Skinner’s round

Twenty

‘Are you normally on day shift, Sergeant?'

Davie Soutar nodded his large head. 'Yes, ma'am. Admin. might be a bore, but at least the hours are regular and there's less stress on the wife. She disna' have to sit at home worrying about armed robbers, or demented junkies, or anything like that.'

He hunched the shoulders of his white uniform shirt as he reflected for a few seconds. 'I always say that far too few polismen think about the effect that their job has on their wives.

They go home and they expect everything to be just so, weans quiet, house neat and tidy, washing done, tea on the table. A lot of police marriages break down because of it.'

Maggie smiled, grimly. 'I'll bear that in mind, Davie. My fiance's a Detective Sergeant. But I think that if I tried to persuade him to take a desk job, my marriage would break down before it started. Mario thinks that being shot in the line of duty makes you statistically bullet-proof.'

Soutar looked at her in surprise. 'You're engaged to big McGuire?' He laughed. 'I heard that the Big Eyetie had been tamed. Now I can see how! Mario and me shared a panda for a while when we were a bit younger. I mind one night we were checking shops in Dalry Road, and I got set upon by three casuals. I was getting a right doin', ken, till the boy Mario arrived. One of them threatened him wi' a knife; he went face first into a wall. The second one, oh my, but he just wrecked him. The third one put his hands up!'

His expression changed to one of concern. 'I heard he got quite badly hurt. Any after-effects?'

Maggie shook her head. 'None that I've been able to see. Physically he's fine, and there don't seem to be any psychological scars.

Anyway, to business.' They were seated in a small interview room in the Lasswade station.

The architecture of police buildings in the Edinburgh area is of inconsistent quality. At best, Lasswade drew mixed critical reviews.

Aye,' said Soutar. 'A family matter, but nothing to do with my kids, you said. What is it then?'

Rose put the cassette player on the table. 'How long has your family lived in Longniddry, Davie?'

He smiled. 'Since God was a boy, they say.'

`Do you have a relative named Lisa Soutar? A cousin, sister, niece even?'

Aye. I've got a sister called Lisa. She's a couple of years younger than me.'

`Right. I'd like you to listen to this tape for me.' She pushed the Walkman across the desk.

The sergeant put on the headphones and pressed the play button. He listened with an expression of growing interest and surprise. By the end his mouth was hanging open slightly.

`That's amazin', Inspector. Can ah have a copy of that?'

I'll need to ask Mr Skinner, but I'm sure it'll be all right. So, that was your sister?'

Oh aye, that was oor Lisa OK. A heid full o' fairies, we used to say. She was a weird lassie right enough. She and ma nana were as thick as thieves. Nana hardly spoke to the rest of us.

What age would Lisa be then, ah wonder?' He searched his memory. 'Let's see, if she was in Mrs Skinner's class, she'd have been ten or eleven.' A sudden thought struck him. 'Here, I mind that that Mrs Skinner was killed. Was she…?'

`The boss's first wife?' Maggie finished his question and nodded. There were a few seconds of solemn silence.

`Now, about your nana,' said Rose, dragging Soutar back to the subject of their meeting.

'How old would she have been then?'

`Let's see. She died in 1982, and she was ninety-nine then, so she'd have been ninety-three or thereabouts.'

`What about Lisa, where's she now? Is she married?'

Sergeant Soutar nodded. 'Aye, she's married on tae a soldier called Roy Davies. He's in the Royal Engineers. They're stationed in Germany just now. Dinna like the man much. He's far too strict wi' Lisa, and wi' their wee lass.'

`How about your parents. Are they still…?'

`Ma mother's dead, but ma father's still around.'

`Would he know anything of your family history?'

Soutar laughed. 'What, ma da'? He'll tell you who won the Cup in 1952, or what won the three-thirty at Carlisle last Thursday, but he knows bugger all about his own family. He thought ma nana was as daft as a brush, and so did his father before him. The auld witch, they used to call her. No, Inspector, if you want to know anything about the Soutar family history, you'll need tae ask oor Lisa. Nana Soutar passed it all on to her, and that's where it is tae this day, in her head.'

He handed the tape player back to Rose. 'Do you have a number where I can contact your sister?' she asked.

Aye, sure.' He took a notebook from his pocket, scribbled on it, tore out the page and passed it across the desk. 'That's her home number in Germany.

`There's one thing you havens' told me, though. What's a' this about?'

The inspector took from her bag a cutting from that morning's Scotsman, and handed it, without a word, to Davie Soutar. He read it in silence, astonishment returning to his broad features. What? D'you think our Lisa might have written that?'

Rose shook her head. Not if she's in Germany, no. But as far as I can gather, the story on that tape has never been written down in full. I need to find out whether it's been passed down through any other family, and right now, your sister seems to be the only lead I've got.'

`But so what? It's just a crank letter, isn't it?'

Maggie shrugged her shoulders. 'Maybe yes, maybe no. A lot of people believe in UFOs, and a lot believe in witches. And — leaving your sister out of this — just suppose some believe that they're witches themselves?'