Skinner's Mission

14

‘Who was telling the truth, d’you reckon, Dave? Jackie Charles or Medina?’

‘I’ll give you a more solid answer once Maggie and I have had the guy in here for formal interview, and once he’s forced to commit himself on the record, under questioning that’s a bit tougher than he had last night.’

Donaldson looked across the meeting table in Martin’s office. ‘But my gut feeling is that I don’t believe him. When we got there, he had read the News report, and he knew that Mrs Charles was dead. He’s not Einstein, but he may have guessed that Jackie would have told us about him and that we’d be coming to see him.

‘He could have dreamed up that story as a defence, or with an eye to recovering his reputation, knowing that Mrs Charles wasn’t around to deny either it, or the allegation that she had cooked the books to fit him up.’

‘That’s true,’ said the Head of CID, ‘and there’s sod all we’re going to be able to do to verify it either way. Apart from the vehicle registration documents and a few other papers, that were kept in a safe built into the floor, all the records of the business were kept in the office filing cabinets. Although those were still standing, the heat of the blaze was so great that the documents inside caught fire.

‘When Arthur Dorward’s team opened them up all they found was sodden black ash. You and Maggie can lean on the guy Medina as hard as you like, but if he sticks to his story, invented or not, you’re not going to be able to do a thing to disprove it.’

Martin shrugged his shoulders. ‘Ach, it’s a sideshow anyway. What about the big question? Could Medina have killed Carole Charles?’

Donaldson looked to Maggie Rose, seated alongside him.

‘Means, motive and opportunity, sir,’ she said. ‘The means, petrol and towropes for fuses, were handy on the premises.

‘Motive? Medina says he was unfairly dismissed. He did nothing at the time, possibly out of fear or out of caution, but when he missed out on a job because Charles wouldn’t give him a reference, that could have been enough to provoke him finally to revenge.

‘Opportunity? Angela Muirhead was about to give him an alibi, but Medina wouldn’t let her. He seemed to go out of his way to tell us that she’d been out until just before nine. He could have done that to protect her, to prevent her from putting herself at risk for him.

‘Let’s assume that the truth is that Angie got home at ten to nine, and he was there. The opportunity question hinges upon whether he could have made it from Seafield to Slateford in less than twenty minutes.’

‘I could,’ said Martin.

‘Aye,’ came a mumble from his right. ‘Provided there were no lampposts in the way.’

The Chief Superintendent looked sideways at Detective Sergeant Neil McIlhenney, who grinned wickedly and said, ‘Sorry, sir.’

‘Leaving lampposts out of it . . . The first thing you’ll have to find out is whether Medina has a car or access to one.’

‘I have done, sir. I called Angela Muirhead at her office this morning. She confirmed that they have one car only and that she uses it to go to work. She had it on Wednesday evening. That leaves taxis. If he had picked one up in Seafield Road at eight thirty, he’d have been home by eight forty-five, before her.’

‘Cutting it fine,’ said Martin.

‘Yes,’ Rose agreed, ‘but it’s possible, and it means that he could have had the opportunity.’

‘Agreed. So it has to be followed up. If he was picked up, unless he was daft enough to book one of Jackie’s minicabs, it would have to be a black taxi that he stopped. Put people on to checking them all, now, but get round the mini-operators as well.’

He looked across at Rose, then at Donaldson, then back at Rose. ‘Gut reactions, please, having seen Medina. Could it be him?’

Donaldson nodded his head, slowly. ‘I could believe that,’ he said, almost grudgingly. ‘I could just about see him having the bottle to do it.’

‘I don’t agree,’ said Maggie Rose, forthrightly. ‘I don’t see this man having the ruthlessness to do something like that. The fact is, I believe him. At heart he strikes me as a basically honest chap, who loves his girlfriend. Although I agree we have to investigate him as a suspect, I’m inclined to accept his story, even the bit about the man with the vulture tattoo. If he brings those notes with him when he comes to see us this afternoon, we’ll know for sure.’

‘Let’s see,’ said Martin. ‘From what you’ve told me, my own view hasn’t changed. Jackie Charles threw us Medina like a sprat to keep us busy. But if Medina’s other information leads us anywhere Jackie may live to regret it.’

He glanced around the table. ‘Which brings me to the way forward. Every investigation has to have a clear objective, and this one is catch the person who murdered Carole Charles.

‘However we have peripheral matters being thrown up already. If we’re given information, it has to be followed up, even if it doesn’t appear to be related directly to the main goal. Let’s get our organisation right to ensure that we can do all that.

‘Dave, I want you to concentrate on the main thrust of the investigation, chasing vehicle sightings, possible taxi pick-ups, people with grudges along the lines we discussed earlier. With Charles’ books reduced to ashes, your next priority is to interview Douglas Terry and to investigate him. Whenever someone tries to kill a general, the first suspects are always the soldiers behind him.

‘Once you’ve done that, if we’re still looking, work though that list of priorities we discussed.

‘While you’re pursuing those lines of enquiry, I’ll ask the Boss . . . since Special Branch reports directly to him . . . to brief Brian Mackie and Mario today and start them looking for possible leads from outside the city.’

He turned to Rose. ‘Maggie, I want you to follow up on the side issues as they come up, starting with the man with the vulture tattoo. See if you can find out if he does exist, and if he does, then find him. I remember the Jimmy Lee case too. In fact I was involved in the investigation. I’ll never forget the X-rays.

‘Lee swore blind that he had been mugged by a gang of Hibs casuals. We even found a Hibs scarf dropped at the scene. But the thing was, the Hibees were playing in Aberdeen that day, and all of the likely suspects were still on the supporters’ buses, driving home down the M90, when the attack took place.

‘If Mr Vulture can give us a lead, even if it is five years late, nothing would please me more. Mind you, Maggie, you should still ask Medina why he didn’t come forward with this story at the time.’

He looked up again at Rose. ‘When he brings in those notes, if he does, let me see them. I’ll take a view on what we do about them at that stage.’

He nodded sideways, to where Neil McIlhenney and Sammy Pye were sitting. ‘Use what resources you need, but Dave, I want you to work closely with Neil, and Maggie, you take Sammy. Like the Boss, I believe in tight core teams of people who know each other and work well together.

‘So, crack on, and remember, keep me in touch all the time. No surprises, please. I hate surprises.’

Martin stood up from the table. As his colleagues followed his lead and made to leave, he stopped Donaldson with a touch on his arm. ‘Dave,’ he said, picking up a sheet of paper from his in-tray. ‘I got this just before you arrived. There’ll be a copy for you at St Leonard’s. It’s a memo from the Boss.’

‘What’s it about?’ asked Donaldson, puzzled.

‘Let me read it to you. It says:

DCC to head of CID, copy to head of Eastern Area CID.

As you will know I have been without a personal assistant since the promotion of DCI Rose. With your agreement, I propose to appoint Detective Sergeant Pamela Masters to the post, effective immediately. While in the past my PA has been a Detective Inspector, Sergeant Masters is in my view an officer of considerable potential who will benefit from a spell in the Command Corridor.

‘That’s it.’

‘Mmm,’ said Donaldson. ‘He wants Pretty Polly, eh! Fair enough. I’ve got a good DC out there I can promote in her place. Nice of him to ask for our agreement, though.’

Martin laughed. ‘That’s Bob doing his best to consult with the two of us. But make no mistake, he isn’t asking for our support, he’s telling us we’re going to give it!

‘Still,’ he mused, ‘a Detective Sergeant. Is Masters that good?’

‘She’s only been in the rank for six months. From what I’ve seen, she’s bright, and very keen. But I wouldn’t say she’d ever be Chief Constable material.’

‘Maybe not, but she must have something. Time will tell what it is.’