Blind Eye

Aftermath
I

CAULFLEG FARM, 35 MILES FROM ABERDEEN — FOUR HOURS LATER

'Now then,' Wee Hamish stepped into the barn, 'are we ready?'

A fat man in stained overalls hauled the metal door shut, locking out the sunny afternoon. He flipped a switch and the lights flickered on, just bare bulbs dangling from the ceiling, making the wet concrete floor glow.

Sties ran down either side of the building, full of big pink bodies, snouts poking through metal bars. It stank in here. A deep, savoury reek of raw sewage, sweat and terror. A dusty hint of dry straw bedding. The grunt and squeal of the pigs.

Hilary Brander looked at her husband. 'We're ready.'

'Good, good.' Wee Hamish held out a brand-new claw hammer. 'Well, there's no rush, so take your time. You want me and Reuben to wait outside?' He pointed at the fat man, who waved back, his face a deformed mass of scar tissue and patchy beard.

'No, no, you're OK.' She accepted the hammer and Wee Hamish nodded.

'Right, well, he's all ready for you.'

They'd laid out a couple of wooden pallets on a bed of straw in the middle of the concrete walkway. There was a man tied to the wood, spread-eagled. One side of his head was swollen and torn, covered in a red-brown mask of dried blood. He was big. Going bald at the front, the long hair at the back matted and glistening.

He mumbled something behind the gag, glaring at them with one eye as Hilary led Simon across the concrete floor, the scars where his eyes used to be hidden behind a pair of wraparound sunglasses.

Wee Hamish coughed. 'I'm sorry we couldn't get the other one. I'm afraid the police officer involved was… Well, never mind. I'm sure we can take care of that later.'

Hilary pressed the hammer into Simon's hand. 'He's all yours.'

Simon bared his teeth, feeling his way along the battered man's leg until he came to the knee.

The victim thrashed, jerking back and forth, but the ropes were nice and tight. He wasn't going anywhere.

Simon's first three goes with the hammer missed, thunking into the wooden pallets. The fourth clipped the edge of the man's leg, and the fifth crunched down on the back of his own hand. 'FUCK! FUCKING, FUCKING FUCK!' He hurled the hammer away and sat back on his haunches, sucking his knuckles.

'Are you OK, honey?'

'No I'm not O-fucking-K! I'm blind! I can't even cripple someone!'

Hilary stood, walked over to the hammer and picked it up. There were bits of straw stuck between the forks of the claw. She picked them free and let them fall to the floor. 'I'll do it.'

Wee Hamish laid a hand on her shoulder. 'It's all right, Hilary love, Reuben will take care of everything. Won't you Reuben?'

'Be my pleasure, Miss Brander.'

'You go inside and tell Mrs Williamson I said to give you a nice cup of tea.'

Hilary hefted the hammer in her hand. 'Thanks, but it should be one of the family. And Colin can't do it — not with the police watching him all the time. I owe it to Simon…'

The first blow was tentative. The second harder. The third strong enough to make the cartilage snap and the big man scream behind the gag. On and on, pounding away at the knee joint, spatters of blood flying as the noise got wetter and wetter. Hammering right down into the bone. Then it was time for knee number two.

She looked up. Wiped a hand across her face, trying to get rid of the little red drops on her cheeks and forehead, but probably just making a smeary mess.

Simon was smiling his bedroom smile, listening as the crunching started up again. She could see the bulge in his trousers. First time in years…

Tonight was going to be very special.

She grinned, then went to work on the big Pole's elbows. Detective Sergeant Pirie screwed his eyes shut and tried to pretend he was somewhere else. Anywhere else. Anywhere other than lying on his side in an empty pig pen, drenched in his own blood. Handcuffed and gagged. Cold and shivering. Lapsing in and out of consciousness. Crying, and praying.

Then the sound of hammering stopped, and the big Polish guy was dragged away.

The barn door grated open.

Pirie could hear the pigs squealing as they fought over something. And then Reuben was back, his big scarred face twisted into a smile.

'Your turn.'