A Rush of Blood

Forty-one

‘What have we got, Neil?’ asked Skinner, as he, McGuire and

McIlhenney sat around the conference table, each clutching a soft drink can, taken from the fridge in the corner of his room.

‘We’ve got next to nothing, boss. We have ten managers in custody in various offices; the party line seems to be that the places are closed as a mark of respect to Tomas, but they’re not saying anything else. We’ve found none of the eight girls that Anna says were brought to Edinburgh with her, and at first sight there’s no evidence in any of the massage parlours that they were ever there. Naturally, the guys deny all knowledge of them.’

‘You’re one Lithuanian short, aren’t you?’ McGuire remarked.

‘No, we’ve got a full complement. The eleventh, Arturus Luksa, is on his way here; we’ve got to handle him differently.’

The chief constable frowned. ‘Why?’

‘Because he came within an instant of burying a knife in Mary Chambers’s throat. He’s going to be done for attempted murder. In the circumstances, I didn’t think it would be wise to leave him locked up at Torphichen Place.’

‘He might not be too safe here either. What happened?’

‘From what Mary’s been able to tell me, the guy bolted, they cornered him in his own kitchen and he came at her with a blade. She might well have been a goner if Charlie Johnston hadn’t knocked it out of his hand, just in time, and subdued the guy.’

‘Charlie Johnston?’ an incredulous McGuire exclaimed. ‘The Charlie Johnston?’

The superintendent nodded. ‘The only one we’ve got. He’s spent thirty years on the force trying not to be noticed and now he’s going to retire as a hero.’

‘Is Mary OK?’

‘She’s got a cut on her throat; it’s superficial, although it was very close to an artery, according to the doctor who patched her up. Charlie really did save her life.’

‘Then he’s in for a big fat commendation for bravery,’ Skinner declared. ‘And if he takes the job he’s being offered in the press office, I might stick him a couple of points up the salary scale as well.’

‘What’s Royston going to say about having him on his team?’ McIlhenney asked.

‘Fuck all, because it won’t be his team.’

‘Jesus, boss, you didn’t fire him, did you?’

Skinner snorted. ‘No, he fired us. He says he’s been head-hunted, and he’s taking it; a new challenge, all that crap.’

‘What’s better than here? Strathclyde, I suppose.’

‘He wouldn’t tell me, and I didn’t press him, but there’s no vacancy there. It could be commercial, or local government. The truth is, I don’t give a bugger. I’ll let him go right away and put a sound pair of hands in there from the uniform side. . Ian McCall maybe. . to hold the fort until we can find a professional replacement.’

‘What about your night?’ the detective superintendent inquired. ‘Where’s Gerulaitis? Have you got him locked up here too?’

The chief constable and the head of CID exchanged glances. ‘He’s cooling his heels, you might say,’ McGuire volunteered. ‘In the morgue: him and his wife. While we were going to pick him up, they were dying in a house fire.’

‘Jesus. Not accidental, surely?’

‘Man, I can understand why you sound sceptical, given the circumstances. So are we, but the first fire and rescue investigator on the scene went straight to a wine cooler, a mini-fridge thing, and focused on that. Her first thought is that the fire started there, and that it could well have been an accident. The couple appeared to have been trapped in the kitchen, with only one way out, and that door was locked. When the fire people found what was left of it, and the frame, there was no key in it.’

‘It’s been a bad week for the Lietuvos group,’ McIlhenney murmured. ‘A suicide and a fatal accident. What’s next?’ As Skinner glared at him, out of the chief’s sight McGuire raised his eyebrows and put a finger to his lips. ‘What?’ he protested.

‘As of this afternoon, Neil, my daughter is running those companies, temporarily.’

‘But not the massage parlours?’

‘No.’

‘So don’t worry. There’s no problem with the pubs or the development business.’

‘What makes you so sure?’

‘Logic, and you’ll say the same if you look at it objectively. You know what I think? Zaliukas didn’t know Gerulaitis was running the girls. When he found out. .’

‘He was so upset that he shot himself? The Tomas I know would have killed Valdas, not himself.’ Skinner frowned. ‘There has to be something behind it, yes. According to what Regine told Alex, it had nothing to do with her, but I still haven’t a fucking clue what it is. Unexplained suicides happen, accidents happen, and somebody wins the lottery every week. Those are facts, and you have to acknowledge them. But what I do not believe is that twelve massage parlour managers shut down their knocking shops as a mark of respect for a man who didn’t even want to be seen as owning them.’

‘Let’s interview some of the women who work there,’ McGuire proposed, ‘and find out what they say.’

Skinner nodded. ‘Do that for sure, but there’s another card we can play. This man who nearly killed Mary Chambers. He’s looking at an attempted murder charge. With a police officer involved? That’s a potential life sentence with a high tariff. It might make him more inclined to cooperate.’

It was McIlhenney’s turn to glare. ‘You’re not thinking about doing a deal with him, are you?’

The chief constable shrugged. ‘Needs must. Let him sleep on his predicament, Neil. I’ll have a word with him in the morning. Just the two of us; a quiet wee chat.’