In fact the Ronnie incident preyed on me so much that it wasn’t until I was almost home that another possibility dawned on me.
Chapter 23
At first I hadn’t intended to tell Prim about my exciting weekend, but I have this belief that the first secret in a relationship can be the seed of a disease which can destroy it in time. So I blurted it all out as she drove me home from Glasgow Airport in the Freelander.
She was far more worried about the two hooligans than about Ronnie. I was pleased at first, until she told me why. ‘She’s a man-eater, dear; I knew that the moment I saw her. She’s a predator, and you’re insecure when it comes to aggressive women.’
I felt myself pouting. ‘I’d prefer to say that I like to make my own choices rather than being chosen. I chose to think of you and showed her the door.’
‘I’ll express my gratitude later,’ she promised. ‘Now about these thugs. Were you hurt at all?’
‘I’ve got a bruise on my shoulder, that’s all.’ I laughed. ‘When Liam told Everett about it, he wanted to put me in a match.’
‘What?’
‘Don’t worry, I told him to forget it.’
‘We won’t see those men again, will we?’
‘No danger. They were hospital cases; I’m pretty sure they’ll be retiring from the thugging business. Now, tell me about Mira Donn. Did she give you a photograph of her boy?’
Primavera grinned. ‘Now that’s an interesting story too. I went to see her on Friday evening, as we agreed; I didn’t tell her about the firebomb, just that we still needed to speak with him. I told her it would help us if we knew what he looked like. She told me that as she was sure he had done nothing, she was quite happy to give me a photo.
‘Then, just like Uncle Joseph, she went to look for one, and came back a few minutes later looking puzzled. She said that she couldn’t find any, that all the pictures with Stephen in them had disappeared. I asked if she could lend me a negative so I could make a print; she had another look through her box, but the negs were all missing too.’
‘Do you think she was just kidding you along?’ I asked. ‘Trying to get out of giving you one?’
‘No, the woman was genuinely surprised, embarrassed and a bit rattled too, I think. I got the impression that she was beginning to believe that her Stephen might have had something to do with Susie’s letters. So at that point, I asked her straight out if she had heard from him. She said that she hadn’t — but of course we know from Mike that he called her last week. She was covering up for him.’
‘Was she indeed? Did you tell her that we’d been to Joe’s looking for a picture?’
‘Yes.’
‘In that case, I reckon she’s figured out that Stephen knows we’re on to him and that he’s been back to her place, and to his uncle’s, to make life a bit more difficult for us.’
‘If she wasn’t covering up for him before, she is now. Let’s see what else she’s been up to.’
As Prim swung the car on to the Kingston Bridge, I could see our flat. But I was buzzing; I couldn’t wait until we got there. I took my mobile from my pocket and dialled Susie’s number. I was pleased when Mike answered, for I didn’t know how much he’d told her of his operation.
‘Hello mate,’ he said cheerily. ‘You back from London?’
‘Nearly. I’m on my way in from the airport. Listen sunshine, we’ve drawn a blank on photos of young Mr Donn.’ Quickly I told him of the missing family snapshots.
‘Jeez,’ he whispered. ‘If there was ever any doubt that he’s our man, that seals it.’
‘Sure, but there’s something else I’m wondering about him. A couple of guys tried to do me over in London on Saturday night.’
‘They what?! You all right?’
‘Sure, Liam and I sorted them, no problem.’ I laughed. ‘You don’t mess with the GWA, mate. I thought I knew who sent them, but now I’m not so sure. I don’t want to say too much on this thing, but did you pick up any traffic from Barassie on Friday evening?’
There was a short silence. ‘No one’s reported anything to me, but I’ll check up, and let you know.’
‘Thanks. While you’re doing it, bear this in mind: it occurred to me on the plane. The lady in question’s a lecturer in communications, and she has a computer. I wonder if she uses e-mail?’
‘Good thinking, Oz. I’ll let you know. I’ll try to get back to you tonight.’
Chapter 24
As it happened, I didn’t hear from Mike until next morning, and rather earlier than I had hoped, at that. I had a one-day voice-over in Edinburgh on the Tuesday of that week, then two days’ filming on Deeside on the Wednesday and Thursday, before heading off to Dublin with the GWA on the Friday, so I had decided, reasonably, I thought, that Monday would be a day off.
That’s why I was in bed when the front doorbell sounded at five past nine: not the buzzer from the street entrance, but the doorbell itself. It rang three times before I was fully awake, and twice more as I stomped downstairs, tying the belt of my dressing gown and wondering which of my effing neighbours had been foolish enough to interrupt my rest.
‘Jesus, Oz,’ said Dylan, grinning and resplendent in a tan Dannimac raincoat, as I swung the door open. ‘I’ve seen people in Casualty on a Friday night looking in better nick than you, son.’
‘And I’ve seen better dressed postmen,’ I growled back at him. ‘How’d you get in?’
‘I bumped into Prim on her way out just as I was arriving; she let me in. Have you decided to retire, then?’
‘Bloody hell, Michael,’ I barked. ‘In the last few days, I’ve acted in a major movie, done two international television shows, found a naked lady in my bath, been shot at — or nearly — by a helmeted motorcycle assassin, and set upon by two second-division heavies with instructions to break both my arms. I think I’m entitled to a wee lie-in, don’t you?’
I stood aside to let him come in. ‘You know where the coffee and stuff is. Make us some, while I get dressed.’
It took me just under ten minutes to shower and throw on some clothes. By the time I ambled barefoot into the kitchen, still running my electric shaver over my chin, Mike had made not just coffee but two bacon rolls for each of us. ‘HQ canteen shut, is it?’ I asked. ‘I’m not sure I want any of those.’
‘Come on, pal,’ he grinned, ‘you want to play at being a polis, you have to act like one. Hope you like brown sauce on your bacon, by the way.’
‘I’ll slum it with you,’ I grunted, finishing my shave. I glanced out of the window; it was a grey, damp morning, a reminder that winter was only a couple of months away.
‘This is elevenses for me, you realise,’ said Dylan. ‘I’ve been in the office since just after seven checking up on Mrs Donn. She didn’t have a call from Stephen on Friday; that I know for sure. Nor did she phone him.’
‘Dammit.’
‘Ah, but. . your wee flash of intuition worked out. The woman is on e-mail. When did Prim visit her?’
‘Just after five.’
‘Thought so. That got me excited, because about two hours after that, Mrs D connected to her internet server and sent a message down the line.’
‘Can you read it off the server?’
‘In theory we could. What we have is a burst of digital information, that could be decoded, but that would take cleverer people than we have. But anyhow, we don’t need to do that. I had a word with the service provider and persuaded him to give me the name of the addressee. The message went to S Donn at Hotmail.’
‘Hotmail?’
‘Yes, it’s an international e-mail clearing house that anyone can subscribe to. You tap into it through the Web, and you can access it from anywhere. So, I went on line and I accessed the boy’s mailbox.’
‘But doesn’t he have a password? I thought everyone had.’
Dylan nodded. ‘Sure, but that’s not much of a barrier. Have you any idea how many people use someone’s Christian name? Have you any idea how many use their partner’s or their mother’s? I just keyed in M. I. R. A. and, open sesame, I was right in there. Stephen picked up his mother’s message less than two hours after she sent it.’