Stay of Execution

83

Neil McIlhenney was waiting in his office when the car dropped Skinner back at Fettes at ten minutes before one. ‘The New Yorkers?’ he asked.

‘Been and gone. When I showed Donegan the photograph of Aurelia Middlemass, the poor guy broke down in tears.’

‘How about the other one?’

‘Progress. I showed him the Kabul picture and the photofit treatments that we’d produced from it. He sparked on one, so I pulled in an operator and we worked up one that he reckoned was pretty much spot on for the version he met in New York. I sent that to Merle Gower on her e-mail; she was going to pass it straight on to her people at Quantico. She said that when she told them about the Franco link, they got quite excited. She called me back about half an hour ago, wondering where she could contact you. She’s expecting a preliminary briefing from them through the secure fax at the consulate and she wants you to see it ASAP. I told her that when it comes through she should bring it here.’

‘Nothing for me to do but wait, then. You should go home now, though.’

‘I’ll stick it out.’

The DCC shook his head. ‘No, you will not; I’m grateful to you as it is. That wife of yours is a very precious lady, even more so now. You go home and keep her warm, my friend.’

McIlhenney grinned and picked up his jacket. ‘That’s an order I can’t refuse. Once Gower’s been with this report, you should do the same.’

‘I can’t, Neil. I’m too wrapped up in this. Plus I’ve had a good slug of Jim Gainer’s Amaretto.’

‘What more can you do? It’s going to be all right, man. We’ve had a huge stroke of luck. The Pope’s going into a virtual fortress, we’ve identified the people who posed the threat to him and we’ve got the manpower to guard against anything they can throw at him. That’s if they come back at all; if they’ve got any sense they’re thousands of miles away by now.’

Skinner shook his head firmly. ‘I’m telling you, they’re coming back. That’s why they killed Mawhinney: to eliminate the risk of him spotting his dead wife in the stadium. And, incidentally, his huge stroke of luck wasn’t so good, was it?’ He pointed a finger at McIlhenney. ‘Has Dorward reported back yet?’

‘Give him a chance. Arthur will get results if they’re to be had, but he has to do it at his own pace.’

‘I suppose so,’ said the DCC, morosely. ‘I just feel so fucking helpless, Neil. I know all the answers, save one; we know where, we know when, and we know who. But I don’t know what they’re planning to do. . and until I know that, then I am dead certain the life of a very brave and very great man will be at risk.’

‘I know something else. The more exhausted you get, the less likely it is to come to you.’ Lights in the drive made him glance out of the window. ‘That’s Merle Gower now. Once we’ve heard what she’s got to say, you’re for my spare room again. . and no arguments.’

The big man’s sigh sounded desperately weary. ‘If you say so,’ he exclaimed. ‘There’s no point arguing, I suppose, since you’re one of the few guys in this force I can’t shout down.’

The internal phone rang. McIlhenney picked it up and spoke to Night Security. A minute later there was a knock on the door and Merle Gower was shown in. She looked at the inspector doubtfully. ‘He stays,’ said Skinner. ‘He’s cleared.’

‘I know, but this is. .’

‘He stays.’

‘Okay,’ she conceded. She took a document from her bag. ‘I let you see this and then it goes in the shredder. Is it okay in here?’

‘You mean is it bugged? Do me a bloody favour, woman. I say things in here that I don’t even want to hear myself.’ She grinned weakly. ‘Do you feel out of your depth, Merle?’ Skinner asked her.

‘I’m a strong swimmer,’ she replied. ‘I’ve just never been in this deep before.’

‘It makes no difference; you just keep going. What have you got?’

‘Just this. The name you gave me, Franco. It squares with a reported casualty, Franco Gattuso, who worked in the first tower. . on one of the floors that took the impact of the first plane.’

‘Fuck. But it isn’t just that, though, is it?’

She shook her head. ‘No. And this is what must be shredded, because our knowledge of it has never been revealed. The aircraft strikes didn’t just rely on the skill of the pilots alone. The planes actually homed in on beacons that had been planted in each tower. When the agencies examined the air-traffic recordings, they picked up two signals. They were puzzled for a while, but eventually they determined that they were from homing devices. We believe that the mission of Gattuso and Margery Mawhinney was to conceal them somewhere on their floors, and activate them. The assumption was that the people who planted the beacons had perished also, but now it seems that was wrong.’

‘They lived to kill another day,’ Skinner whispered. ‘And now they’re here.’

‘There is one last thing,’ said Gower. ‘The timing of the attacks has always concerned the investigating agencies. The gap between the two strikes was enough to allow a full Fire Department response to the first to have been made when the second hit. It’s always been suspected that this was based on inside information; thanks to your discovery, we believe we know how it might have been obtained.’

‘That’s going to stay secret, I hope,’ McIlhenney growled.

‘That will only be possible if there is a certain outcome to all this.’

‘What the hell do you mean by that?’

‘She means, Neil,’ said Skinner, ‘that when we catch them, we’ll charge them with the murder of Colin Mawhinney. Everything we now know about them will become public in the course of a trial here. That’s if there is a trial here. As soon as we lock them up, the First Minister and the Lord Advocate will come under huge political pressure from the American government to hand them over. If they have the bottle to refuse. . which I doubt. . we could have an internal constitutional crisis, with Whitehall trying to stare down Holyrood. But if they’re sent to the US, they’ll be at the centre of the biggest show trial the world has seen since Nuremberg, one that will expose the failures of the FBI and the personal indiscretion of a New York policeman.’ He stopped. ‘What Merle is saying is that it’ll be best if we don’t capture them; not breathing at any rate. Isn’t that right?’

‘You get the picture I’ve been told to paint. I’ve even been instructed to offer you expert assistance if you wish.’

Skinner glared at Special Agent Gower. ‘That’s a step too far, lady. I will have none of your fucking gunslingers on my turf, and you can pass that on to whoever needs to hear it.’

‘I will. But what else do I tell them?’

The DCC winked at her. ‘Tell them I’ll do as I’ve been asked.’