She wished they were alone, but didnt have the nerve to ask for it. The women had learned a lot in the process of supporting their men, but face to face their assertiveness still tended to melt away. But it would be all right, she told herself. Shed lived in this cocooned world all her adult life, a world that centred on the pit and the Welfare, where there were no secrets and the union was your mother and your father. Im worried about Mick, she said. No point in beating about the bush. He went out yesterday morning and never came back. I was wondering if maybe?
Reekie rested his forehead on his fingers, rubbing it so hard he left alternating patches of white and red across the centre. Jesus Christ, he hissed from between clenched teeth.
And you expect us to believe you dont know where he is? The accusation came from Ezra Macafferty, the villages last survivor of the lock-outs and strikes of the 1920s.
Of course I dont know where he is. Jennys voice was plaintive, but a dark fear had begun to spread its chill across her chest. I thought maybe hed been in here. I thought somebody might know.
That makes six, McGahey said. She recognized the rough deep rumble of his voice from TV interviews and open-air rallies. It felt strange to be in the same room with it.
I dont understand, she said. Six what? Whats going on? Their eyes were all on her, boring into her. She could feel their contempt but didnt understand what it was for. Has something happened to Mick? Has there been an accident?
Somethings happened, all right, McGahey said. It looks like your mans away scabbing to Nottingham.
His words seemed to suck the air from her lungs. She stopped breathing, letting a bubble form round her so the words would bounce off. It couldnt be right. Not Mick. Dumb, she shook her head hard. The words started to seep back in but they still made no sense. Knew about the fivethought there might be morealways a traitor in the ranksdisappointedalways a union man.
No, she said. He wouldnt do that.
How else do you explain him not being here? Reekie said. Youre the one that came to us looking for him. We know a van load went down last night. And at least one of them is a pal of your Mick. Where the hell else is he going to be?
Thursday 28th June 2007; Newton of Wemyss
I couldnt have felt worse if theyd accused me of being a whore, Jenny said. I suppose, in their eyes, thats exactly what I was. My man away scabbing, it would be no time at all before Id be living on immoral earnings.
You never doubted that they were right?
Jenny pushed her hair back from her face, momentarily stripping away some of the years and the docility. Not really. Mick was pals with Iain Maclean, one of the ones that went to Nottingham. I couldnt argue with that. And dont forget what it was like back then. The men ran the game and the union ran the men. When the women wanted to take part in the strike, the first battle we had to fight was against the union. We had to beg them to let us join in. They wanted us where wed always been - in the back room, keeping the home fires burning. Not standing by the braziers on the picket lines. But even though we got Women Against Pit Closures off the ground, we still knew our place. Youd have to be bloody strong or bloody stupid to try and blow against the wind round here.
It wasnt the first time Karen had heard a version of this truth. She wondered whether shed have done any better in the same position. It felt good to think shed stand by her man a bit more sturdily. But in the face of the community hostility Jenny Prentice must have faced, Karen reckoned shed probably have caved in too. Fair enough, she said. But now that it looks like Mick might not have gone scabbing after all, have you got any idea what might have happened to him?
Jenny shook her head. Not a scooby. Even though I couldnt believe it, the scabbing kind of made sense. So I never thought about any other possibility.
Do you think hed just had enough? Just upped and left?
She frowned. See, that wouldnt be like Mick. To leave without the last word? I dont think so. Hed have made sure I knew it was all my fault. She gave a bitter laugh.
You dont think he might have gone without a word as a way of making you suffer even more?
Jennys head reared back. Thats sick, she protested. You make him sound like some kind of a sadist. He wasnt a cruel man, Inspector. Just thoughtless and selfish like the rest of them.
Karen paused for a moment. This was always the hardest part when interviewing the relatives of the missing. Had he fallen out with anybody? Did he have any enemies, Jenny?
Jenny looked as if Karen had suddenly switched into Urdu. Enemies? You mean, like somebody that would kill him?
Maybe not mean to kill him. Maybe just fight him?
This time, Jennys laugh had genuine warmth. By Christ, thats funny coming from you. She shook her head. The only physical fights Mick ever got into in all the years we were married were with your lot. On the picket lines. At the demonstrations. Did he have enemies? Aye, the thin blue line. But this isnt South America, and I dont recall any talk about the disappeared of the miners strike. So the answer to your question is no, he didnt have the kind of enemies that hed get into a fight with.
Karen studied the carpet for a long moment. The gung-ho violence of the police against the strikers had poisoned community relationships for a generation or more. Never mind that the worst offenders came from outside forces, bussed in to make up the numbers and paid obscene amounts of overtime to oppress their fellow citizens in ways most people chose to avoid knowing about. The fallout from their ignorance and arrogance affected every officer in every coalfield force. Still did, Karen reckoned. She took a deep breath and looked up. Im sorry, she said. The way they treated the miners, it was inexcusable. I like to think we wouldnt act like that now, but Im probably wrong. Are you sure there wasnt anybody hed had a run-in with?
Jenny didnt even pause for thought. Not that I knew about. He wasnt a troublemaker. He had his principles, but he didnt use them as excuses to pick fights. He stood up for what he believed in, but he was a talker, not a fighter.
What if the talking didnt work? Would he back down?
Im not sure I follow you.
Karen spoke slowly, feeling her way into the idea. Im wondering if he bumped into this Iain Maclean that day and tried to talk him out of going to Nottingham. And if Iain wouldnt change his mind, and maybe had his pals there to back him upWould Mick have got into a fight with them, maybe?
Jenny shook her head firmly. No way. Hed have said his piece and, if that didnt work, hed have walked away.
Karen felt frustrated. Even after the passage of so much time, cold cases usually provided one or two loose ends to pick away at. But so far, there seemed to be nothing to reach for here. One last question, then she was out of this place. Do you have any idea at all where Mick might have gone painting that day?
He never said. The only thing I can tell you is that in the winter he often went along the shore to East Wemyss. That way, if it came on rain, he could go down to the caves and shelter there. The preservation group, they had a wee bothy at the back of one of the caves with a camping stove where they could brew up. He had keys, he could make himself right at home, she added, the acid back in her voice. But Ive no idea whether he was there that day or not. He could have been anywhere between Dysart and Buckhaven. She looked at her watch. Thats all I know.
He never said. The only thing I can tell you is that in the winter he often went along the shore to East Wemyss. That way, if it came on rain, he could go down to the caves and shelter there. The preservation group, they had a wee bothy at the back of one of the caves with a camping stove where they could brew up. He had keys, he could make himself right at home, she added, the acid back in her voice. But Ive no idea whether he was there that day or not. He could have been anywhere between Dysart and Buckhaven. She looked at her watch. Thats all I know.
Karen got to her feet. I appreciate your time, Mrs Prentice. We will be continuing our inquiries and Ill keep you informed. The Mint scrambled to his feet and followed her and Jenny to the front door.
Im not bothered for myself, you understand, Jenny said when they were halfway down the path. But see if you can find him for the bairns sake.
It was, Karen thought, the first sign of emotion shed shown all morning. Get your notebook out, she said to the Mint as they got into the car. Follow-ups. Talk to the neighbour. See if she remembers anything about the day Mick Prentice disappeared. Talk to somebody from the cave group, see whos still there from 1984. Get another picture of what Mick Prentice was really like. Check in the files for anything about this Andy Kerr, NUM official, supposedly committed suicide around the time Mick disappeared. Whats the story there? And we need to track down these five scabs and get Nottingham to have a chat with them. She opened the passenger door again as the Mint finished scribbling. And since were here already, lets have a crack at the neighbour.
She was barely two steps from the car when her phone rang. Phil, she said.
No pleasantries, just straight to the point. You need to get back here right now.
Why?
The Macaroon is on the warpath. Wants to know why the hell youre not at your desk.
Simon Lees, Assistant Chief Constable (Crime), was temperamentally different from Karen. She was convinced his bedtime reading consisted of the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006. She knew he was married with two teenage children but she had no idea how that could have happened to a man so obsessively organized. It was sods law that on the first morning in months when she was doing something off the books the Macaroon should come looking for her. He seemed to believe that it was his divine right to know the whereabouts of any of the officers under his command, whether on or off duty. Karen wondered how close hed come to stroking out on discovering she was not occupying the desk where he expected to find her. Not close enough, by the sounds of it. What did you tell him?
I said you were having a meeting with the evidence store team to discuss streamlining their cataloguing procedures, Phil said. He liked the idea, but not that fact that it wasnt listed in your electronic appointments list.
Im on my way, Karen said, confusing the Mint by getting back into the car. Did he say why he was looking for me?
To me? A mere sergeant? Gimme a break, Karen. He just said it was of the first importance. Somebody probably stole his digestive biscuits.
Karen gestured impatiently at the Mint. Home, James, and dont spare the horses. He looked at her as if she was mad but he did start the car and drove off. Im coming in, she said. Get the kettle on.
Glenrothes
The double helix of frustration and irritation twisted in Simon Lees gut. He shifted in his chair and rearranged the family photos on his desk. What was wrong with these people? When hed gone looking for DI Pirie and failed to find her where she should be, DS Parhatka had acted as if that were perfectly fine. There was something fundamentally lackadaisical about the detectives in Fife. Hed realized that within days of arriving from Glasgow. It amazed him that theyd ever managed to put anyone behind bars before hed arrived with his analytical methods, streamlined investigations, sophisticated crime linkage and the inevitable rise in the detection rate.
What riled him even more was the fact that they seemed to have no gratitude for the modern methods hed brought to the job. He even had the suspicion that they were laughing at him. Take his nickname. Everybody in the building seemed to have a nickname, most of which could be construed as mildly affectionate. But not him. Hed discovered early on that hed been dubbed the Macaroon because he shared the surname of a confectionery firm whose most famous product had become notorious because of an ancient advertising jingle whose cheerful racism would provoke rioting in the streets if it were to be aired in twenty-first-century Scotland. He blamed Karen Pirie; it was no coincidence that the nickname had surfaced after his first run-in with her. It had been typical of most of their encounters. He wasnt quite sure how it happened, but she always seemed to wrong-foot him.
Lees still smarted at that early memory. Hed barely got his feet under the table but hed started as he meant to go on, instigating a series of training days. Not the usual macho posturing or tedious revision of the rules of engagement, but fresh approaches to issues of modern policing. The first tranche of officers had assembled in the training suite and Lees had started his preamble, explaining how they would spend the day developing strategies for policing a multicultural society. His audience had looked mutinous and Karen Pirie had led the charge. Sir, can I make a point?
Of course, Detective Inspector Pirie. His smile had been genial, hiding his annoyance at being interrupted before hed even revealed the agenda.
Well, sir, Fifes not really what youd call multicultural. We dont have many people here who are not indigenous Brits. Apart from the Italians and the Poles, that is, and theyve been here so long weve forgotten theyre not from here.
So racisms all right by you, is it, Inspector? Maybe not the best reply, but hed been driven to it by the apparently Neanderthal attitude shed expressed. Not to mention that bland, pudding face she presented whenever she said anything that might be construed as inflammatory.
Not at all, sir. Shed smiled, almost pityingly. What I would say is that, given we have a limited training budget, it might make more sense to deal first with the sort of situations were more likely to encounter day to day.
Such as? How hard to hit people when we arrest them?
I was thinking more of strategies to deal with domestic violence. Its a common call-out and it can easily escalate. Too many people are still dying every year because a domestic has got out of hand. And we dont always know how to deal with it without inflaming the situation. Id say that was my number one priority right now, sir.
And with that short speech, shed cut the ground from under his feet. There was no way back for him. He could carry on with the planned training, knowing that everyone in the room was laughing at him. Or he could postpone till he could put together a programme to deal with DI Piries suggestion and lose face completely. In the end, hed told them to spend the rest of the day researching the subject of domestic violence in preparation for another training day.
Two days later, hed overheard himself referred to as the Macaroon. Oh yes, he knew who to blame. But as with everything she did to undermine him, there was nothing he could pin directly on her. Shed stand there, looking as shaggy, stolid and inscrutable as a Highland cow, never saying or doing anything that he could complain about. And she set the style for the rest of them, even though she was stranded on the fringes in the Cold Case Review Team where she should be able to wield no influence whatsoever. But somehow, thanks to Pirie, dealing with the detectives of all three divisions was like herding cats.