Gallery Whispers

70

'I'm pleased your boss could spare you for this job. Sergeant Garland,' said Brian Mackie, as the car pulled away from the station in the sleety afternoon rain which soaked the drab street.

'It's a pleasure, sir. I don't know what your force is like, but up here in Grampian when you're asked to be the Head of CID's exec, you don't turn it down. For all that, you know that you'll be tied to a desk for the duration. That doesn't mean you have to enjoy that side of it.

'Whenever a request for assistance comes in, I always grab it for myself, and just tell the DCS I'm doing it. Usually it's okay with him.'

Mackie looked idly out of the window as Garland drove. He had always had a soft spot for Aberdeen, despite its winter chills. There was something about the orderliness of the grey granite city which appealed to him.

The Aberdonian detective turned off Union Street into Broad Street, — then turned left past Marischal College. 'I did my asking around yesterday just as you asked. I found this room-mate of his, the lad Beano; his real name's Brian Litster.'

The superintendent grunted. 'Funny, that. I was called Beano at school too.'

'Is that right sir?' said the sergeant, politely. 'As luck would have it, we've got something on this one, an official caution for possession of cannabis, just two weeks ago. The University doesn't know about it, and he wants to keep it that way, so I'm pretty confident that he won't have said anything to the boy Weston about your visit.'

'I've arranged to meet him in the Union at Robert Gordon's, rather than at the College back there. That's where young Weston has most of his classes.'

'Why not down your nick?' asked Mackie.

'I didn't want to scare him that much, sir; just make him a wee bit nervous.'

'Fair enough. You've met him. I haven't.'

As he spoke. Garland reached Robert Gordon's, Aberdeen's second, technologically-based University. He parked in a space marked 'Official Visitors Only,' flashing his warrant card at a curious janitor as he and the Edinburgh superintendent stepped out.

As they stepped through the main entrance a tall, gangling youth stepped out of the shadows beside the door. 'Sergeant Garland…' he began, anxiously.

'Hello Beano.'

'I've booked a tutorial room,' said the student, half whispering even though the hallway was empty, save for them. 'I thought it would be better, rather than being out in public in the reading room.'

'Fine,' the sergeant replied. 'This is Detective Superintendent Mackie, by the way, from Edinburgh.' Mackie nodded a solemn acknowledgement, but did not offer a handshake.

The boy led the way up a single flight of stairs, into a corridor and along to the third door on the right. As they stepped inside Garland flipped a brass catch, changing the word 'Vacant' to 'Engaged'.

'Second Wednesday in October,' Mackie barked, even as they were taking their seats around the old wooden table, its varnished top scarred with graffiti. 'Where were you, in the evening?'

'I can't remember,' Beano protested.

'Of course you can. It was the night before your room-mate was told his mother was dead. Concentrate on that.'

The young man gulped, then burped. The hoppy smell of beer filled the room. 'Pardon,' he mumbled and, for the first time, the detectives realised that he was a little drunk. He screwed up his eyes to emphasise that he was thinking.

'There was a party for First Years. The Drama Club staged it, so we all went. We reckoned that there would be plenty of birds at it,' he added with a gawky grin.

'Did Ray Weston go?'

'I suppose so..'

Mackie glared at the young man, forcing him to look back. It was a skill which he had tried to learn from Bob Skinner. 'Your suppositions aren't good enough, son. Now use that sodden brain of yours.

You share a room with Raymond Weston. Did he go to the Drama Club do or did he not? I'm not here to piss about with you. Out with it.'

Beano gulped again; for a moment the detectives thought that he was going to be sick, but he steadied himself. 'No,' he said, almost fearfully. 'No, Ray didn't go.'

'So where did he go?'

'He told me that he was driving down to Edinburgh. He has this girlfriend down there.' He broke off for a quick leer. 'A cracker, he says. She's a nurse; she lives in a flat with some other nurses but she's got a room of her own, so they're all right for… you know what I mean.'

Mackie nodded. 'I think I remember,' he said, dryly. 'But try harder.

Are we just supposing again or did he actually say that he was driving home for a quickie with the girlfriend?'

As the policemen looked at him Beano began to shiver. 'You won't tell anyone about this will you?' he begged. 'Especially not Ray.'

'Why not?' asked Garland, more gently than the superintendent.

'Are you scared of Ray, Beano?'

The student nodded, briefly.

'He didn't look very tough to me,' said Mackie.

'Well he's tougher than me!' the boy exclaimed, suddenly, almost shouting at the policeman. 'He scares me. And he knows people.'

The Aberdonian looked at the boy. 'Was it Ray who gave you that grass, Beano?' he asked, his gentleness gone.

'I bought it in a pub.'

'Don't bullshit me now,' the sergeant snapped, 'or I'm going straight to your Principal. Then it'll be suspension, and your parents will know why. Was it Ray?'

Brian Litster stared at the floor. 'Yes,' he whispered. 'He can get other stuff too.'

'What kind of stuff?' asked Mackie, quietly.

'Pills; diazepam tablets, he says they are. He sells them.'

'And does he take them himself?'

'He smokes a wee bit of grass. He doesn't do anything else, though.

He just sells them; cheap, too. A pint for a pill.'

The boy looked up at Garland. 'Can I go now?'

It was Mackie who nodded. 'Yes, you can go, although I may want to speak to you again, in Edinburgh. Thanks for your co-operation; I mean that.

'Bear this in mind, though; if you were to decide that it might be safer to tell your room-mate about our chat, and warn him, then you'd be guilty of attempting to pervert the course of justice. I'm sure my boss would want to interview you himself about that. I tell you, son, if Ray Weston scares you, then no way do you want to meet DCC Skinner.'

Abruptly, Beano stood and bolted for the door, leaving the two policemen staring at each other across the table. 'Bingo,' said Garland.

'Do you want Weston lifted?' he asked.

'Christ no,' said the superintendent. 'I want him watched, though, every step of the way, as long as he's in town, and I want to know whenever he heads back to Edinburgh. This boy's a very hot property, all of a sudden.'