‘It’s more what’s on my conscience, if I’m honest. I know this woman, Martha. She’s a nice girl but I haven’t treated her well.’
‘Am I supposed to be surprised? Or interested?’
‘Oh I think you should be interested. I’ve treated her badly because I’ve used her as a substitute for someone else. Someone I care about but, if I’m honest, I know I will never be able to be with. You said on the ’phone that what happened between us didn’t mean anything. It did. It meant a lot. I have to tell you, there was a lot of aggression in there, sweetheart.’
Leonora Bryson stood up. ‘I don’t have to listen to this. I knew all along you were no gentleman, but this …’
‘Save the outrage, Leonora and sit down. Or I might just suggest to the police that they stop you getting on that plane tomorrow.’
She said nothing. Still defiant, still standing.
‘The way I was with Martha … I realized it was the same way you were with me. I’m sorry, Leonora, I really am … I can’t imagine what it must be like to be so much in love with someone you are with every day in life, but with whom you can never have any kind of relationship.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ But she sat back down.
‘You are completely, totally, insanely in love with John Macready. God knows any man on the planet should get down on his knees in thanks to have a woman like you worship him. But, let’s face it, Mr Macready gets down on his knees for a whole different set of reasons. All that impressive equipment you’ve got there, completely wasted on him. He’s blind to you. And he’s blind to the fact that you would do anything to protect him.’
‘You really are a small man, Lennox. A sordid, poisonous little man.’
‘Fair enough,’ I said. ‘I’m not really the best person to defend my own character. But I don’t like people getting killed when they don’t deserve it. Frank Gibson, for example. You got the wrong guy there, didn’t you? I don’t know who it is you have working for you here, but you called them right after I ’phoned you from outside Gibson’s flat. You couldn’t rely on me getting hold of absolutely everything. There could have been another darkroom somewhere, more negatives, more prints. And you wouldn’t let anyone damage the man you love. Get rid of the blackmailer and you get rid of the blackmail. But when your people got there, there was only Frank. My guess is that Paul Downey did a runner as soon as I left. Whoever you used has probably been on Downey’s trail ever since.’
‘What do you want, Lennox?’ she said coldly. ‘Sex? More money?’
‘I have more than enough money, thanks. And, though I cannot believe I’m hearing myself say this, I’ll pass on the sex. It’s probably best anyway, at least until the Infirmary sets up a post-coital ward in its casualty department. Anyway, don’t worry, I can’t prove anything. The police maybe could, given time, but your secret is safe with me.’
She tried really hard not to look relieved. ‘So what is it you want from me?’
‘Three things. I can’t see a striking woman like you cruising Glasgow’s underworld in search of professional killers, so I want to know who did the stalking and killing for you.’
She remained silent.
‘The second thing I want to know is if they have found Downey, and if so if he is still converting oxygen into carbon dioxide. If he is still alive, then I want to know where he is, or at least to find out where to pick up the trail.’
‘And the third thing?’
‘The third thing is the most personal, and I want an honest answer. Was the guy who left my office via the window here on your instructions? Did you pay someone to kill me?’
‘No.’
‘It would make sense. How could you know that I wouldn’t blab about John Macready? Or that I had maybe pocketed a couple of keepsake negatives myself? After all, I know how much the studio is prepared to fork out to protect their star’s reputation.’
‘I thought about it, but no. The one thing that we all knew about you, whatever else seedy you’ve got going, was that you wouldn’t cheat on a client. So no … whatever happened here has nothing to do with me.’
‘Okay … I believe you. What about my other questions. Where did you get the hired help?’
‘Fraser, the lawyer.’
‘Fraser?’ I failed to keep the surprise out of my tone. I’d been doing so well up until then with my omniscient detective act. The truth was I had not been at all sure I was on to anything at all.
‘He knows people,’ she said. ‘From the war.’
‘But Fraser was in the Home Gua …’ The sentence died on my lips. I felt like throwing myself out of the window, I had been so stupid.
‘And is Downey dead?’
‘No.’
‘Do you know where he is?’
She didn’t answer but instead reached over my desk and pulled my telephone towards her. As she did so I could see the swell of her breasts in the cleavage of her silk blouse. I decided I was too quick to turn down offers and that a short spell in casualty would not have been that bad.
She spoke a few words into the receiver and scribbled something down on my desk blotter. Her last words were to call the dogs off.
‘They’ve tracked him down to this address,’ she said. ‘Nothing will happen to him. But if he ever tries to sell any photographs of John, I promise you, Lennox, I’ll make a call across the Atlantic and I’ll be giving my contacts two names.’
Standing up and walking around the desk, I stood over her and read the address. It was in Bridgeton. Poor bastard.
I grabbed Leonora by the flesh of her upper arm and hauled her to her feet, pushing her hard and fast across the room until her back hit the wall.
‘I don’t hit women, Leonora. Just one of these odd little quirks about me,’ I said. ‘But if you ever threaten me again, I don’t care how many continents I have to cross, I’ll come over and slap you senseless. Then, after that, I’ll give the police every scrap of evidence I’ve got to see if they can pin anything on you. You got that?’
She nodded, but her eyes were clear of fear. She was a real piece of work, all right. I let go her arm.
‘And let me be clear about this … if I hear that anything — and I mean anything — untoward happens to Paul Downey then, again, I will go to the police with everything I know. Now I may not have enough for them to make a case, but it will be one hell of a scandal and everything you’ve fought so hard to avoid coming out will be splashed across the newspapers.’
I backed off. I felt bad about the rough stuff, but I reacted badly when people threatened me. And, anyway, given my experience with Leonora, she probably considered it foreplay. ‘Another bit of advice, Miss Bryson: when you get on that plane tomorrow, I strongly recommend you make sure it’s a one-way ticket and never, ever set foot on British soil again. Got that?’
She straightened herself out before answering. She was trying to retain her dignity, but the truth was she had never lost it.
‘You’ve expressed yourself very well, Lennox. But don’t worry, I have no intention of setting foot in this shitheel country ever again.’
‘One more thing,’ I said as she was leaving. ‘Not a word to Fraser. I don’t want you tipping him off that I know about your little arrangement.’
She turned at the door and nodded curtly. Then she was gone.
I sat and stared at the window, out at the black stone and iron lacework of Central Station, contemplating what had just happened and the information I’d been given. The war had been over for ten years, but it still loomed large in everything, casting its shadow into every corner of life. I had forgotten, even when Jock Ferguson had asked the old retired copper about Harrison, that Fraser had been in the Home Guard.
I was considering my next move when someone walked into my office; just like McNab, without knocking. I considered getting a sign.
‘Hello, Jock,’ I said. ‘I was just thinking about you.’
He came in and sat down opposite me. As he did so, I saw that he had noticed the address written on my blotter and glanced at it absently before tossing his trilby on top of it.