Skinner's rules

50

Skinner sank into his swivel chair, swung his feet up on to the desk, picked up the telephone and punched in the 041- number which Martin had written out for him.

After a short delay, the call was answered by a man, a man with an old, tired voice. ‘Hello, Jimmy Mortimer.’ The tones were gruff, the accent broad Clydebank.

Skinner introduced himself and explained the purpose of his call.

Jimmy Mortimer grunted. ‘Hm. Yis still don’t hiv a bliddy clue, hiv yis?’

‘We have lines of enquiry to follow, Mr Mortimer, and one requires that we talk to your son’s friends, all the way back to his schooldays. So if you can help me, I’d be grateful.’

‘Look, mister, ma son’s new friends wis all lawyers, and he didnae even have much time for them once he took up wi’ yon poor lassie. Round boot here, when he wis a laddie, his best pal was Johnny Smiley. Nice lad. Always aboot the hoose. He’s a teacher noo; works in Port Glesca High, ah think. Oor Michael said he wis livin’ in Langbank. Is that ony guid tae yis?’

‘It’ll do for a start, Mr Mortimer. Thank you very much.’

Skinner clicked the line dead and called up the switchboard operator. ‘ACC Skinner here, Olive. I’d like you to do a bit of detective work for me. I want to speak to a Mr John Smiley, he’s a teacher, and he lives in Langbank, Renfrewshire, but I don’t have an address for him. He is, or rather was, a friend of a Mr Michael Mortimer. See if you can find him for me, please.’

‘Yes, sir,’ said the crisp clear voice at the other end of the line. ‘How are you spelling that name?’

‘Good question. Try S-M-I–L-E-Y or S-M-I–L-L–I-E. No, wait a minute. It’s the West of Scotland; first try S-M-E-L–L-I-E.’

‘Pardon?’

‘I’m serious. They pronounce it Smiley. Wouldn’t you?’

The operator laughed. ‘No, sir, I’d change it! I’ll be as quick as I can.’

Skinner was surprised when Olive rang back three minutes later. ‘I’ve got your man, Mr Skinner. You were right; he’s one of the Smellies.’

‘Thanks, Olive. That’s good work. Will you put him through, please.’

There was a faint click on the line. ‘Mr Smellie? Assistant Chief Constable Bob Skinner, from Edinburgh. I’m told by the father of the late Michael Mortimer that you were a friend of his son.’

‘Yes, that’s correct. Since high school.’ The accent was similar to that of Jimmy Mortimer, but the rough corners had been polished smooth, t leave a clear classroom voice. It was deep, and rolled down the telephone line like an advancing fog.

‘I’ll be frank with you, Mr Smellie. We have run our enquiries almos to a standstill. We are looking for any sort of a lead, and so we are talking to friends of all the victims in this series of murders, just asking about them, trying to build up a picture of the sort of people they were.’

‘Where’ll that get you?’

‘I’ll know that when I get there. What can you tell me about Mike?’

‘Hah.’ The single sound was laden with sadness and irony. ‘What’s to tell? Mike was a great bloke. The most gifted guy I ever knew. A warm kind man with a generous spirit.’

‘What was he like at school?’

‘He was a leader, but without being resented in any way for it. Everyone liked him, pupils and staff. He was brilliant academically, but never flaunted it. He was only average at games, but made up for it by trying wice as hard as anyone else. And if anyone had a problem, he’d always help, but never talk about it afterwards.’

‘Did he stay that way? How did university affect him?’

‘As a friend, not at all. But as an individual, he became more passion ate, more involved with issues. He took part in all the Union debates, although he said he was doing it as part of his preparation for the law.’

‘Was he political?’

‘Yes and no. He always refused to join the heavy political groups. Spoke in debates as an independent. But personally, you’d probably have calle him left-wing. He supported every oppressed group under the sun, Sout frican blacks, South American Indians, North American Indians, Palestinians, Soviet Jews; you name it, if a group was under anyone’s thumb, Mike would speak up for it.’

‘Girlfriends?’

‘In the four years that we were at Glasgow together, I remember him having two brief things then one steady relationship. That was with a girl called Liz something. It lasted till we all graduated, then she went off to study French in France, and it just sort of died a natural death.

‘After that there were one or two who were fairly close. Sleeping together, but no long-term commitment either way. Mike was too keen on the law to allow it to have a rival in his life. Until he went to the Bar and met Rachel.’

‘Did you see him much after university?’

‘Yes, a lot when he was in Glasgow. Once he moved to Edinburgh not so much. But we were still best mates. It was the sort of friendshi where you don’t need to see each other all the time.’

‘Did you ever meet Rachel?’

‘Of course. She was at our wedding last summer. Mike was best man Christ, I was going to be best man at his, when they finally got round to setting the date.’ Smellie’s voice faltered at the memory.

Skinner allowed the man a few seconds to compose himself. ‘Did you know much about Mike’s professional life?’

‘A bit. Not the detail. He was meticulous. Never referred to his clients by name, or discussed cases in depth. But he did tell me that he liked criminal work, enjoyed defending a client who he felt had been victimised by the police — sorry, Mr Skinner, but that was the way he put it — an really fighting for him. He had a good record too. He and Rachel defended two Chinese guys who had been charged with rape and murder. Mike thought they were carrying the can for someone else. Between them, they took the prosecution to bits, and got them off.’

‘Yes,’ said Skinner, ‘I’ve heard about that case. Not one of the Crown’ s finest hours.

‘He never mentioned any work, or any private interest even, that was out of the ordinary?’

‘No, nothing that I can think of. No, never.’

‘Mm.’ Skinner paused. He sensed that the man was talked out. ‘Thank you very much, Mr Smellie; I’m sorry to have broken into your Sunday morning.’

Skinner replaced his receiver and swung round in his chair, sliding his long legs under the desk.

So that was it. The life of Michael. Brilliant, kind, and passionate about the law, oppressed minorities, and one woman. No enemies, save for Yobatu, and he was out of the picture.

Another brick wall across the highway of progress.