Aftershock

Seventy-six

‘If you’re going to do that, Bob, won’t you need support?’ Aileen asked. ‘Do we have an embassy there?’

He was barefoot, but otherwise still in his running gear, glistening from his exercise as they stood in the hall. ‘No,’ he replied, ‘but there’s an honorary consul, a government-appointed back-watcher. I’ve already spoken to him and told him I’m coming on to his patch, and that I want to see him as soon as possible.’

‘But what can you do on your own?’

‘I won’t be alone. I’m taking somebody with me. I’ve just spoken to Ruth, my secretary, and told her to get us both on to this afternoon’s Globespan flight from Edinburgh to Nice. I’m sorry about the short notice, love, but I only got this information this morning.’

‘Where are you going to stay?’

‘There’s a hotel called the Columbus next to the helipad. I’ve asked her to book us in there. I’m sorry to leave you on your own for the next few nights, but this is something I have to do.’

‘I know you have, for Maggie’s sake. . just as long as it isn’t her you’re taking with you.’

He laughed. ‘Worry not. But this isn’t just about Maggie. Part of it’s about me as well, especially after the phone call I’ve just had from Andy. He, or rather his talented ex-cop wife, has come up with a theory. He’ll need to take medical advice to confirm it, but if it stands up, it changes everything. It makes this trip I’m taking all the more important.’

‘Then off you go, my sweaty old darling, and get yourself ready for it. Tell me the whole story as soon as you can, but I can’t keep my driver waiting any longer. Don’t worry about me being here alone. I’ll probably stay at the residence while you’re away. Yes,’ she said firmly, ‘I’ll do that and I’ll invite Alex for dinner one evening, just to make sure she’s all right after her emotional explosion yesterday.’

‘Good idea. With all that happened, we never got round to telling her she’s going to have a new stepmother. You can let her in on the secret.’

She gasped. ‘Sometimes you live in your own wee world. That is down to you and nobody else. See you soon.’ She kissed him and walked out to the government car that waited for her in the drive.

Left alone, he trotted upstairs to his bathroom, where he stripped off his T-shirt and shorts and stepped into the shower. He set the temperature at cool and the control to power jet, then allowed the water to pound him, turning slowly as it massaged his body. He was smiling, fuelled by the thought that he was about to become a participant in events, rather than the mere spectator he had been for most of the previous week, and more.

He stayed under the spray for almost ten minutes, then towelled himself vigorously until he was almost dry. He was in the middle of shaving, thinking of how much he would miss Aileen for the next few days, when his mobile sounded on the surface beside the inset basin. He scowled at it, but laid down his razor, picked it up and said, ‘Yes?’

‘Is that Mr Skinner?’ a voice enquired, a young voice, a voice he did not know.

‘Yes, it is. Who is this, and how did you get this number?’ he asked, ready to savage the caller if he was yet another salesman trying to induce him to switch networks.

‘You left it for me. My name is Davis Colledge.’

Skinner’s back straightened involuntarily, causing the towel to slip from round his waist and fall to the floor. ‘Davis?’ he repeated. ‘Where are you?’

‘I’m in Collioure,’ the young man told him. ‘I’ve just got back from a trip and I found your card and your note waiting for me. What is it? Is this about Sugar?’

‘Why did you go away?’

‘I was angry with her. She stood me up. She was supposed to join me but she never turned up. She switched off her mobile. And I couldn’t get an answer from her parents’ place. Finally I decided that I’d bugger off out of there, so that if she did arrive, eventually, she could have some of what I’d been through. That’s why I left my mobile behind, so she’d know she couldn’t find me, and that she’d just have to sit and wait for me for a change. And that’s why I painted her face out of that picture you must have seen if you were here. It was me saying, “Fuck you,” to her.’

‘Not the most mature reaction,’ said Skinner, ‘but never mind. What made you think she would stand you up?’

‘She’d said she would sleep with me when we got to France. I knew that was her way of backing out, and I was right. She’s still not here.’

‘Backing out? I’ve seen your painting, son. You got her appendix scar right.’

‘She posed for me back in Edinburgh, but that was all. She was my girlfriend, but she said she couldn’t have sex with me until I’d left school.’

‘Where did you go when you left Collioure?’

‘Listen,’ the youth interrupted, ‘can I ask you something?’

‘Not yet,’ said Skinner sternly. ‘You’ll answer my questions first.’

‘I hitch-hiked down into Spain and then I got a flight to Holland.’

‘Where did you go in Spain?’

‘Girona. That’s where I got the plane.’

‘Did you go anywhere near a place called L’Escala?’

‘Where? No. Never heard of it.’

‘Why did you go to Holland?’

‘I decided to go to Amsterdam; there are plenty of women there.’

‘From what I remember, most of them are old enough to be your mother.’

‘They’re clean, though. My dad told me.’

Skinner filed that statement away. ‘So,’ he said, ‘you went to Holland to get laid. Then what?’

‘Then I came back down here, and Sugar’s still not here. But what’s all this about, sir? Why were you here looking for me?’

‘Sugar’s not coming, son. Sugar’s dead. Her body was found last Monday in Edinburgh. It happened on her way to school, on the last day of term.’

There was silence, then the sound of sobbing. ‘She’s dead?’ Davis Colledge said indistinctly, through his tears. ‘How?’ he asked. ‘Was it an accident?’

‘No, she was shot. We’re treating it as murder.’

‘Who did it? Who’d want to hurt Sugar?’

‘You’ve just told me you did.’

‘But I was angry with her,’ he protested, ‘and I wouldn’t hurt her like that. Have you? Have you caught anybody?’

‘Not yet. We’re hoping you can help us with that. We’ll need to interview you, Davis, about Sugar, about the nature of your relationship and about anyone she might have mentioned, anyone who might have had a grudge against her.’

‘Yes, sir, of course. But I can’t think of anyone.’

‘You haven’t had time to think at all.’

‘What will I do?’ the young man asked.

‘First, I want you to call your father. Then you need to go to the local gendarmerie and tell them that you’ve returned. They’ll take you to Perpignan airport and put you on the first plane home. My people will contact your dad and arrange for him to meet your plane, and bring you up to Edinburgh to see them. Do you understand all that?’

‘Yes, sir. Mr Skinner, this is all a joke, isn’t it?’

‘Am I laughing?’

Skinner ended the call. He stepped into the bedroom, and searched through his data organiser for the number of Lieutenant Cerdan. Happily, he was in his office. ‘Lieutenant,’ he said, ‘the boy has surfaced. He’s back at the studio and he’s just rung me. I told him to report to your local office, but to be on the safe side, I think you should go to him now.’

‘I agree, sir,’ the Frenchman replied. ‘We do not want to have to chase him all over again. I will send my men at once.’

‘Thanks. Once you’ve done that, I’d be grateful if you could spare some more resources in Collioure. There’s something I’d like checked out.’

Two minutes later, the conversation over, he returned to his interrupted shave, starting again from scratch on the side of his face that was still rough. Once again, his mind wandered as he gazed into the mirror, as he thought of his situation, the morning’s development and the stalemate he was trying to break.

As he did, a slow smile spread across the face he could see in the glass.

He finished, still beaming, then rubbed his jaw and top lip with the baby lotion that he always used, to Aileen’s great amusement, as after-shave balm. That done, he dressed casually for a journey then packed a small suitcase with clothes sufficient for three days.

Only when that was done did he pick up his mobile once more and ring McIlhenney. When they were connected, he told him about his surprise call, and asked him to contact Michael Colledge as soon as possible.

‘Will do,’ said the detective superintendent. ‘And I’ll brief the team. Anything else, boss?’

‘As a matter of fact,’ Skinner replied, ‘there is. I’ve just had a weird idea. It’s complicated, and you’ll need to move very fast, but if you can put all the pieces together, this is what I’d like you to do.’