BREEEEEEEEEEP!
three cars and
BREEEEEEEEEEP!
What?
Shift it! POLICE!
no one there when
BREEEEEP BREEEEEEEEEEP!
Logan slapped a hand over the mouthpiece. Will you lay off it for five minutes? I cant hear a bloody word!
The inspectors face took on its familiar about-to-explode tinge, but at least he was quiet in the run-up to detonation. Logan asked Control to go back to the start, then gave Insch the edited version: Theyve got two cars at the address Robertson gave us.
And?
The bastard lied to us. Wisemans not there.
The inspector swore. Tell them I want the place watched twenty-four-seven. At least two teams, low profile. BREEEEEEEEEEP! Move that bloody tractor!
Logan passed on the instructions and hung up as the tractor finally indicated and pulled into a rutted, muddy track, the farmer giving them the one-fingered-salute as they roared past.
You really think Wisemans still got keys to the place?
Insch shrugged and put his foot down. He better, its the only bloody lead weve got. The inspectors trousers started singing at them. Insch dragged his mobile phone out, and handed it over. It was all warm. Dont just sit there: answer it!
Logan hit the button. DI Inschs phone.
A mans voice, old, rough round the edges. Whos this?
DS McRae. Whos this?
Put David on.
Hes driving.
Oh for goodness sake: half the country uses their mobile phone while driving!
Now that they werent stuck behind four tons of farm machinery the Range Rover was tearing down the road.
Well? said Insch, Who is it?
No idea.
Tell him its Garry Brooks.
Its a Garry Brooks?
The inspector groaned. What does he want?
I want to know what hes doing to catch that bastard Wiseman. Tell him no one down the stationll talk to me!
Logan did as he was told. And Insch swore quietly. Tell him were working on a couple of leads. Ill give him a shout when we have something more concrete.
He says
I heard him! Im retired, not deaf. Tell him: tonight. Redgarth. Half seven. Hes buying. And then the crotchety old man was gone. Logan shut the inspectors phone and handed it back.
He says youve got to buy him a pint tonight.
Inschs fat hands tightened on the steering wheel. Why didnt you tell him I couldnt make it? Were going to be watching Wisemans bolthole! You knew that!
I didnt get the chance! The old git hung up on me.
That old git was policing Aberdeen before you were born!
Alec scooted forward again. Brooks? Not DCI Brooks? The guy who
Im not going to tell you to sit back again, Im going to slam on the brakes and send you flying through the bloody window!
Come on, youve got to meet with him! The continuitys great Brooks heads up the investigation in 1987 and now he hands over the torch to his protege, twenty years later. We get Logan there too and weve got three generations of policemen, all dedicated to catching the Flesher, discussing the case over a pint...
No.
Please?
No!
Oh Christ, said Rennie, hiding behind a stack of missing persons reports, dont look now: its Grumpy and Grumpier.
DI Insch and DI Steel were at it again, arguing in front of the big map of Aberdeen that dominated one wall of the main Flesher incident room. From the sound of things Steel wanted to go into the address theyd got from Robertson with all guns blazing. Insch wanted to keep it under surveillance. And while the two of them fought, Alec filmed the whole thing from less than three feet away.
Finally Steel threw her hands in the air and marched out, banging the door behind her.
Insch stood for a moment, like a gathering storm, then marched out after her, with Alec hot on his heels.
Bugger... Logan got the nasty feeling he was about to win his bet.
He watched the door swing shut, and then Rennie elbowed him in the ribs.
Ow, what was that
Arent you going to do something?
Are you crazy? Hed kill me.
But youre supposed to be
Fine! OK, Ill go. Logan hauled himself to his feet and out the door, muttering under his breath the whole way.
There was no sign of Insch in the corridor outside, but Logan could hear the stairwell doors battering back and forth on their hinges. He broke into a jog as raised voices echoed down from the floor above.
Insch: Youre being ridiculous, we
Steel: Gods sake, Im just saying, OK? He could still be in there!
Logan took the stairs two at a time.
Insch: If we tear the place apart, hell know. This discussion is over were not going in... Will you get that bloody camera out of my face!
Alec: Im just doing my job... hey... where are Logan pushed through the stairwell doors just in time to see Steel march into the gents toilet, shouting, Dont you walk away from me! Were not finished.
Logan hurried in after her. The toilets were a depressing shade of green: three walls painted a nasty institutional spearmint; the fourth where the long, trough urinal was done in the same speckled green terrazzo as the floor. But unlike the floor, years of police officers piddle had bleached white streaks into the surface, looking disturbingly like dried milk. Or sperm.
Steel stood by the line of cubicles, arms outstretched, preventing DI Insch from disappearing inside. No we are going to talk about this like adults!
Get out of my bloody way.
Alec shifted to get a better angle and Insch turned on him: WHAT DID I BLOODY TELL YOU?
Im just
Insch stuck a hand against Alecs chest and shoved sending the cameraman clattering back into the urinal trough.
Aaaah! Fucking hell
Steel stared. Have you gone mental?
Snarl. GET OUT!
You cant just
Snarl. GET OUT!
You cant just
Jesus... Im covered in piss!
Insch turned, grabbed Steel by the lapel and shoved her back against a cubicle door. Listen up and listen good, you foulsmelling
Logan stepped forwards. Excuse me, sir!
Im busy, Sergeant.
The Assistant Chief Constable wants to see you in his office.
Tell him Ill be there in a
Get your fat hands off me!
He did say it was urgent, sir.
Silence.
Fine. The inspector stepped back and let go of Steel. Im finished here anyway.
She straightened her jacket. You ever grab me like that again and you will be Ill tear your fucking balls off!
Alec was back on his feet, face a picture of disgust as he shook one foot and then the other, sending little droplets flying onto the grubby, green floor. Fucking piss everywhere! I was only trying to do my job!
He picked up his camera and wiped it on his sleeve. You any idea how much these bloody things cost? Im making an official complaint, you cant treat me like Im some sort of
Oh God... Logan saw the punch coming long before anyone else: Insch curled one huge hand into a fist and swung.
Alec didnt stand a chance. So Logan lunged forwards, shoving him out of the way. The cameraman went sprawling, right back into the urinal again and that was when Logan realized hed not thought this through properly.
Inschs fist whistled through the gap where Alec used to be and clattered into Logans face.
15
Everything smelt of burning copper. Logan sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair with his head thrown back and a clump of soggy paper towels clamped to his nose.
Still bleeding? Chief Inspector Napier head of Professional Standards was probably doing his best to sound concerned, but it wasnt working. Hook-nosed ginger bastard.
His office was crowded and noisy. Big Gary huge, uniformed and covered in biscuit crumbs sat in the corner, next to Napiers colleague, taking notes while Steel and Insch lied about what had happened in the toilets. Everyone doing their best not to get too close to Alec, who was starting to smell.
Logan pulled the compress away and dabbed at his nostrils with a finger. It came away covered in blood. He tipped his head back again and applied a fresh wodge of paper towels.
As I see it, said Napier, treating them all to his fish-like gaze, no one is denying DI Insch hit DS McRae in the toilets. Correct?
No one said anything.
I see... Napier picked up a silver pen from his neat-freak desk and pointed it at Alec, as if it were a magic wand and by some miracle of prestidigitation he could make the cameraman not stink of piss. And did you manage to film this assault?
Alec looked at Insch and Steel, then blushed and stared at the carpet instead. My... my camera wasnt working because it fell in the urinal... when I... tripped.
Really? The chief inspector pulled a notebook from his drawer and read aloud. He attacked me he shoved me into the urinal. He tried to
Alec went even redder. I was wrong. I slipped and fell.
You slipped and fell.
I slipped and fell.
I see... Napier put the notebook back in the drawer. And this sudden change of opinion wouldnt have anything to do with being threatened by DI Insch?
The inspector lumbered to his feet. Are you suggesting I tampered with a witness? Because if you are
Napier didnt even look at him. Spare me the indignant act, youre in enough trouble as it is. Half the station heard you and DI Steel screaming at one another.
Friendly disagreement, said Steel.
Quite. Napier turned a reptilian smile on Logan. Id like to hear what DS McRae has to say for himself.
Logan blanched. Whad? I didn do adythig! It wasnt
You must have done something for the Inspector to punch you.
He... Logan snuck a glance at the pair of them Insch and Steel, sitting there as if butter wouldnt melt. I slibbed and fell against the cubigle door.
Napier took off his glasses and squeezed the bridge of his nose. Do I look stupid, Sergeant?
Logan didnt want to answer that one.
Very well, said Napier at last, McRae, Steel, you may go. And take... that, he pointed at the smelly cameraman, with you. DI Insch and I have some things to discuss.
Without Faulds and Rennie making the place look untidy, the Flesher history room was nice and quiet, giving Logan peace to groan and dab at his blood-encrusted nostrils. The whole front of his head felt like a bouncy castle full of rats.
Technically he should have gone home after being dismissed from Chief Inspector Napiers Lair of Doom, but he wanted to know what Professional Standards had in store for Insch. Unable to decide if he wanted the fat git suspended or not. Loyalty to your superior officer was all well and good, until they punched you on the nose.
A knock at the door and one of the stations Family Liaison officers stuck her head into the room. Rennie says... she trailed off, staring at Logans puffy face. Damn, I had a tenner on Wednesday. She held up a small sheaf of paperwork. Are you in charge till Insch... you know?