He looked across at Rose, then at Donaldson, then back at Rose. ‘Gut reactions, please, having seen Medina. Could it be him?’
Donaldson nodded his head, slowly. ‘I could believe that,’ he said, almost grudgingly. ‘I could just about see him having the bottle to do it.’
‘I don’t agree,’ said Maggie Rose, forthrightly. ‘I don’t see this man having the ruthlessness to do something like that. The fact is, I believe him. At heart he strikes me as a basically honest chap, who loves his girlfriend. Although I agree we have to investigate him as a suspect, I’m inclined to accept his story, even the bit about the man with the vulture tattoo. If he brings those notes with him when he comes to see us this afternoon, we’ll know for sure.’
‘Let’s see,’ said Martin. ‘From what you’ve told me, my own view hasn’t changed. Jackie Charles threw us Medina like a sprat to keep us busy. But if Medina’s other information leads us anywhere Jackie may live to regret it.’
He glanced around the table. ‘Which brings me to the way forward. Every investigation has to have a clear objective, and this one is catch the person who murdered Carole Charles.
‘However we have peripheral matters being thrown up already. If we’re given information, it has to be followed up, even if it doesn’t appear to be related directly to the main goal. Let’s get our organisation right to ensure that we can do all that.
‘Dave, I want you to concentrate on the main thrust of the investigation, chasing vehicle sightings, possible taxi pick-ups, people with grudges along the lines we discussed earlier. With Charles’ books reduced to ashes, your next priority is to interview Douglas Terry and to investigate him. Whenever someone tries to kill a general, the first suspects are always the soldiers behind him.
‘Once you’ve done that, if we’re still looking, work though that list of priorities we discussed.
‘While you’re pursuing those lines of enquiry, I’ll ask the Boss . . . since Special Branch reports directly to him . . . to brief Brian Mackie and Mario today and start them looking for possible leads from outside the city.’
He turned to Rose. ‘Maggie, I want you to follow up on the side issues as they come up, starting with the man with the vulture tattoo. See if you can find out if he does exist, and if he does, then find him. I remember the Jimmy Lee case too. In fact I was involved in the investigation. I’ll never forget the X-rays.
‘Lee swore blind that he had been mugged by a gang of Hibs casuals. We even found a Hibs scarf dropped at the scene. But the thing was, the Hibees were playing in Aberdeen that day, and all of the likely suspects were still on the supporters’ buses, driving home down the M90, when the attack took place.
‘If Mr Vulture can give us a lead, even if it is five years late, nothing would please me more. Mind you, Maggie, you should still ask Medina why he didn’t come forward with this story at the time.’
He looked up again at Rose. ‘When he brings in those notes, if he does, let me see them. I’ll take a view on what we do about them at that stage.’
He nodded sideways, to where Neil McIlhenney and Sammy Pye were sitting. ‘Use what resources you need, but Dave, I want you to work closely with Neil, and Maggie, you take Sammy. Like the Boss, I believe in tight core teams of people who know each other and work well together.
‘So, crack on, and remember, keep me in touch all the time. No surprises, please. I hate surprises.’
Martin stood up from the table. As his colleagues followed his lead and made to leave, he stopped Donaldson with a touch on his arm. ‘Dave,’ he said, picking up a sheet of paper from his in-tray. ‘I got this just before you arrived. There’ll be a copy for you at St Leonard’s. It’s a memo from the Boss.’
‘What’s it about?’ asked Donaldson, puzzled.
‘Let me read it to you. It says:
DCC to head of CID, copy to head of Eastern Area CID.
As you will know I have been without a personal assistant since the promotion of DCI Rose. With your agreement, I propose to appoint Detective Sergeant Pamela Masters to the post, effective immediately. While in the past my PA has been a Detective Inspector, Sergeant Masters is in my view an officer of considerable potential who will benefit from a spell in the Command Corridor.
‘That’s it.’
‘Mmm,’ said Donaldson. ‘He wants Pretty Polly, eh! Fair enough. I’ve got a good DC out there I can promote in her place. Nice of him to ask for our agreement, though.’
Martin laughed. ‘That’s Bob doing his best to consult with the two of us. But make no mistake, he isn’t asking for our support, he’s telling us we’re going to give it!
‘Still,’ he mused, ‘a Detective Sergeant. Is Masters that good?’
‘She’s only been in the rank for six months. From what I’ve seen, she’s bright, and very keen. But I wouldn’t say she’d ever be Chief Constable material.’
‘Maybe not, but she must have something. Time will tell what it is.’
15
Skinner was sitting at his desk, working his way silently through his paper mountain, when Martin stepped into his office to give him an update on the Charles investigation.
He listened in silence to the report, shrugging his shoulders once or twice, showing real interest only when the Chief Superintendent mentioned Medina’s story about his notes from Carole Charles’ mysterious ledger.
‘What did Donaldson and Rose think about that?’ he asked. ‘Did they think he was making it up?’
‘Donaldson thought he was probably at it. Mags believed him though.’
‘What do you think the notes might tell us?’
‘From what Medina said, they won’t give us names. But they might give us a better clue of what it is we’re looking for. If the guy is speaking the truth, and we’re right about what he saw, then at least we know that we’re on the right track: that there is a record of Charles’ bent businesses, and the form that it’s in.’
Skinner swung his chair round and looked out of the window. ‘Tell you what I think,’ he said softly. ‘If Carole was carrying the ledger when Medina saw it, then it wasn’t just for that night. I’d guess that Carole kept those books personally, and that Jackie never went near them or saw them.’
The DCC glanced back quickly towards Martin. ‘He’s so careful that he’d keep them at arm’s length from himself. He’d never let Dougie Terry hold them. He’s an employee, not a shareholder and accountancy isn’t his game anyway.’ He stood up and looked across the headquarters approach road to the school beyond, studying the comings and goings. Ruth McConnell was hurrying up the pavement, back from her dentist’s appointment. Alan Royston was hot on her heels as if trying to catch her up. Dave Donaldson, heading in the opposite direction passed them both, with brief nods.
At last he turned back to face Martin. ‘So let’s say that Carole had charge of the books. But where did she keep them? Not at the house, that’s for sure, in case we ever did find a Sheriff soft enough to give us a search warrant on no evidence.’
‘How about a bank safe deposit box?’ asked the Head of CID.
‘Possible, but too visible. I stick to the theory that the Charleses had a sort of head office in one of their properties, like we were told when we were given those two abortive tips. Remember, the ones where we turned up but the cupboard was bare.
‘We gave up on that theory after the second let-down, but what if we were right? It’s possible that the ledger was cremated along with Carole, but what if it isn’t? It could be lying somewhere in Edinburgh, full of the evidence we need to nail Jackie Charles.