Gallery Whispers

48

Neil Mcllhenney was in the Chief Constable's outer office, casually conversing with Gerry Crossley, as Skinner stepped in from the Command Corridor, having called in on ACC Elder.

'Morning, Gaffer,' said the sergeant. The DCC nodded an acknowledgment.

The big chap's jacket s hanging on him a bit, he thought.

'Go on in, Neil,' he said, following his assistant through the door.

'How goes it?' he asked, as he sat behind the big desk.

'Quiet weekend, sir,' Mcllhenney answered, leaning across and laying a folder before Skinner. 'What there is of it is in there.'

'Ah, I didn't mean that. First things first, man. How's Olive? Sarah said that she was in bed when she brought kids home.'

The big sergeant leaned back in his chair, wearily. 'Yes, that's right.

She was asleep in fact. She's a lot better this morning; in fact, she insisted on getting up to give Lauren and Spencer their breakfast. But the weekend was pretty rough. Ach, she was sick from the moment we got back on Friday evening right through till Sunday afternoon.

'We had a bit of help on Saturday, though. A woman from a medical charity came in to see us. A nice lady. Her outfit works with the hospital in supporting out-patients; not just cancer, all sorts. By the time she arrived, I was fair glad to see her.

'I tell you, boss, I can't thank you enough for looking after Lauren and Spencer. I would not have liked them to see that.'

Skinner winced, in spite of himself. 'We'll have them next weekend too, if you want.'

Mcllhenney shook his head. 'Thanks; I appreciate that too. But our nurse said that she should be all right after the second treatment. It's only a top-up, and the drug they use is easier on the patient. On top of that, the visitor we had — Penelope dark, she said her name was reports back to the hospital, and that helps them judge the amount of anti-sickness medication they need to give.'

He sighed, heavily. 'Can I ask you, sir: how was Lauren over the weekend? Our Spence is on the young side to understand it all, but my wee lass was about twenty when she was born. I worry something hellish about the effect this could have on her.'

'And you know what, Neil? She's worried in just the same way about you.' The sergeant closed his eyes, and for just a second, his chin looked as if it might wobble, but then his whole jaw tightened in a resolute line.

'She had a wee moment over breakfast on Saturday,' Skinner went on, quickly, 'but she and Sarah went away and had a woman to woman talk, and she was fine after that. She's a great kid; they both are.'

'Aye,' said their father. 'They are that.'

He pulled himself up in his chair. 'Anyway, boss,' he said briskly, 'to business. If you look in that folder you'll see it's a succession of nil returns from all over the country.

'I spoke to Mario over the weekend…' he laughed, unexpectedly.

'The pair of us, bloody nurses, eh. Can you imagine that? 'He told me that Neville did have to check one bloke out last week, but that he was okay.' The big sergeant chuckled again. 'So much so that she went out with him.'

'Bloody hell!' Skinner gasped. 'She's what?'

'It's okay, boss; calm down, calm down. Mario said that he read her the Riot Act, or his version of it, about secrecy; about keeping her mouth shut on the job, so to speak. She was quite offended about that, apparently. He did also double check the guy himself, just to be sure: he's absolutely squeaky, no doubt.'

'Nonetheless,' Skinner growled, 'she shouldn't let her work cross over into her private life.'

'Maybe not, sir. But haven't we all done it, to an extent. And the guy was only really a suspect because she saw him limp.'

A smile flicked at the corners of the DCC's mouth. 'As long as that's the only way she saw him,' he muttered.

'For sure, I reckon,' his executive assistant retorted. 'According to Mario, he turned out to be gay.'

'Jesus,' laughed Skinner, 'it sounds as if no one's getting a return out of this business at all. First the mad Mr Impey has McGuire nearly shooting an Interpol agent, then Fettes's answer to Mata Hari pulls a poof.

'Fucking typical of this Hawkins investigation. I tell you, Neil, this guy better turn up somewhere soon, before this whole operation descends into farce.'

'I think it has already, boss. Mario said he was at the airport on Thursday checking some tips on the Amsterdam flight. All he got was a wee drunk Arab trying to smuggle six litres of Bell's into the country … imagine, smuggling whisky into Scotland… and a couple of Hari Krishnas.

'He's completely pissed off. And if the boy McGuire is, you can bet that all the other SB guys around the country are as well.'

'Don't I know it,' the DCC exclaimed. 'I tell you, if it was just down to me — and if the stakes weren't so high — I'd bin this bloody operation as well.'