However, the achievement of high rank in the police force is based on more than self-belief, and the Chief Superintendent’s recommendation that he be promoted into the vacancy as Eastern Area CID commander had been based on an impressive service record which showed no hint of recklessness, and a clear-up rate on investigations under his charge which matched even Skinner’s, and his own.
Maggie Rose was impressive in a different way from Donaldson. Her red hair was a good indicator of the core of her personality, but outwardly she was a calm, thoughtful woman. Her clothing tended to emphasise the quiet side of her nature, although Martin thought that it had become slightly more flamboyant since her marriage to Special Branch Inspector Mario McGuire.
One of the great strengths of Maggie Rose, the one which had drawn her first to DCC Skinner’s attention, was the fact that she never offered a view that had not been considered carefully, with all the risks analysed and all the consequences measured.
That was why Skinner had taken her on to his personal staff, and it was why he had concurred with her appointment as Donaldson’s deputy with a degree of reluctance.
And that may have been why Martin was looking at her, although he addressed his questions to them both.
‘Given the breadth of Jackie Charles’ known, or at least suspected activities,’ he said, ‘this investigation is going to be intricate, to say the very least. What would you two say our priorities should be? And do either of you see any short-cuts we might follow?’
‘Well,’ began Donaldson. ‘I’d say . . .’ He stopped in mid-sentence. ‘Sorry, I shouldn’t jump in all the time. Mags, you’re the strategist on the team. What do you think?’
‘Good command skill,’ thought Martin, with a glance at the Superintendent. ‘Assess your subordinates’ strengths, recognise them publicly, and make use of them as much as you can.’
Rose sat silent for a few seconds, looking at Donaldson as if searching for anything patronising in his tone, but finding nothing.
‘Given what we’ve heard, sir,’ she began, ‘the first thing I’d say is that I agree with the Boss. We have to find this chap Carl Medina, on the basis of Charles’ statement.
‘But the second thing I’d say is that I wouldn’t hold out too many hopes that he’s our man.’ She nodded towards Skinner’s tape recorder which lay on the desk, which Martin had just replayed. ‘His was the only name that Charles actually volunteered during that interview. It occurs to me that if he thought for one second that Medina was his wife’s murderer, he’d have kept it to himself, and done something about it himself.’
She paused. ‘We all know that Jackie Charles is a criminal. Yet he’s never been caught, and is only associated with crime through whispers from touts that we’ve never been able to corroborate or present in evidence. People like Jackie Charles, if they were straight, would make great personnel directors. They know people, inside and out. They have the same skill as the most senior police officers in recognising strengths and weaknesses, and they take precautions to ensure that those strengths or weaknesses never become threats.
‘There was a gangleader arrested in France a couple of years back. They reckoned that he had ordered at least fifty murders of associates simply as a precaution.’
She paused and looked at Donaldson. ‘Go on,’ said the Superintendent, fascinated.
‘I’ve studied Charles. He is a very shrewd, ruthless man. He told us that Medina was suspected of stealing from him, and that the only thing he did about it was to sack him. That alone tells me that he regarded Medina as a nonentity. I don’t believe the story about the industrial tribunal; not for one second. Jackie simply threw that in for effect.
‘He thought that Medina was just a pipsqueak, stupid enough to try to steal a few quid from him. If he had thought that he was the sort who would set fire to even a single car out of revenge, then Medina wouldn’t have been sacked, he’d have fallen off a high building, or would have been a hit-and-run victim.
‘Jackie threw us that name as a bone, to set us on a false trail, while he starts his own investigation. We can warn all we like, but we won’t put him off pursuing his wife’s killer.’
‘Unless he did it himself?’ mused Donaldson, aloud.
‘Yes,’ said Rose, ‘we have to keep our minds open to that possibility. We’ve had no information that Charles has ever personally harmed anyone, but he has caused it. His closest associate, other than Carole, is, as we know, one Douglas Terry, the same man who was a suspect in the Indico payroll robbery. He went to work for Charles a couple of years afterwards and they’ve been as thick as thieves . . . now there’s a simile for you . . . ever since.
‘Terry’s official job is general manager of the betting shops and taxi businesses. But we know that he is the middleman into the loansharking and that, in every respect, he’s Jackie Charles’ fixer. His name and Jackie’s are linked inextricably.
‘Okay, we know that Charles was at Ibrox. But if he had wanted Carole dead for any reason he’d have told Terry, and Dougie would have seen that it was taken care of, specifically while Jackie was in a very public place.’
She looked across at Martin. ‘What do you think, sir? You saw Charles.’
The Chief Superintendent shook his head, slowly. ‘We can’t discount the possibility, but I don’t believe it. Neither does the Boss. When we gave him the news that Carole was probably dead in the fire, he was genuinely stunned, and he wasn’t acting. The second time we saw him, he’d worked out what had happened, and guessed that he’d been the target. He was quietly incandescent.
‘So, Maggie. Any thoughts on priorities?’
She nodded her red head. ‘Yes. One, trace Carl Medina and bring him in for questioning.
‘Two, go through the books of the car dealership for anything that might point us in the direction of someone with a grudge. Unlikely, I admit. I don’t think that Jackie’s legitimate business will give us any leads, but it has to be done.
‘Three, interview all of Charles’ known close associates, beginning with Douglas Terry, to see if we can pick up the slightest hint of anyone from whom Jackie might have been under threat.
‘Four, start pulling in the loansharks, at random. Lean on them until they cough up names of their biggest debtors, just to make us leave them alone.
‘Fifth, start pulling in his taxi drivers, off the street, to see what they might have heard. While we have them, check their driving licences, insurance situation, criminal background, everything else. If we find anything to show the person to be an unsuitable or illegal driver, we can go back to the court to have that particular licence removed.
‘Sixth, start interviewing the other taxi owners. Look for special grudges against Charles, and look for any hint that some of them might have got together to put a stop to his extortion.
‘Seventh, pull in every known gangleader in Edinburgh. Not just because we have an opportunity to make a nuisance of ourselves, but to see if any of them have heard anything from outside Edinburgh, about Charles being in trouble.
‘Eighth, using Special Branch, explore the criminal intelligence network throughout the UK to see whether that throws up any leads.’ She paused and looked at her colleagues, from one to the other.
‘That should be enough to go on with.’
Andy Martin leaned forward across his desk. He smiled in admiration yet again of Rose’s thoroughness. ‘I agree with all of those, Maggie, and I see the theme that runs through them. This isn’t just a murder investigation. It’s an opportunity at the very least to interfere with Jackie Charles’ illegal business interests, and at the maximum, to make it too risky or difficult for him to carry on with them.