Autographs In The Rain Part 53

228.AUTOGRAPHS IN THE RAIN.

Mcllhenney's life he had ever heard him ask anything remotely like a stupid

question.

'No, Boss. She was asleep when I left her.'

There was a long silence, yet during it the two men seemed to say things to each other, things which were for life. Then you'd better go and tell her what's happened,' the DCC said at last.

'I've got to have a word with the neighbours, Boss; and with Grogan.'

'They can wait until I get there. No, off you go and see Louise; you don't want her to be waking up and wandering down there looking for you.''So Clarence was still there,' said Lou. She was sitting on Neil's sofa, her hands wrapped around a mug of coffee. Her eyes were red and blotchy, she wbre no make-up, her hair was tangled, and she was dressed in a tee-s.h.i.+rt and Neil's black towelling dressing-gown, but she was still beautiful.

'Yes, love,' he said, quietly. 'Since the last time we saw them, he must have decided to stay the extra night. And clearly, from what she said to me, Glenys a.s.sumed that you'd come back in after they'd gone to bed.'

She leaned against him, her head on his shoulder. 'As she would,' she murmured. She slipped a hand, warm from the mug, into his and squeezed it. 'You were right, love. There's someone watching over us.'

He pressed his face against her, kissing her hair. 'Never doubt it,' he whispered in her ear.

It was as if for that moment there was no one else in the room; a fact that was not lost on Bob Skinner and Andy Martin as they stood in front of the fireplace. Eventually, Mcllhenney remembered their presence.

'Sorry Boss. This situation's become a bit ... well, unprofessional, I suppose.'

'Who gives a d.a.m.n?' said Skinner, with a quick look that put his a.s.sistant at his ease. 'Because it did, Lou wasn't in that house, and thank G.o.d for it.'

'But poor Clarence was,' she reminded him.

He winced. 'Yes. Poor Clarence. Matt Grogan said that they found him in the bedroom doorway. He's seen similar before; the victim's in bed, hears these funny noises outside; he's half-asleep and opens the door to investigate.

'Whoos.h.!.+ The fireball's sucked in and he's right in the middle of it. Ms AlG.o.don was lucky she got out.'

'Does Matt have any theory about how it started?' asked Martin.

'Yes,' the DCC answered, 'and a pretty good one at that. The perpetrator climbed over the driveway gate, walked up the concrete path to the front door... knowingly or otherwise avoiding triggering the geophones we put

230.AUTOGRAPHS IN THE RAIN.me garden . . . and put three cans of petrol up against it. Then he put detonators in each one.'

He glanced at his two colleagues. 'Know what Matt thinks he used? Big firework rockets, one in each can. He linked the three fuses together with a single petrol-soaked cord, lit the blue touch-paper and withdrew, effing

sharpish.

'The explosion would have been soft, probably not enough to wake the neighbours, unless they were sleeping with the windows open ... unlikely in December. However, it would have blown the front door in... triggering your alarm, Neil... and torching the place in seconds.

'You took how long to get there?' he asked Mcllhenney.

'Under three minutes.'

'Nevertheless, that would have been enough for the blaze to have been impenetrable, even without the second explosion.'

'What second explosion, boss? I never heard anything.'

'No, it would have happened seconds after the first. There was a box of highly inflammable aerosols in the hall; they gave the fire a sort of turbo charged effect, according to Grogan.'

He looked at Louise. 'Any idea what they might have been?'

She nodded back at him. 'Yes. They were hair spray; we're due to start filming this morning, and since we're shooting in street locations, I had arranged for the make-up person to call at the house first thing and fix me up there.'

'Who dropped them off?' asked Andy Martin, quietly. 'Who knew they were there?'

Louise looked up at him, for a few seconds. 'They've been lying there since Thursday. Elliott Silver brought them with him when he arrived for our meeting. I remember telling him just to leave them in the hallway.'

'This is the same guy,' Mcllhenney exclaimed, 'who tried his hand with Lou a while back and got sent down the road.'

'But Neil...' she protested, twisting round to look at him.

'But what, love? Tell me something; does he have a car here, or does he travel by taxi?'

'He has a hire car. Why?'

'Because when I was running down Craiglockhart Avenue, I heard a motor, taking off sharpish.'

Skinner looked at Martin. 'Talk to him, Andy. Have a serious talk with him. Where's he living, Lou?''He's renting a flat in the New Town. On India Street, in fact, where we're due to begin filming this morning. You'll find his address in my Filo, in the hall.'

'You better postpone that. Your director could be busy for a bit.'

Til call Warren; he's in the George Hotel.'

'Don't worry about that,' Skinner a.s.sured her. 'I'll call in on him myself.

'Meantime,' he continued, 'what are we going to do with you? Maybe we should move you into a hotel suite?'

'No,' Mcllhenney retorted. 'Lou stays here.'

'But Neil,' she said. 'What about the kids?'

'They'll be fine.' He looked at the DCC. 'Anyway, we may wind up locking up Mr Silver before the day's out...' He frowned. 'But even if we don't. We're finished p.i.s.sing about now, Boss, aren't we?'

'Too right,' said Skinner. 'If Lou is going to stay with you, then we make this a fortress. Armed officers front and back from now on, round the clock. Spence and Lauren get taken to school and brought back by car.' He paused. 'Better still. They can come to ours; it's near the end of the school term, so a couple of weeks or so at Gullane Primary with Mark won't harm them at all.'

'Deal,' said Neil, looking at Lou. 'You okay with that, love?'

She hesitated. 'I'm okay with it except for one thing. I don't want to put you in danger.'

He laughed. 'Try and keep me out of it. Okay, Boss,' he said to Skinner, pus.h.i.+ng himself up from the sofa. I'll keep the kids off school this morning.

They'll think it's Christmas come early.'

'Fine. I'll pick them up this afternoon . . . unless Silver confesses everything.'

'Which you don't think he will?' asked Mcllhenney, quietly.