty tomorrow morning,’ said Finlay. ‘I’ll relay the information to Superintendent Tulloch. Mary, you’ll probably want to deploy your people to the centres to get ready for the arrival of the vaccine?’
‘Gladly,’ said Mary Martin, smiling for the first time in many days. ‘I’ll just have go find some of the people I’ve just said good-night to! Tell them they won’t be going to bed after all. Luckily they’re all being put up at the same hotel.’
Finlay reported that there had been no surprises that day in terms of numbers of new cases adding most importantly, that the disease was still confined to the estate. ‘We’re coping,’ was the bottom line.