Skinner's festival

79

The letter was delivered only ten minutes later. It had been found on a table in the first-floor coffee lounge of the busy Mount Royal Hotel, but none of the staff could describe the person who had sat there last.

It was addressed:

Assistant Chief Constable Skinner,

Police Headquarters.

Private and Confidential

To be delivered.

The hotel manager had brought it personally to Fettes Avenue.

Skinner could not stop his hand from trembling as he slit the envelope. He had recognised at once its style and its size, and the typeface on the address label. He withdrew the familiar single sheet of white paper, and steeled himself to read what he knew would be there.

He read it aloud to Proud, Martin and Arrow, who had all gathered in his office.

"Mr Skinner, 'You may know my name already. Let us say that I am simply someone who has undertaken to obtain something special for a client who wants it very badly. Last night I almost succeeded, but your own good fortune prevented me.

'However, I do not give up as easily as you might have hoped. Through the good offices of Ingo Svart, I now hold in my care someone who is very precious to you. I now propose that we exchange her for that which is just as precious to my client: the items which you prevented us from taking last night.

'I require that you arrange the following. The Regalia will be left, in the same hold-alls which my associates carried into the Castle, in the middle of the car park at the Gyle Shopping Centre, at 11:00 pm tomorrow night. Once the delivery has been made, the car park should be completely cleared. An aeroplane, with a range of at least three thousand miles, will be waiting, fully fuelled, on the runway at Edinburgh Airport. No attempt should be made to follow us at any stage. No personnel, police or military, should come anywhere near. No attempt should be made to hide tracking devices in the hold-alls. We have the equipment to detect them. No attempt should be made to track our flight-path.

We also carry equipment that can detect radar.

'If any one of these conditions is breached in any way, Miss Skinner will be shot immediately. However, if all are met to the letter, she will be released safely, as soon as we reach our first stopping-off point.

Mr Black'

Skinner placed the letter slowly on his desk. He looked up at Andy Martin with absolute desolation on his face.

'Give that paper to me, Bob,' said Proud Jimmy gently, but with determination in his voice. 'I'm off to see the Prime Minister.'