‘She is wealthy…her trust fund is well managed and it’s out of reach of the rest of the Doherty clan, and she will be a student at the University in the next academic year.’
‘Wouldn’t have thought she was the type, but there is a bigger worry for you, they are getting close to Tony Doherty. Ashburner recognised him from the CCTV visiting the Sutherland girl’s flat. And they have one smeared print that could be his on an ash tray in her flat, but they can’t match the DNA.’
‘The last time he was arrested was before routine DNA sampling came in, I’ll tell him not to get arrested for anything. The Sutherland girl probably took the ashtray from one of the nightclubs. If anything really damning turns up, I trust you can be relied upon to act in the firm’s best interests?’
‘Of course, sir.’
‘Good,’ the man said and rang off.
*****
Douglas sat at the long oak table, which occupied the centre of the kitchen. ‘Where is everybody?’
‘Getting dressed for dinner…we might as well have a drink while we’re waiting,’ Susanne said and filled the kettle with water at the sink. While she waited for it to boil she wandered round the kitchen, stopping at the old four-oven Aga. She opened one of the oven doors. ‘I wondered what’s cooking,’ she said and reached for the oven glove to lift the lid of the large casserole dish.
An aroma of roasting meat came wafting across the kitchen to Douglas. ‘I hope everyone’s a meat eater at this dinner.’
Susanne laughed. ‘I did bring a vegetarian home once and the poor boy nearly starved. Anyway, we’re having roast beef tonight…I wonder where all the other bits are?’ She opened the other oven doors until she found them. ‘Roast potatoes and vegetables in what smells like goose fat.’
‘No wonder he starved.’
‘Mother doesn’t believe in pandering to peoples’ prejudices.’
Douglas wondered if she applied this sentiment to everyone or just Susanne’s boyfriends. ‘Is there any particular reason why we’re here this weekend?’
‘Mother wants a word with you and I couldn’t put it off for ever.’
‘Hah,’ Douglas exclaimed and no sooner had he said this than Jacqueline walked into the kitchen. An older version of Susanne, although an inch shorter and with lighter hair; she was dressed in a long blue silk dress and matching shoes.
‘Susanne and Douglas, I thought it was you,’ Jacqueline said. ‘Tonight you’re both in the Royal bedroom. Off you go and change Susanne. I’ll give Douglas another tour of the house.’
Susanne gave her mother a funny look. ‘When are we sitting down to eat?’
‘The gong will be in about forty minutes, my dear.’ Jacqueline replied before taking Douglas’ arm. ‘While my daughter is tarting herself up, I want to have a talk with you.’
She guided him out of the kitchen and along the corridor to the dining room. An eight-metre long rosewood table, polished to a mirror finish, occupied the length of the room. Four places were laid on either side of the table. Jacqueline lovingly ran a hand across the surface. ‘It was made for the room in 1733, or possibly the room was made for the table at a later date. It has sections that can be taken out, but we didn’t tonight as it is a small family occasion.’
‘Has Cook been working overtime?’
‘I’m afraid tonight will be a simple affair. The housekeeper does some cooking and has helped out today.’
‘It was something Susanne said about borrowing Cook for a dinner party.’
‘I shall have a quiet word with my daughter about the staffing situation.’
‘Do you have many?’
‘Not as many as she seems to think: employing staff is an expensive business these days and the estate revenues have not kept pace with rising costs. A fact you should be able to appreciate, whereas the simple arithmetic of running this place seems to elude my daughter.’
Jacqueline stopped by the windows and beckoned Douglas to join her. ‘One can get a sense of the estate from here. Over half the estate is rented to tenant farmers – part arable, but mainly cattle and pigs. The other half is wood and grassland with some tenanted cottages, and there is shooting, although we don’t make nearly enough use of it. My fondness for horses costs us dear and it’s not just the expense of the horses. It would be more cost effective to turn the house into a hotel and rent out all the land. Needless to say, selling is not an option; although I’m sure Susanne will consider it once the older generation is in the ground.’
‘It’s a lot of lawn to mow, have you got one of those sit-on machines?’ Douglas asked.
Jacqueline beamed at him. ‘I’ll get Malcolm to show you tomorrow – they’re great fun to drive. Now, let me show the rest of the house.’
*****
Susanne was at the dressing table applying eyeliner when Douglas entered the Royal bedroom. ‘Why is this called the Royal bedroom? I assume it’s got some connection with royalty.’
‘Yes, Douglas, as the name suggests it has a connection, unfortunately the royal personage changed his plans at the last minute and the family has never forgotten or forgiven.’
‘So it’s not the present incumbent?’
‘No, one of the Georges, I can’t remember which one. Ask father if you’re really interested.’
Douglas took out his dinner jacket, trousers and shirt, before stripping off his clothes. ‘Your mother talked about the staffing cost and estate revenues, inheritance tax and National Trust offsetting.’
‘Why do you think I never brought my boyfriends here? She always tested them for the role of husband and their fitness to take over the estate. It’s no surprise they all took fright and ran. I’m the sole heir to all of this and most of the burden of the maintaining it would fall on my spouse. Personally, I don’t want to get involved with it. I’d rather sell the place.’
Douglas donned the shirt and then trousers. ‘She also talked about her property empire and its present value, she thinks she should offload some of it onto you in the near future.’
‘That’s news to me.’
Douglas paused. ‘She mentioned half a million.’
‘God, how many millions has she got?’
‘I wasn’t going to pry into that. I assume all this money is legit, otherwise your father is in a lot of trouble.’
‘Did she say what form this largesse would take?’
‘One of the properties – she wanted to know if I preferred the Merchant city or a view over the river.’
Susanne picked up her hairbrush. ‘Very nice, did she deign to say when she was going to consult me?’
‘I did suggest that she should mention it to you,’ Douglas replied and checked his jacket for lint before putting it on.
‘Some times I wonder if she’s taking after her mad aunts,’ Susanne commented.
‘She has mad relatives?’
‘There are two aunts on her father’s side who turn up from time to time and accuse her of stealing their inheritance. They believe they should have inherited the money from her father.’
‘Where do they live?’
‘In California, they’re involved with a cult and mother thinks the leader of this cult urges them to continue with this claim, which doesn’t have a leg to stand on.’ Susanne put down the brush. ‘Come on, screw your courage to the sticking post and face the horror of dinner with my parents.’
*****
‘Thank God that’s over,’ Douglas said once he’d closed the door to the bedroom. ‘I’d rather face the aftermath of an Old Firm game than that.’
‘You do exaggerate at times, darling. Nobody was assaulted or injured in the eating of that meal,’ Susanne replied.
‘The verbal assaults were bad enough; I was interrogated by that woman sitting on my left. God, she did it professionally, dissected my character in a few choice sentences.’
‘She should be good at it – she’s in the same line of work as you. She’s an Assistant Chief Constable in Edinburgh.’
‘An
d you didn’t warn me?’
Susanne laughed. ‘What did you want me to do? Shout across the table: Look out; the bag next to you is the filth.’
‘Of course not…now can we get into bed?’
‘You realise that sharing this bed means we’re unofficially engaged.’
‘I don’t care, just get your clothes off and get in.’
She unzipped her dress, dropped it off her shoulders and let it lie on the floor. ‘I thought you were exhausted?’
Douglas came up behind her, put his hands on her waist and nuzzled her neck. ‘I’m not that tired.’
Chapter 10
Sunday
Susanne left Douglas in the shower and went downstairs to find the kitchen empty. After filling the electric kettle, and switching it on, she wandered over to the upright fridge-freezer, found the bottle and poured milk into a jug and put it on the kitchen table. After taking two mugs down from the shelf, she sat at the kitchen table and waited for the kettle to boil. Jacqueline opened the door to the garden and strode into the room.
Susanne looked up and said: ‘Good morning, mother.’
‘Good morning, daughter, are the pair of you staying for lunch?’
‘No, Douglas needs to be at work before ten and it’s coming up for eight-thirty now.’
‘There is something I wanted to talk to you about.’
‘Yes, go on.’
‘Has Douglas actually moved in with you?’
‘Yes.’
‘I see, what triggered this?’
‘My flat is bigger than his and in a better area, so it made sense for him to move in with me and he can save money for a new car.’
‘So it’s early to bed every night?’
‘Mother!’
The kettle made a gurgling sound and clicked.
‘The water’s boiled, are you going to use it or can I pour it into the teapot?’
‘That’s what it’s for,’ Susanne snapped back.
Jacqueline smiled benignly at her daughter, picked up the kettle and proceeded to pour the water into the teapot. ‘I assume Douglas wants coffee…I’ll put Malcolm’s new machine on…and what is Douglas working on at the moment?’
Susanne studied her mother for seconds. ‘The body in the Clyde.’
‘Marcus Triffit?’
‘That’s the one – messy business – he was tortured before he died. And he was working on something connected to the Scotia Investment Bank.’
‘Mm, that one, your father has views on that institution…are you working on it?’
‘Yes.’
‘Talk to your father before you go, Douglas can tell them it is work when he arrives late.’
*****
Douglas came down to breakfast and detected a frosty atmosphere between mother and daughter. ‘Good morning,’ he ventured.
‘Are you also suffering this morning, Douglas? Your partner seems a trifle snappy; perhaps she needs something to take away the hangover?’
‘No, I’m fine,’ he replied, not quite sure where the conversation was going.
‘In that case I’ll make you a full breakfast, Douglas; your partner seems indisposed.’
He looked across at Susanne who merely shrugged and realised this morning was going to be fraught.
As he finished the last of the sausages Malcolm appeared at the kitchen door in a dressing gown. ‘I smelt bacon and thought I’d better come down before it’s all gone.’
‘I hope that wasn’t…’ Douglas started to say.
Jacqueline reached across and laid a hand on his arm. ‘No, it is not, Susanne will make her father breakfast while the grownups discuss matters of state.’
Malcolm looked at his wife.
‘Douglas is interested in the Scotia Investment Bank,’ Jacqueline commented.
‘A lot of people are interested in that institution, what is it that particularly interests you?’ Malcolm asked.
‘We have three different cases, including the death of Marcus Triffit, which are connected to the Bank.’ Douglas replied. ‘Of course, it could be a coincidence.’
‘But you don’t believe in coincidences.’
‘Not in these circumstances.’
‘I know two of the directors of the Bank and they are adamant it survived the crash with no more than a few problems…which, in reality, is doubtful. The SCDEA, the SFO and one of the more shadowy agencies appear to take the same view. The general suspicion is that there is a large hole in their accounts somewhere and the bank has been quite adept at hiding exactly where the hole is.’
‘Are they investigating the bank?’ Douglas asked.
‘The interest of the financial authorities is understandable, but I’m not sure what interests the intelligence services.’
‘It is possible to find out what interests them?’
‘The Crown Office and the Chief Constable may know the answer to that question, although they are probably not at liberty to pass the information on.’
Douglas pursed his lips. ‘So this would be a question to put up the chain of command.’
‘Shake the tree, Douglas and see what falls down. The intelligence agencies tend to look at the bigger picture and I’m not sure the odd body in the Clyde overly concerns them.’
Douglas nodded and looked at his watch; it was nearly nine thirty. He stood up. ‘I must apologise, it’s time we were going.’
Ten minutes later Douglas opened the passenger door of Susanne’s car. He had advanced the idea he should drive and had been shot down in verbal flames. The journey back to Glasgow was roughly sixty miles and even with the light Sunday morning traffic they would be there by half past ten at best, but Susanne steadfastly refused to break the speed limit and he was left impotently sitting in the passenger seat worrying about the time.
*****
Nicola heard the knock. ‘Come,’ she said.
Julie entered the office. ‘I thought you would want to see these,’ she said as she dropped an envelope on the desk. ‘It’s the results of the fingerprint analysis from Annabel Sutherland’s flat.’
‘Is Dougie in yet?’ she said as she tore open the envelope.
‘I haven’t seen him, I’m sure he’ll be in soon.’
‘Is he late again?’
‘I don’t know, ma’am.’
‘Huh, when you see him tell him to get his arse in here, pronto.’
Julie left the office and seeing Tanya looking at her from behind her computer screen she gestured at Douglas’ vacant desk. ‘Any idea where he is?’
‘I believe he’s in the country, meeting Susanne’s family,’ Tanya replied.
‘Important meeting?’
‘I believe he’s going to marry her.’
‘Oh, he’s told you this, has he?’
‘No, but I can see the moves Susanne’s making.’
‘Has he bought her an engagement ring?’
‘Not so far,’ Tanya said and moved her gaze to the screen.
‘When he turns up tell him the boss wants to see him,’ Julie replied and went back to work.
*****
Douglas met Julie as he ran along the corridor towards the MIU suite. ‘Hi,’ he said as he approached.
‘Boss wants you in her office right away, Douglas. Good luck, au revoir, nice knowing you,’ Julie said as he passed her.
‘Right.’
Tanya looked up as he opened the door and gestured towards Nicola’s office.
Douglas grinned at her and headed for the office door, he knocked and waited. Once inside he found Julie’s warning fully justified.
‘Stand there until I’m ready to deal with you!’ Nicola growled at him and pointed to the centre of the room.
He did as instructed and stood and waited. He didn’t know for how long as he thought it wasn’t a good idea to look at his watch. He tried counting: One elephant, two elephant, three elephant…but lost count after one hundred and thirty-one elephants. After that he tried deep breathing, until Nicola began ostentatiously sor
ting her files, at which point he decided to risk a statement in his defence.
‘There is…’
‘So was it a piss-up last night…went on a bit late did it…couldn’t tear yourself away?’ she snapped at him.
He took another deep breath before speaking. ‘The answers to the questions are: Yes, yes and it would have been impolite to leave.’
‘So…who, exactly, didn’t you want to be impolite to?’
‘His Lordship.’
‘Oh, which one?’
‘Lord Glendinning.’
Nicola glared at him. ‘Where did this encounter take place?’
‘Herreck House, near Edinburgh.’
She sighed and shook her head. ‘Oh, I forgot didn’t I, silly me, her parent’s estate…of course.’ Straightening her shoulders Nicola continued: ‘You told me you didn’t go there.’
‘We received orders to go.’
‘Orders? I give you orders, others merely ask.’
Douglas didn’t take the bait. ‘The reason I was late, ma’am, is that I was discussing the Scotia Investment Bank with his Lordship.’
‘You are discussing police business with someone outside this building?’
‘He sits in one of the highest courts in the land and I was eliciting information.’
‘What information?’
‘The SCDEA, SFO and others are investigating the bank.’
‘Others?’
‘The intelligence services.’
Nicola glared at him for several seconds before she turned off her computer, then she moved from her chair and unplugged the phone from the wall socket. ‘You can sit down now.’
Douglas sat.
Nicola returned to her seat and held out her hand. ‘Phone, come on, give it to me.’
Douglas passed his phone over and watched her remove the battery. She then repeated the operation with her own mobile phone. ‘I’ll keep these; get six pay-as-you-go phones and a load of SIM cards. I’ll get the place swept for bugs later.’ She paused and glanced over at the door. ‘OK, go on, what basis do you have for saying this?’
‘Hints, nothing more, but there could be very large hole in the bank’s accounts.’
‘What am I supposed to do with this?’
Shallow Water Page 16
