‘I guess so. This is Wednesday, so let’s try for Friday.’ He glanced at his assistant. ‘Jack, will you set that up please? Contact the PM’s protection officers and tell them what we want. They’ll go along with it.’
‘Even at such short notice?’ Rossi sounded doubtful.
‘Their boss is late to the table,’ the Scot growled. ‘They’ll take what’s put in front of them.’ He looked at the Archbishop. ‘Is anyone going to be chucked off the platform at any of the events because of this?’
‘How many extra bodies are we talking about? I’m assuming it won’t just be him and her who turn up.’
‘You assume correctly,’ said Skinner, ‘but I can keep it to a minimum. There’ll be his private secretary; she has to go everywhere. Then there’ll be his official mouthpiece; they’re joined at the hip. It’ll be par for the course if the Cabinet Secretary tries to elbow his way in, but I’ll tell him he’s not on.’
‘In that case I’ll only have a problem at the main public rally and mass at Murrayfield Stadium. The stage we’re setting up there has as many seats on it as we can fit in. Much of the rest of the programme has His Holiness on the move.’
‘I’ve noticed. Is he up to that? He’s not a young man.’
‘He thinks he is: he calls sixty-nine “middle-aged”. Don’t you worry about him, he had a medical a couple of months ago and they declared him good for another fifteen years.’ Jim Gainer laughed. ‘That would disappoint a few of the younger cardinals if they knew about it. He feels that not only could he kick off the Hibs-Celtic game on Saturday week, if he’d been able to stay for it, he could play in it.
‘Nothing’s all that strenuous anyway. He arrives next Thursday afternoon at Edinburgh airport; he’ll be welcomed formally by the Lord Provost, who’ll introduce the rest of the official party. Nobody sits down there so the PM and his wife can just get in line with the rest.’
‘Before or after the First Mini-car?’ the DCC asked.
‘What do you think? What’s the protocol?’
‘I don’t think there’s any established. Personally, I think they go after, and sod ’em if they can’t take a joke, but we’d best ask them.’
‘Elegantly put, sir. I share your inclination, but I’ll have di Matteo or Angelo Collins consult the First Minister’s office about precedence at that and all the other events. I’m assuming that they’ll want him to go everywhere.’
‘That’s a cert, Your Grace. This is the biggest photo opportunity of all time for these guys, and there’s always an election around the corner. The only one they might duck out of is the council reception at the City Chambers, once he’s driven into town from the airport. That’s private, and the Lord Provost does not like Mr Tommy Murtagh. On the other hand, once he hears that the PM’s coming he might invite him specially, just to annoy the wee man. If that happens he’ll go there too. Are you still happy with the time they’re spending there?’
‘If we can get him out of there on time, it won’t be a problem. If we can’t. . and he’ll be meeting a lot of people he hasn’t seen since his elevation. . well, if the cathedral mass is a bit late in starting it won’t be the end of the world. The congregation won’t walk out on him. We don’t have any political problems there, or at the Royal Infirmary visit on Friday. I know that he wants Lord Provost Maxwell and his wife there, though. He married them, you know, and he gave the Provost his first communion wafer, too, thirty-five years ago. No, the only problem I have is at Murrayfield.’ He opened his briefcase and took out a copy of the document Skinner had prepared for that morning’s meeting, and flicked through it until he found the page he sought. ‘Looking at the platform party. .’ He paused. ‘Too bad the deputy justice minister admitted to being an atheist,’ he said. ‘It’s cost her and her partner their seats on the stage.’ He took out a pen and scored through their names, then added two more at the top of the page.
‘Can I ask a question, sir?’
The DCC glanced up at his assistant, involuntarily irritated. ‘What do you want to know?’
‘What exactly is planned for Murrayfield, sir?’
‘A celebration, Sergeant,’ replied the Archbishop. ‘The city of Edinburgh is staging a rally to celebrate the election of Pope John the Twenty-fifth. It’s being held in Murrayfield Stadium because it’s the biggest venue we have; we won’t fill it, but forty thousand tickets have been allocated. All of them will go to Scottish secondary-school students, but not to Roman Catholic kids alone. His Holiness is insistent that this should be an interdenominational event. The entertainment will be a selection of the Pope’s favourites; the programme was announced six weeks ago. We’ll have music by a school choir, Scottish dancing, pipes and drums, a marching band from Belgium. . I’m not entirely sure why, but he asked for them specially. . operatic arias performed by Donald O’Brien, the tenor, and a couple of songs by that lad who won a television competition a couple of years ago. It’s all very homely and, if you like, parochial, but it’s his style. It’ll conclude with mass being said, and a sermon by His Holiness.’
‘And afterwards he goes straight to the airport?’
‘That’s right,’ said the Archbishop. ‘He has to be back in Rome that evening. It’s a pity for he’d have liked to stay on for the Hibs-Celtic game on Saturday. Father Gibb’s had a seat in the stand at Easter Road for years, even if it’s me who uses it now.’
‘What did you call him?’ asked Skinner.
‘Father Gibb; it’s a name his friends used, before his elevation. His name’s Gilbert, but his family called him “Gibb” for short; those of us who were close to him got to call him Father Gibb. We all regarded it as an honour.’
‘Maybe the Hibs will win for him on Saturday, then,’ said McGurk.
Skinner snorted. ‘You’re into the realm of miracles there, Sergeant.’ He looked at his visitors. ‘So, gentlemen, in addition to kicking Ms de Marco and her man off the stage and into the grandstand. . I’ll advise her of that. . what other changes does this new presence impose on our operational plan?’
‘It may raise the stakes a little,’ said Rossi, ‘but if nobody knows that he’s coming until the day. .’
Skinner shook his head. ‘That’s not the way it’s played. Downing Street will brief the press well in advance; you can be sure of that. They won’t be surprised either, any more than I was.’
‘That’s regrettable, but even then I feel that the level of protection we are giving His Holiness does not need to be increased.’
‘In truth, I doubt if it could be,’ said the Scot. ‘All the same, I think I’ll arrange for reinforcements to be handy.’
‘More police?’
‘No, military. I have a contact in the Ministry of Defence who can arrange for a special forces platoon to be in place. We’ll distribute them round all the entrances.’
‘What will they do?’
‘Their job will be to look out for known terrorists. We’ve already agreed that we can’t put forty thousand kids and their teachers through metal detectors, or we’d wind up frisking everyone with a belt buckle or a brooch. Only those people who will be close to the Pope will have to go through them. We’ll have enough people inside the ground, watching the crowd constantly for any wrong moves, and we’ll have close personal protection. We’ve also got our escape plan. But if I can stick guys in black suits at every entrance, each with a mental file of all the faces from the FBI and MI5 wanted lists, it’ll give us a bit of added insurance.’
‘Will they be armed?’ asked Gainer. ‘The Pope wouldn’t like that.’
‘They won’t be obviously armed, Jim. It’s best if we don’t discuss who’s armed and who isn’t.’
‘The Pope won’t like anyone being armed in any way.’
‘Except his potential attackers? Is that what you’re saying? I’m sorry, but I’m not putting my officers at avoidable risk. Look, I really do think it would be best if we don’t discuss this subject, Your Grace, and if you accept that such decisions are mine alone. You can trust my discretion.’
‘Fair enough. If the Holy Father asks me, I’ll tell him to talk to you.’