From outside the curtain he heard footfalls and the squeak of wheels. He was wondering if Nicola was early when the curtains went back revealing Shona with a tall well-built man he recognised from the surveillance video outside the Blind Piper. ‘Jesus, you gave me a fright,’ he said and collapsed on the bed.
She ran her hand gently down his face. ‘Sorry, I thought it was only right that he should put himself out, after what McKenzie did to you.’
She looked demure in a long denim skirt and white shirt. He put his hand up to hold hers. ‘It only hurts when I move.’ He laughed and then groaned: ‘Oh…I shouldn’t do that.’
‘We’ve brought a wheelchair to get you to the car.’
Doherty moved to one side to allow a shorter heavily built man with no visible neck, reminding Douglas for some weird reason of a shed in a suit, to push the wheel chair towards the bed. Shona stood back and let the two men effortlessly lift him by his arms and gently help him into the wheelchair. Shona gathered up his jacket, the doctor’s note in a brown envelope and a bottle of water.
While shed-in-a-suit pushed the wheelchair, Shona walked beside him and Doherty followed behind.
‘I thought Mr Doherty was in Spain,’ Douglas said.
‘He arrived back an hour ago after a short diversion to Dublin,’ Shona replied. ‘I met him off the plane and persuaded him to do the right thing.’
Outside the hospital Douglas saw a black Mercedes parked across the entrance – a uniformed chauffer sat at the wheel. Shona opened the rear door and Douglas gingerly shifted from the wheelchair onto the seat, at the same time suppressing a twinge of worry at getting into Doherty’s car.
Shona got in the other side and sat beside him. Doherty climbed and sat beside her. Shed sat in the front passenger seat and the chauffer moved off. During the short journey Shona held his hand until they reached Bain Street and the car turned left under The Barras sign. ‘We’re here Mr Doherty,’ the chauffeur said as they turned into Gibson Street.
‘You live here?’ Doherty exclaimed. ‘Could you no’ find a better place.’
‘It’s not that bad.’
‘Right Danny, we’d better take care we’re no’ mugged on the way up to Mr Ashburner’s hovel.’
They all followed Douglas slowly up the stairs and waited while he found the key and slowly inserted it into the lock. Inside, he gingerly lowered himself onto the old sofa. Doherty brushed the sofa with a gloved hand before sitting down beside him. Shed sat in the battered armchair and Shona found the kitchen.
‘Reliving your student days?’ Doherty said.
‘You can tell?’
‘Don’t they pay the polis these days?’
‘Student loans, parent loans, overdraft and so on to pay off, as well as the rent.’
‘It’s a hard life for an honest polisman.’
While Shona bustled around the kitchen Douglas took the opportunity to tackle Doherty about the attack. ‘I recognised Gordon McKenzie as he was kicking the shit out of me.’
‘Shona’s already bent my ear about it. Not my doing, the wee toerag did it all on his lonesome.’ Doherty paused to glance at him. ‘I have the matter in hand.’
‘That’s what worries me, Mr Doherty…I’m assuming you were unaware of McKenzie’s involvement in the whisky scam.’
‘Huh, drinking that muck it’s lucky none of the punters were dead on the floor.’ Doherty looked out of the window for a while and then looked across to Douglas again. ‘Go on.’
‘I’m told confession’s good for the soul.’
‘You’re not an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, man?’
‘Religion was never my best subject at school.’
‘I’ll never hear the last of this from Shona otherwise…you can have him…he’ll walk into the station, that’s all I’m going to say.’
Douglas eased himself into the armchair and considered the next question. ‘Annabel Sutherland, we need your version of her disappearance.’
‘I’ll give you the short version – she’s been my girlfriend for almost a year and she was fine when I left for Spain just over a week ago. And if you want a statement you’ll have to wait until tomorrow.’
Shona appeared with a teapot and interrupting Douglas’ thoughts about the next question. He moved his legs out of the way so she could put it down on the low table.
‘Very domestic,’ Tony Doherty said.
‘Do something useful, find some biscuits,’ Shona snapped back and Tony Doherty reluctantly made his way to the kitchen. ‘Danny, take a shufti and see if there’s something we can eat in here,’ he called out to the bodyguard. Shed moved from the doorway and Tony Doherty moved back into the living room to allow him space in the small kitchen.
‘There isn’t much left in the way of food, I’m moving out soon,’ Douglas said.
‘Glad to hear it, somewhere more civilised?’ Tony Doherty commented.
‘Closer to the city centre.’
Shona was pouring tea into four cups when Douglas heard the doorbell. Shed looked towards the hallway. ‘I’ll go,’ he said and walked out of the living room into the hall to open the front door. Douglas heard the clunk from the door bolts and a pause before Shed spoke. ‘I think we should put the kettle on again, Mr Ashburner, your mates from the TSG are here.’
Douglas heaved himself out of the chair and walked through to the hallway: A crowd of black clad and helmeted men filled the doorway, their guns aimed at Shed, who stood unconcerned in the doorway with his hands raised and his palms open towards the gun barrels. ‘Easy lads, no negligent discharges, think of all the bloody paperwork,’ he said.
*****
‘…and if you needed to arrest Gordon McKenzie for VAT fraud, or any other offence, then all you had to do was ask. And it is not in the company’s interest to condone his offences or any illegal action of any employee. He was defrauding the company as well as the Revenue. Now, if there is nothing else we need to discuss I will leave you to apologise to Douglas.’ Shona paused and moved her gaze from Nicola to Douglas. ‘I’ll be in touch,’ she said and moved towards the door.
He said: ‘Goodbye,’ and glanced at Nicola.
‘All right, but I still need to talk to Tony,’ Nicola interjected.
‘He’ll be ready to talk to you tomorrow,’ Shona replied and left the flat.
*****
Nicola watched Shona close the door before she perched on the arm of the old sofa. She glared at him while the last of the TSG men clattered down the stairs. ‘And what exactly were you thinking of when you accepted a lift from Doherty? I had to assume the worst; he could have been taking you somewhere quiet to finish the job.’
Douglas moved his arm to a more comfortable position before answering. ‘He picked me up from a hospital bristling with CCTV, in front of loads of witnesses and he certainly wasn’t going to do anything more than talk with Shona here.’
‘Were you expecting him?’
‘No, I was expecting you, instead Shona turned up with him and his bodyguard.’
‘Not the other way round?’
‘I suspect Shona has him wrapped round her little finger.’
‘Huh, I remain to be convinced of that.’
Douglas was about to pick up his cup when he remembered his manners. ‘Do you want a drink? I have beer in the fridge.’
She glanced at her watch. ‘It’s that time all ready and I’m off duty. I’ll take you up on that offer.’ She returned from the kitchen with a can of Pilsner and sat in the armchair opposite him. ‘You must have a dozen different beers in that fridge.’
‘Tasting my way through the beers of the world.’
‘Fine, I suppose it’s a hobby. Now, getting back to today’s incident, do you have any idea how Doherty got into the country without anyone seeing him? We wasted a couple of hours at the airport waiting for him?’
‘According to Shona he flew to Dublin and then to Glasgow.’
‘Why?’
‘No idea.’
‘When did Shona tell you?’
‘On the way here.’
‘Does he know where Gordon McKenzie is?’
Douglas shook his head. ‘Forgot to ask him that, must be the painkillers…and talking of McKenzie, was there any evidence at the Blind Piper?’
‘Gallons of dodgy whisky, too much for him to shift though the pub – so he must have been selling it elsewhere. Trading Standards are analysing the stuff now, but the labelling is the same as other fake booze they’ve found elsewhere.’ Nicola paused and her eyes gleamed as she looked at cups on the table. ‘Which one did Doherty drink out of?’
Douglas shook his head. ‘The bodyguard very kindly washed some of them. I guess it was the ones he and Doherty used.’
‘Rats,’ Nicola said and put the can on the table. ‘Anyway, thanks for the beer, I’ll be off. Don’t worry about tomorrow if you’re still in pain.’
When she had closed the door Douglas found the TV remote and settled on the sofa to watch the news.
*****
The Mercedes pulled into the car park of the Morrisons supermarket and stopped in a vacant space on the side away from the store and near the river. Tony Doherty and his bodyguard walked across the road to the old road bridge over the Clyde. While the bodyguard stopped at the end of the bridge Doherty carried on to the middle and leaned on the parapet. He lit a cigarette and waited in the gathering darkness, glancing occasionally towards the north side of the river. Eventually he made out a figure approaching the bridge. He flicked the cigarette into the river and watched the glowing red end until it hit the water.
A tall woman walked onto the bridge and slowed her pace as she approached him. Clearly she was alert for signs of danger and kept one hand in the pocket of her brown leather jacket – he assumed she was holding a gun hidden inside the pocket. Her jacket was unzipped and open, allowing her to quickly bring the gun up and fire.
‘And you are?’ he said.
She stopped, facing him just out of reach. Her right hand stayed in the pocket.
‘You’re not from five, they don’t do guns,’ he commented.
‘I transferred,’ she replied.
‘So you did the full James Bond bit?’
She inclined her head – he knew that was all the answer he was going to get. ‘Why did they send you? Are all the old faces retired now; sunning themselves on the Costas?’
She didn’t answer.
‘It was a long time ago,’ he said and turned to look down the river. ‘Old territory this…we used to meet on this bridge. Me from this side and your lot from that side.’ He waved his hand towards the north bank of the river.
‘Is that so?’ she said.
‘What do you want? You rang me, remember?’
‘Answers.’
‘What do I call you: Miss from five?’
‘Tanya will suffice, Mr Doherty.’
‘Call me Tony; now shall we get down to business, Tanya, I have a dinner appointment to get to.’
‘What was the deal with Marcus Triffit?’
‘Do you want the full story or just the highlights?’
‘The highlights.’
‘He introduced me to Annabel Sutherland and she fancied a fling with an old fashioned Glasgow hardman. Sometimes members of her class feel the need to get down and dirty with the lower orders.’
‘I thought you were a successful businessman, Tony.’
‘You’re Eastern European by the sound of your voice. It’s the accent and breeding that count in this country, Tanya. You don’t fit and neither do I. Annabel’s old money and neither of us are the right sort of people for her class.’
‘You sound resentful.’
‘It’s just a comment on the world. But Annabel is a looker and, if a girl like that gives an older man the eye, it’s hard to resist.’
‘Even you?’
‘I’ve no commitments to screw up, my wife left me years ago, I’m single and fancy- free and she knew the sort of man I am.’
‘What happened to her?’
‘She gave Marcus a stupid idea.’
‘What idea?’
‘To hide the bank’s money somewhere and hold it to ransom.’
‘Sounds a strange proposition?’
‘Almost all money is electronic these days – mess with the accounts and in a short time things can go badly wrong for a bank.’
‘So she wanted to hold her father to ransom; what went wrong?’
‘Marcus, Annabel and Henry Cameron-Smythe got into the bank’s computer and started looking around. It didn’t take them long to discover there was something badly wrong with the bank.’
‘When did you find this out?’
‘On the Thursday night Annabel phoned me in a panic, she thought two men were following her and wanted me to sort it.’
Tanya nodded. ‘So?’
‘I suggested that she contact two brothers I know to stage a kidnapping and keep her at a safe house. Confuse the enemy – whoever they are.’
‘Who did you think the enemy were?’
‘No idea, but she thought it was your lot, or six.’
She didn’t reply and he wondered if five had indeed been following Annabel. This thought was reinforced when Tanya changed the subject back to Annabel herself.
‘It seems she became bored and decided to have some fun.’
His head came up and she stepped back in alarm. ‘What?’ he growled.
‘She was caught on camera along with two men trying to rob a cash and carry warehouse near Edinburgh.’
‘Jesus,’ Doherty growled. ‘This is what happens when you employ Muppets!’
Tanya left him to contemplate this one a while and looked around – the squat man on the end of the bridge was looking intently at her. She’d been briefed on him – he would be carrying a .38 revolver, licensed by the Home Office in case an Irishman wants to settle a grievance on behalf of his father or grandfather. She turned back to Doherty. ‘The police think she’s been abducted, although Ashburner thinks there’s a bit more to it and he’s linked it to the bank.’
‘How did he make the connection?’
‘There other players in this game besides the firm.’
Doherty scowled. ‘That would be right; the Edinburgh high-heid ones don’t like interference.’
‘Coming back to the bank, where did the money go?’
‘Marcus discovered they had lost about four hundred and fifty million in the financial crash and were hiding the problem using dirty money from Russia and they’d being doing it for years.’
Tanya paused for a moment. ‘So it wasn’t the bank they were up against it was the Russian mafia.’
‘That’s about the size of it. From the transactions, Marcus figured out they were laundering money on a massive scale.’
‘What happened to him?’ she asked.
‘No idea, probably the Russians, maybe Sutherland himself, or even someone else who thought his nutty idea worked.’
‘What was this nutty idea?’
Doherty snorted. ‘You people must have known what he was doing; he worked for the spooks until they decided he was too screwed up and parked him here.’
‘Tell me anyway.’
‘I didn’t understand the ins and outs of it; he was usually drunk when he talked about it, but he thought he had a method of cracking banking transactions, among other things. He built a massive computer to try out his idea.’
‘Did you help him?’
Doherty shrugged. ‘I got him some help from a couple of computer geeks I use occasionally.’
She was silent for so long he was wondering if he should have another cigarette to pass the time when she spoke: ‘You and Marcus Triffit were friends – I can’t see that?’
‘One of the Smythe brothers brought him along to the Blue Pelican club one night. He stuck out like a sore thumb – a couple of Yanks started taking the piss out of him and when it got physical, I stepped in and sorted it. Thought they were hard men – they did
n’t have a clue. Marcus and me, we got talking after that…an interesting man in many ways.’
‘Ashburner is getting close to your involvement.’
‘What do I tell him?’
‘The usual.’
‘Run that past me again, Tanya, I’m a mite rusty on that shite.’
‘Need to know, Tony, he has to ask specific questions – only answer that question and if he doesn’t ask, don’t tell him.’
‘Huh…and what’s your role in all this?’
‘Watching, keeping an eye on things, it’s what we do.’
He watched her step backwards for half-a-dozen paces and then turned to stride away into the darkness. He walked slowly back towards his car.
Chapter 13
Wednesday
Douglas was curiously relieved to find Nicola’s office back to normal; the junk had already migrated to the safe and despite this addition to the available space her desk was still cluttered. She looked up as he entered. ‘Dougie, glad to see you dragging your sorry carcass into work and if you’ll pardon the expression, you look terrible. Are you sure you’re up to work today?’ she said and waved a hand at the chairs in front of her desk.
Douglas sat down slowly onto a chair. ‘I’m not sure I’d catch anyone in a hundred yard dash but I can manage everything else.’
‘OK, It’s your funeral,’ she said and leant back in her chair to study him more intently. ‘We’re off to Edinburgh to interview Sutherland again. The first time was just a chat, now I want him to answer the questions.’
‘What questions?’
‘We leave in half an hour, we’ll talk about it on the way and in the meantime you have a go at sorting out the stuff on your desk.’
He had ignored the pile of folders and papers on his desk in case she’d simply told him to go home. ‘Yes boss,’ he said and headed for the door before she decided he wasn’t fit for duty.
‘And book out a pool car, will you, Dougie?’ she asked once he had his hand on the doorknob.
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