Skinner's rules

70

Mackie and McIlhenney sat in a plain Ford Transit van, watching a big red-brick villa on the edge of Cumbernauld’s Westerwood golf course.

Mackie had watched the couple leave the Harvand factory half-an-hour earlier, in a black Toyota Supra Turbo, and had followed them home. The curtains had been drawn at once, masking the light. Mackie had a feeling that they were in for a long night, until Maggie Rose and McGuire arrived at 6.00 a.m.

An hour later, their talk of football, and Scotland’s sad exit from the US World Cup Finals exhausted, Mcllhenney voiced a thought which had been in Mackie’s mind. ‘Why hasn’t the boss got us a phone-tap, sir? We might not get anything from it, but at least it’d give us something else to do.’

Mackie smiled. ‘Nice one, Neil, but I don’t think he’ll wear it. I’ll ask him, but I’m sure the answer will be that if we called in an engineer from Telecom, that’d be someone else who’ll know about the operation. Anyway, this is just a line of enquiry. If guys like you were given your head we’d be living in a police state in no time at all!’

In the dark, Mcllhenney smiled. ‘Aye, great, eh!’

Just after 11.00 p.m. the ground floor light went out. A few seconds later there was a sudden blaze of light from an upstairs room. Joy Harvey appeared, framed in the window as she drew the curtains.

‘Fine piece of woman that,’ said McIlhenney. ‘I wonder how that wee chap manages all on his own?’

‘From what I’ve heard, he’s had a bit of help over the years!’