Murmuring the Judges

54

The door of the Lord Advocate’s office opened slowly. ‘You wanted to see me, Archie?’ said the Home Advocate Depute as he slipped into the room.

‘Hello, Norman,’ said Lord Archibald. ‘Your case is over, I hear.’

‘That’s right,’ said the dark-haired advocate. ‘The jury was out for less than half an hour. Guilty, of course,’ he added with a smile.

‘That’s good. Actually, it isn’t me who wants to speak to you.’

King seemed to notice the other two men in the room for the first time, as they rose from their seats at the Lord Advocate’s conference table.

‘Good afternoon, sir,’ said Bob Skinner. ‘Have you met our Head of CID, DCS Martin?’

‘No, I don’t think I have.’ He extended his hand, and the detective shook it, looking at him, curiously. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘We have a few questions we’d like to ask you, about things that have come up in the course of our investigation into your father’s murder.’

‘Fine, Mr Skinner. I’ll do anything I can to help.’

The DCC nodded. ‘That’s good. Let’s begin then.’

‘What, here? Now?’ King glanced round at Lord Archibald.

‘That’s all right, Norman. I have the time, and this is as good a place as any.’

The man’s eyes narrowed very slightly as he sat but he said nothing.

‘I’ll begin, Mr King, by asking if you can tell us anything about your father’s will?’

The advocate frowned at Skinner. ‘Not really. There was a will which left his property to be divided between my brother and me.’

‘Is it still in force?’

King hesitated. ‘To tell you the truth,’ he began, ‘I’m not entirely sure. There was some talk. . I heard it from Archie, actually. My father and I never discussed these things. . that he might have been planning some sort of memorial bequest to the Faculty of Advocates.’

‘Do you know much about that?’

‘It was a joint affair, as I understand it. . with old Barnfather, ironically. I know they had got as far as drawing up a joint minute of agreement, but I’m not certain whether the thing had been executed.’

‘Have you taken any steps to find out?’ Skinner asked, his voice deliberately friendly.

‘I’ve asked my solicitors to write to Hannah Johnson, Dad’s lawyer, at CAJ. So far, there’s been no reply.’

‘You have a clear interest though.’

‘Naturally. My old man was worth a packet.’

‘If the bequest hasn’t been executed, what will you do?’

King frowned. ‘I’ll consult my brother, I suppose. We might decide to give some cash to the Faculty; fifty thousand, maybe.’

‘But not all of it?’

‘God no! We’re talking serious money here.’

‘Mmm.’ Skinner gazed at the table thoughtfully for a few moments. ‘Can I turn to the day of your father’s death,’ he went on. ‘You were in Court in Glasgow, I think.’

The Home Advocate Depute nodded. ‘That was the idea. But we had to adjourn for the day, first thing in the morning, so I came back through to Edinburgh.’

‘Ahh,’ said the DCC casually, ‘straight back to the Crown Office?’

‘Not quite. I called in at Parliament House to check my box, and spent some time working in the library.’

‘Was your father a man with many enemies, Mr King?’

‘He was a judge, officer.’ The man’s tone was sharp. ‘They tend to make a few.’

Only Martin saw the muscle clench at the base of Skinner’s jaw. He knew how dangerous it was to attempt to patronise his friend.

‘How were your own relations with him?’

King stared at him. ‘Mine? He was my father, man.’

‘Once upon a time, I arrested a man who disembowelled his father.’ The DCC glanced at the Lord Advocate. ‘As a matter of fact, Archie was an AD at the time. He led for the Crown at the trial. So I’ll ask you again. How close were you to Lord Archergait?’

‘I respected him very much.’

‘But you hated his guts nonetheless, isn’t that right, as he hated yours?’

Slowly, the man nodded. ‘Look,’ he asked, in a hesitant voice. ‘Where is this taking us?’

‘This is an informal conversation, sir. You must appreciate that in an investigation as complicated as this we have to examine every possibility.’

‘Yes, but. .’

‘What were you doing in Aberlady Nature Reserve eight days ago, sir?’

King swung round to stare at Andy Martin. ‘What the. .’ He broke off and looked at the Lord Advocate. ‘Archie, what is this?’

‘Let’s see what it is, Norman, shall we,’ said Lord Archibald. ‘Please answer.’

‘I was walking my girl-friend’s dog, if you must know.’

‘Your girl-friend, sir?’

‘Clarissa Maclean. She was staying at my place for the weekend. She had some work to do in the afternoon so I took her dog out to the Reserve for some exercise.’

‘The person who saw you didn’t mention a dog, sir.’

‘I’d probably put the bitch back in the car by then. She was in heat, and half the bloody hounds in the Reserve were straining at the leash to get at her.’

‘Did you put her back in the car before you met Lord Barnfather, or afterwards?’

King stared at Martin, then at Skinner, who looked back at him, impassively. ‘I never saw old Barnfather!’ he exclaimed.

‘We have a witness,’ said the DCC, quietly, ‘who has identified you as being with him. He says that the two of you were walking out across the sands, in the direction of the place where the old man was tied up and left to drown.’

The advocate sat speechless.

‘Then there’s the cyanide,’ Martin went on. ‘Your girl-friend keeps cyanide on her farm. The same poison that was used to kill your father.’

Norman King let out a long, gasping sigh. ‘You cannot mean all of this,’ he whispered.

‘Let me ask you something, sir,’ said Skinner. ‘If you were someone else. . let’s say you were Archie. . and I reported all these circumstances to you, what would you say?’

The man looked back at him, tight-lipped.

‘Let me tell you, then,’ the policeman went on. ‘You’d say “Charge him. I’ll prosecute the case myself.”

He straightened up in his seat. ‘Now before we get round to a formal caution and interview, I’m going to ask you something, informally. If the answer is “Yes”, then with the Lord Advocate’s permission, we’ll give you an opportunity to submit yourself for psychiatric examination before we do anything else.’ He paused, and stared across the table.

‘Did you kill your father, and Lord Barnfather?’

Norman King looked back at him, stunned. His mouth twitched and twisted, but eventually, he found his voice. ‘No, gentlemen,’ he muttered, ‘I did not.’

Across the room, the Lord Advocate coughed. ‘In the circumstances, Norman,’ he said, heavily, and in a formal tone, ‘that is something which a jury may be asked to decide.’