Gallery Whispers

47

'I didn't expect to see you here at St Leonardos, boss,' said Brian Mackie, as Skinner closed the door behind him. He glanced at the clock on the wall. 'Not first thing on a Monday morning, at any rate.'

The big DCC grinned, a touch sheepishly. 'Maybe not, but I didn't think it would be right for me to summon you to Fettes, just so I could give you an apology.'

'Eh?' Mackie looked puzzled.

'From me: for my excess of zeal on Saturday morning.'

'Ah,' said the superintendent, understanding him at once. 'Yes, I've heard about that; Stevie called me on Saturday evening and told me the whole story. Funnily enough, he apologised as well, for acting off his own bat.'

'It was excusable in his case,' said Skinner. 'He's young, he's enthusiastic and, though he wouldn't admit it, he's ambitious. There's no excuse for me though. Christ, Andy Martin made that clear enough: he called me yesterday after my daughter told him about it, and took it upon himself- rightly, I must say — to tear a strip off me.

'So I confess. I involved myself in your investigation without a byyour-leave, and that's no way for a commander to behave, whatever his motivation.'

'To tell you the truth, sir,' Mackie began, tentatively, 'I thought you might have come to give me a rollicking for not showing more initiative myself.'

'And why should I do that?' the DCC asked. 'As I keep on drumming into people, ours is a team operation. Anyone can feed ideas into the pot; the commander considers them all and decides on the lines of inquiry, but no one expects him to do all the original thinking.

'What isn't acceptable is an officer acting on his own without the commander's knowledge. It would have been no bother for Steele or me to have picked up the phone on Saturday and told you what we were doing. I was unprofessional and undisciplined and for that I'm sorry.'

And then he smiled. 'Mind you,' he chuckled. 'We picked a winner.'

The divisional commander nodded. 'You sure did. Appropriate or not, it was good work, and I wish I had thought of it myself. I think Maggie would have, if she wasn't out of action.'

'How is she, by the way?' asked Skinner.

'She's coming on. While you and Steele were chasing that woman all over Edinburgh, I was visiting her. She's giving Mario a hard time — poor bugger doesn't have a moment to sit down — but she is taking note of the surgeon's warning about keeping her arm immobilised until it's had a chance to heal properly.'

'That's good. Talking about hard times, I had one myself on Saturday after we were finished with Dr Gopal.'

Untypically, Mackie laughed. 'Did you really take the baby on surveillance, boss?'

'Sure I did; he loved it, too. A real bonding experience, it was. Just like Gopal and his sister, I hope.'

The superintendent's normal expression was restored at once. He swung round in his chair, frowning up at the DCC. 'Do you think he'll succeed?' he asked.

'In the short term, I'm sure he will. He's had the courage to take her this far, so I'd expect him to make it the rest of the way. Beyond that though, it'll be up to the girl.'

'What about the father? Will he take her back?'

'Not a chance, according to Surinder. He said that his mother will be out on the street too, if the old man ever learns what she's done.

No, the girl — her name's Ayesha — will live with him once she's better; but given the hours he works…

'Well let's just say it could be touch and go for a while yet.'

Mackie nodded. 'I guess so. We'll help her in the only way we can.

Steele's gone to find the boyfriend. I've told him to throw the fear of Christ Almighty into him, plus a few other deities as well. If we can keep him away from her for good, then her chances will be better.'

'I hope he gets the message,' said Skinner quietly. 'Because if there was a next time, I'm pretty sure Surinder would kill him, and he sure isn't worth that.'

'No.' The two detectives sat in silence for a while.

'So,' exclaimed the DCC, at last, 'back to basics: the Weston investigation.'

'Yes, boss. Not one of my great successes.'

'Not a failure either, Brian, by any measurement. You've taken it as far as anyone could.'

'But come up empty, apart from a DNA trace, and a possible print from an envelope, with no one to match either.'

'No one for now. Maybe for ever. Who knows? Time will tell, and that's how I want it left. I've spoken to Andy about this. Maybe, at first, his line on this was a bit harder than ours but now he agrees.'

The superintendent looked up. 'Close it, boss?'

Skinner shook his head. 'No; not formally. Leave it open, but just let it lie, until the Fatal Accident Inquiry. For now it's used up all the resources we can justify. Once the jury records its verdict, we'll see where we go from there.'

'They'll say unlawful killing, won't they?'

'Maybe. It depends on the evidence that the Fiscal chooses to lay before them. He may just present them with cause of death, without going into missing syringes and complications like that.'

'The family aren't pressing for full disclosure,' said Mackie. 'That's for bloody sure.'

'In that case, I'm more convinced than ever that we've fulfilled our public duty. There may be another lead out there, Brian, one that will lead us straight to the person who injected Mrs Weston. But there's no more we can do; if we find it, we'll have tripped over it rather than unearthed it through orthodox police work.

'So call this one a job well done, regardless of the outcome, and concentrate on the rest of your workload.' He turned towards the door.

'Now I must get on with mine. See you.'

'Hey boss,' Skinner stopped and looked round as the superintendent called after him. 'Did you enjoy yourself: back on the street on Saturday morning?'

He grinned. 'Did I ever!'