Autographs In The Rain Part 31

'I'm sorry, gaffer, honest. I couldn't have known that DCS Martin would be there, far less that he'd see me talking to Lander from the clubhouse bar.

But when he did, I had no b.l.o.o.d.y choice but to tell him.'

Pringle sighed. 'Aye, I know son. I'm just a bit p.i.s.sed off, that's all, and you're in line. "Three strikes and someone's out", indeed. Our Andy is not known for his sense of humour either; not when it comes to the job at any rate.

'So we'd better take him at his word and have an action plan in place for Monday.'

The sergeant's heart sagged at the use of the plural. He knew what was coming next.

'Did you have plans for tomorrow?'

'Well, yes, sir.'

'Aye, well so had I. We're both stuffed then. You said there are two other substantial fish farms on our patch, didn't you?'

'That's right. In Berwicks.h.i.+re, just north of Coldstream, and down near Langholm.'

'In that case, I want you to arrange for the owners of them both to meet the two of us on site tomorrow, whether they like it or not. If our weekend's b.u.g.g.e.red, so's theirs.'134.

135.AUTOGRAPHS IN THE RAIN.39.When Sammy Pye answered the phone once more in Ruth McConnell's flat Bob Skinner needed no further confirmation that his secretary's private life had taken a new turn. He smiled; he wondered what the young sergeant would make of her over the long-term.

He was still grinning when she came on the line; then he remembered why he was calling her.

'Ruthie,' he began, 'your pal Mackenzie's out to impress all of a sudden.

He's been back to your uncle's house for another look around.'

'I hope he didn't turn it upside down,' she snorted. 'It took me long enough to tidy the place up when he left me there the other day.'

'I'm sure he didn't. He and his sergeant may have found something, though. There's just something he needs to check with you first, and I said I'd do it for him. It's about your Uncle John and his missing possessions.

'Can you tell me whether or not he ever owned a video camcorder, specifically a non-digital model, the sort that takes eight-millimetre ca.s.settes.'

He waited, but only for a few seconds. 'No sir,' she said vehemently.

'I'm quite sure that he didn't. Apart from his music stuff, Uncle John wasn't a man for toys like that. Why, he didn't even have a video recorder, far less a camera.'

'You're absolutely sure of that, are you? Couldn't he maybe have bought a camera in the last few months of his life, one that you didn't know about?'

'Absolutely not, sir. He wouldn't have done that, and there was a good reason why not. I offered to buy him one for Christmas, a few years back.

He told me not to. He said that one of the great regrets of his life was that he didn't have any cine film, or video, of Aunt Cecily, not a sc.r.a.p.

'She had wanted him to buy a camcorder, but he had always refused. He said he thought the things were intrusive; they annoyed him whenever he saw them in holiday resorts and there was no way he wanted to be taken for a German.

136.

'Then my aunt died and he realised what he had denied himself. But after refusing her one, he just couldn't contemplate buying one for himself, or letting me, either.

'No sir. No way.'

'Okay,' he said. 'Possibility discounted. That gives Inspector Mackenzie something to go on. Thanks.' He was about to hang up, but added. 'By the way, whose turn is it for the dishes tonight?'

He left her laughing, then called Bandit Mackenzie on his mobile number.

'Your box means something, Inspector,' he told him. 'Ruthie's dead certain that her uncle never owned a camera.'

'What does it mean though, sir?'

'I hate to think. I saw a home movie earlier this year and I never wanted to see its like again. I only hope

'Any advice?'

There was a silence. 'Think for yourself, Bandit,' Skinner said, finally.

'Why would she do it? We'll need to find her to learn that, I suppose.'

'Maybe.'

'Has she done it before?'

'Now you're cooking. So?'

'So I'll run a check through the central criminal intelligence unit for other suspicious deaths involving single old people with drug problems.'

'Why just old people?'

'That makes it difficult.'

'Who said it was going to be easy? You do that, I'll have a look in my hat; see if I can find another rabbit.'40.AUTOGRAPHS IN THE RAIN.The big, dark-haired solicitor looked merely nonplussed when the very recognisable figure of the Deputy Chief Constable stepped into the living room of the house just off Craiglockhart Avenue. When Louise Bankier followed him a few moments later, his expression turned to one of pure bewilderment.

He looked at Neil Mcllhenney. 'I'm sorry, Mr Stanley,' said the big detective, answering his unspoken accusation. 'I had to be a wee bit circ.u.mspect when you showed me round yesterday.' He glanced at Skinner.

'All I told Mr Stanley was that we were looking for discreet accommodation for a VIP visitor to Edinburgh. I kept Miss Bankier's name out of it, just in case nothing came of it.'

'Naturally,' the DCC continued, picking up the explanation. 'If you read the Evening News yesterday, and a few other papers today, you may have seen a reference to Ms Bankier being in town. These stories are, to say the least, unwelcome.'

Keith Stanley had recovered his composure. 'I can imagine,' he exclaimed.

Skinner thought he caught an a.s.sumption behind his remark. Til tell you, Keith, what I told the media. Ms Bankier and I are old friends. She's also a public figure who is going to be working in Edinburgh for a while and wishes to maintain a semblance of a private life, rather than be incarcerated in an hotel. She's asked me as a friend if I would help her find somewhere suitable.

'You might think that this house, comfortable as it is, seems a little modest for one of the world's leading film actors. If you did, you'd be right; that's exactly why we're here. There's an estate for rent out beside Dalmahoy.

Louise could move in there but it would be like running up a flag; it would be just the sort of place where the press would expect to find her.

This, on the other hand, is an ordinary house in an ordinary suburb ...

just like Ms Bankier's family home near Glasgow, in fact... where people

138.

mind their own business and do not observe their neighbours' coming and going. I can't think of anywhere in Edinburgh where someone would be less likely to pick up the phone and tip off the tabloids that she was here.

'To back that up, of course, if you rent this house to Ms Bankier, we will expect your client and your firm to be bound by the normal rules of confidentiality.'

'Of course,' the solicitor exclaimed, 'but even at that, Ms Bankier's a very famous lady and, as we all know, this is a surprisingly small town.'