Murmuring the Judges

15

‘Why have we never eaten at the Thai place before, Andy,’ Alex burst out enthusiastically. ‘If the takeaway’s this good, it must be even better on the premises.’

‘Probably because I’ve been too embarrassed about the ordering part of it. There isn’t a single name on that menu. . other than Pard and Prik. . that I can get near pronouncing.’

‘You are not alone, my friend,’ said Bob. ‘Every time we go there, we order by numbers.’

It was almost nine p.m., but the evening was warm and they were able to eat outside in comfort, on the terrace of Bob and Sarah’s new bungalow in Gullane, into which they had moved two days before leaving for their Spanish holiday.

They had bought the house as part of their ‘fresh start’ agreement, and sold their Edinburgh home and Bob’s old cottage on Goose Green, a quarter of a mile away, the latter for a price which had astonished them both. The bungalow was spacious, newly built on a plot which had once been part of the garden of a stone mansion on Gullane Hill. It had four bedrooms, a massive living and dining area and a conservatory. There was also a study for Sarah who had decided to fulfil a long-held ambition by becoming a consultant forensic pathologist, alongside freelance scene-of-incident work for the police.

The terrace and garden looked out across the Firth of Forth, to the Lomond Hills of Fife, and to the rosy sunset in the west which bathed the four as they finished their meal.

‘This is really beautiful,’ said Alex. ‘When I was a kid, I had this private dream that one day my dad would buy a house looking on to the sea, so that I could just run on to the beach. You’re going to have a great life out here, both of you. Especially now you’ll be working from home, Sarah.’

Her step-mother grinned, running long fingers through her auburn hair. ‘Yeah, that’s a bonus. I have to take an examination here to top up my US qualifications, but I can start practice as an assistant now. I’ve had my first commission, in fact.’

Bob’s eyebrows rose in surprise. ‘You never told me.’

‘I haven’t had an opportunity,’ his wife said. ‘I checked my e-mail after you left. There was a message from Professor Hutchison, asking if I can assist tomorrow morning at an autopsy he’s performing in Edinburgh.’

‘It’s as well you told me now. Andy and I are off on a visit tomorrow morning.’

Alex raised a hand. ‘No problem,’ she said. ‘I’ll baby-sit. It’ll give Mark and me a chance to get acquainted.’

‘How’s Mark settling in?’ asked Andy, as he forked up the last of his fish in red curry sauce.

‘Very well,’ Sarah replied. ‘He’s a remarkable little boy, and he thinks Jazz is just great. He loves having a baby brother.’

‘It must be a very difficult job for you two, nonetheless, integrating him into a new family.’

‘No, Andy, I’d describe it as a very responsible job. We have to make him feel as loved and secure as he’s always been, and I like to believe that we’re succeeding in that. At the same time we have to remember what he’s been through. He still has times when he withdraws into his grief. The temptation is to throw treats at him to jolly him out of them, yet that’s just what we mustn’t do. He has to work all that out for himself, if he’s to grow into a well-adjusted, happy young man.’

‘But won’t it be difficult,’ Alex cut in, ‘when he’s old enough really to understand what happened to his father and mother? Couldn’t he have big psychological problems when that happens?’

Sarah nodded. ‘Yes, he could. So, as part of his upbringing, we’ll make sure that he remembers them, that he’s under no illusions about their death, but that he comes to see himself as their embodiment. We aim to encourage him to live his life positively, in their memory.’

‘That’s right,’ said Bob, with a grin. ‘No more negative thinking in this house. Don’t you give up on that case you were moaning about earlier, daughter. You’re not beaten till all the evidence has been weighed.’

‘Hah! You haven’t seen the judge, Pops. Grimley’s evidence ended this afternoon, two days late. Yet Lord Coalville told us that he isn’t going to extend the time he’s allocated to the hearing. We have to complete by close of play on Wednesday. The dice are loaded, I tell you. Positive thinking for us is that the award might be under three million.’

‘Come on, girl, that’s no attitude to take into battle.’

‘Oh no? Well, you ask your Head of CID just how confident he is about tracing this bank gang. His face has been tripping him all week.’

‘In the circumstances,’ Alex’s father said gently, ‘I think that’s understandable. When did you ever see me smile about armed robbery and murder? It doesn’t mean that we don’t go after the bastards with complete determination, and the certainty that we’re going to get them.’

‘It took you long enough to get Jackie Charles,’ she retorted, unsmiling.

‘Aye, but we got him. What you should remember about Jackie, though, is that no one was ever killed on any of the jobs he was suspected of bank-rolling. I’m not condoning him. . God, you know how much I detest the little shit. . but he wasn’t a killer.

‘The people we’re up against now, they are. Ruthless, cold-blooded killers, as they showed yesterday. Whoever’s running the operation. . and I agree with your thinking, Andy, that there’s someone behind all this who hasn’t been seen on any of the raids. . he’s the most ruthless of them all.

‘But we know we’ll get them, my friend, don’t we?’

Martin looked at him, solemnly. ‘Sure we do, Bob. No ifs or buts. I just wish to Christ I knew when. Every day they’re at liberty, the public, and our people, are at risk.’

‘Yeah, mate, I know. Still, we’ve got one lead at least. Let’s hope that Miss Hannah Bennett has the guts to point us in the direction of whoever it is has her brother so scared that he’s prepared to spend the next twenty years inside.’