20 - A Rush of Blood

by Quintin Jardine

  ‘And you run this lot?’

  ‘Only the CID part, love. Superintendent Chambers, Mary Chambers, is the divisional commander.’ She pointed to a table on the other side of the dance floor, close to the spot where the DJ was setting up his lights and his decks. ‘That’s her.’

  Cheeky followed her finger, and saw a chunky, early middle-aged woman, with a square but not unattractive face and dark, close-cropped hair. She was dressed in black trousers that might have been part of her uniform, with her black shoes, and in a black, short-sleeved polo neck that certainly was not. She shared the table with a younger woman, her direct opposite, blonde, slim, with a white shirt, sleeves rolled up, a pale blue skirt and tan shoes with heels so high and sharp that they might have been weapons. They were leaning towards each other, over their drinks, smiling as they talked, their hands brushing. ‘Is the other one a policewoman too?’ she asked.

  ‘Mmm,’ Wilding began, cautiously. ‘She’s not one that I recognise. That’ll be her date, I guess. Superintendent Chambers is discreetly gay . . . or she was discreet about it until tonight.’ He stopped as a hand fell on his shoulder.

  ‘Evening, all,’ said the chief constable, smiling at Stallings. ‘How goes? You all know Alex, yes?’ He paused as his eye fell upon the other woman in the quartet. ‘Well, no, I don’t imagine you do.’ He held out a hand. ‘I’m Bob Skinner.’

  ‘This is Cheeky Davis, sir,’ Haddock interposed, ‘my girlfriend.’

  ‘Well done you, Sauce,’ said Skinner as he and the blonde shook hands. ‘You seem to be doing well on all fronts; people have been telling me good things about you lately.’ The DC’s face flushed, partly out of pride that the chief not only knew who he was, but knew his nickname. ‘This lad has potential, Miss Davis,’ he told her.

  She smiled. ‘I’d worked that out for myself,’ she replied, confidently.

  The chief laughed. ‘. . . and don’t you be a patronising old bastard,’ he added.

  It was her turn to go pink. ‘I didn’t mean that,’ she blurted out.

  ‘If you had you’d have been entitled,’ he countered. ‘I’m sorry, I’m still new at this job and I’ve always been lousy at schmoozing. My wife can work a room a lot better than I can. Let me simplify things: what are you lot drinking?’ He signalled to a barman, and ordered, as each one answered, a gin and tonic for Stallings, a Bud for Alex, two pints of IPA for Wilding and Haddock, a Virgin Mary for Cheeky and a bottle of sparkling water for himself. ‘You’re not in the force, Miss Davis,’ he said as he passed her the drink, ‘so what’s your line?’

  ‘I’m on the road to being a chartered accountant,’ she replied. ‘It takes a few years, but I’m getting there. I’ve got my degree, and now I’m doing on-the-job professional training.’

  ‘On the job? That’s a bit close to home for us, Cheeky,’ Wilding chuckled, ‘considering the job we’ve been on for the last couple of days.’

  ‘Ray,’ said Alex slowly, ‘is this something that we really need to know?’

  ‘You do already, don’t you? I heard you had a visit from our boy here on Wednesday.’

  ‘And sent him homeward to think again. Your investigation doesn’t reach into my firm. Let’s not talk about it, Ray, seriously. I still get the creeps when I think about that man Gerulaitis and his wife.’

  The DS nodded, as the light dimmed, then turned electric blue. ‘I forgot that. Sorry, Alex.’

  ‘Gerulaitis?’ Cheeky repeated, her voice rising above the sound of the DJ as he cued in his first play, Santana’s ‘Samba Pa Ti’, ‘Tae get youse up close and personal,’ he announced. ‘Is that the man whose house caught fire?’

  ‘With him in it.’

  ‘Accidents happen,’ Skinner exclaimed. ‘But enough about our shop. Who’re you training with, Cheeky?’

  ‘Nobody you’ve ever heard of,’ she told him. ‘A wee firm called . . .’

  ‘I said, what the fuck is this?’ The bellow cut across her reply, and even across Carlos Santana’s towering guitar. Every head in the room turned to stare across the still-empty dance floor, at the table close to the speakers. A tall man stood with his back to the crowd, his shoulders massive in a green rugby top with a yellow-gold collar. He was leaning forward, aggressively, ignoring the woman with short blond hair who was tugging at his elbow. ‘What are you doing here, Spring? What the fuck is this about, you playing footsie with this fucking old lesbo?’

  For a few seconds the room was a frozen tableau, until Ray Wilding broke the spell. He took a few steps across the floor, but was soon overtaken by Bob Skinner. ‘Hold off,’ the chief said quietly. ‘This is one for me.’ On the other side of the dance floor, McGurk was standing, but he waved him back down.

  He reached Mary Chambers’ table in a few strides, just as her companion rose to her feet, her face so pale that it shone blue under the lights. ‘Are you telling me you’re a fucking pie-muncher too, sis?’ Griff Montell shouted. ‘Wasn’t one in the family enough?’

  ‘Griff,’ Alice Cowan pleaded. ‘Come on, cool it.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Skinner, ‘quiet down, now,’ putting a hand on the raging man’s arm. Montell turned and shoved him, two-handed, square in the chest. He staggered backwards, but only for a pace or two, before reacting by snapping a judo lock on the detective constable’s right wrist, then turning him and twisting his arm round, forcing his hand up towards his shoulder blades. ‘March,’ he whispered in the South African’s ear. ‘We’re out of here now, or I’ll put you in hospital. Mary,’ he said to Chambers, ‘you two start the dancing. Get everyone moving, for fuck’s sake.’

  Montell had no choice but to obey as Skinner pushed him towards a door behind the DJ’s stand. Alice Cowan saw what was happening, and went to open it ahead of them. It led into a small square area, an anteroom for the toilets, on either side. As Cowan closed the door behind him, Skinner released the restraining hold and, as he did so, pushed the South African, driving him hard and face first into the facing wall. ‘Griff,’ he said, as back in the hall a disco mix of Madonna’s ‘Ray of Light’ replaced the great Mexican guitarist, ‘you need to think very carefully about what you do next. You can leave here with a career, or you can leave here under arrest and probably the worse for wear. I don’t want to hurt you in any way, son, but you’ve only got a few seconds to make what’s going to be a lifetime decision.’ He stood, hands by his side but ready to react, watching as the detective constable turned to face him, thankful as the rage began to leave his eyes, and as the tension left his body.

  ‘I’m sorry, sir,’ he said. ‘That was unforgivable. My resignation will be on your desk on Monday.’

  ‘And it’ll go in the shredder. Now, are you going to tell me why you reacted that way?’

  Cowan interrupted. ‘His ex-wife, sir,’ she said. ‘She was AC/DC and he never knew till she left him for another bird.’

  He had not realised that she had joined them. ‘Quiet, please, Alice,’ he ordered. ‘Griff needs to talk to me. In fact, give us a few minutes alone. You get back out there and tell Superintendent Chambers that we’re all fine, then stay by the door and stop anyone coming in here until we’re done.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  He waited until he heard the door close. ‘So that’s your sister partnering Mary,’ he murmured. Montell nodded. ‘And that’s why you blew up?’ Another nod. ‘You felt she was embarrassing you, in front of your colleagues, was that it?’ As the younger man stared at him, Skinner realised that there was far more to it than that. ‘Are you telling me you didn’t know that your sister was gay?’ he asked, unable to hide his surprise.

  ‘Are you telling me you did, sir?’ the DC responded.

  ‘Of course I did; it’s in your vetting report, man. You don’t think I approved your transfer to our CID from South Africa without having you checked out, do you?’

  ‘No, sir, I assumed that would happen. And they knew about her?’

  ‘Yes. So let me get this straight; you and Spring share a hous
e, yet you had no idea, no inkling, of her sexual orientation?’

  Montell shook his head, then took a breath and blew it out. ‘None at all, sir, honest. We have this deal, the two of us: we never bring partners home.’

  ‘Whose idea was that?’

  ‘Now you ask me, it was hers. But I never thought . . .’

  ‘No, you didn’t. Some might say she’s been protecting you from your own prejudice.’ He shook his head. ‘Only you’re not really prejudiced, Griff, are you? I know what you did in South Africa; I know where you worked. I looked at your career in your personnel report, and I didn’t see the faintest sign of a bigot there. OK, you were hurt in a way you found hard to take. Now you’re angry, and you’re bitter. But anger and bitterness can be bad for you, as you’ve just found out.’

  The big detective sighed. ‘There’s something else that’s come back to me,’ he said. ‘Things got pretty acrimonious between my ex and me when we split up, after I found out how she swung. During one of our last discussions she said she fancied my sister more than me. I never read anything into that either. But oh yes, Chief, you’re right. I was angry.’

  ‘That’s why you never told Alex about your marriage, isn’t it?’

  Montell nodded. ‘Maybe she’ll understand now.’

  ‘She’d have understood before, if you’d trusted her enough to tell her, but you were afraid she’d let it slip to me, weren’t you?’

  ‘Just a bit. What a bollocks, eh?’ He looked Skinner in the eye. ‘Where do I go now, Chief? You say I’ve still got a career, but I’ve just committed a public order offence. What happens to me?’

  ‘Officially, nothing. Unofficially . . . you were about two weeks away from making detective sergeant. That has to go on hold for a while, until tonight has gone to the back of people’s minds, and until the force gossip mill has run out of steam. But nobody’s going to get your slot.’

  ‘Thanks, sir. I don’t deserve any of that.’

  Skinner smiled. ‘I’ll grant you that another chief constable might take a different view; but you got my daughter out of a very nasty situation once. I owe you, Griff.’ He paused. ‘Now get the fuck out of here, lad, go on. You know what you’ve got to do; I’ll give you a head start.’

  Montell nodded. He opened the door and stepped back into the hall. The chief constable stayed behind, listening. After around a minute, the music stopped in mid-track, and crackling sounds came through the speakers as a microphone was picked up. ‘Can I have your attention, please?’ a South African voice asked, then waited until the buzz stilled. ‘Most of you here tonight know me,’ it continued. ‘For the rest of you, I’m a complete wanker who’s just proved the fact in the most embarrassing way possible. I’d like to apologise to all of you for chucking cold water all over your evening, and I’d like to pick out three people to express my deepest regret. The first is Alice, who doesn’t deserve to be alongside the likes of me. The second is Mary, Superintendent Chambers, who’s as good a cop as there is in this room, and as good a person too. And the third is my sister, who I’ve just learned has been walking on eggshells around me for years, when in truth she never had to, because I love her above all other considerations, and because whatever she’s for is OK with me. Finally I’d just like to say that I’m going to leave you to enjoy the rest of the night.’ Skinner could hear a few calls of ‘No!’ from the floor, then a few more, until finally they became general. ‘Ah but I have to,’ Montell called out, through the mike. ‘Alice has just told me that she’s never been to the Pompadour Restaurant in the Caley Hotel, and that the only thing that’s going to stop her from taking my balls home in her handbag is if she goes there tonight; that’s assuming they let me in with this shirt on. So we’ll love you all and leave you. Sorry again.’

  The chief constable made a mental note to knock a few weeks off the penitent’s period of purdah, then stepped back out into the hall. Alex was waiting outside the door. She looked him up and down, as if for signs of dishevelment. ‘Did you have to beat that out of him?’ she asked. ‘Pops, he’s twenty years younger than you and bigger. Jack and Ray could have handled him.’

  ‘I doubt if they could, the mood he was in. But even if they had, all they could have done was bounce him, and it would have become a disciplinary thing. As it is, it’s history. Come on, let’s get back to the bar. This is a police do; some bugger will have nicked our drinks.’

  Sauce and his girlfriend, in the middle of a group of dancers, watched them as they skirted the floor. ‘She’s quite a looker, your boss’s daughter,’ Cheeky commented. ‘I reckon she could pull any bloke in here, if she wanted.’

  ‘Not this one.’

  ‘Aw, that’s nice.’ She glanced around the room, looking towards the main door, just as Montell and Cowan were leaving, then laid her head on his chest. ‘I’ve got a confession to make,’ she murmured.

  ‘What’s that?’ he asked, a little anxiously.

  ‘That business has put a bit of a damper on the night for me. I don’t like upsets, Sauce.’

  ‘Then we’ll go somewhere else. What do you fancy?’

  ‘You, big boy. Let’s just go back to yours and take up where we left off the other night.’

  ‘Suits me.’ He frowned. ‘I’ve got a golf tie tomorrow, midday; fancy pulling my trolley?’

  She grinned up at him. ‘That’s the best piece of innuendo I’ve heard in a month of Sundays. I’ll pull anything you like, lover. Come on, let’s head.’

  Alex watched them, over her father’s shoulder, as they headed for the door. ‘She’s a nice kid,’ she remarked, as she raised her Budweiser bottle towards her lips. ‘Young Sauce has done all right for himself.’

  Bob grinned. ‘That takes a bit of getting used to, you know.’

  ‘What does?’

  ‘Hearing you refer to somebody as a kid.’

  ‘Hey, I’m a long way off being the youngest person in this room,’ she pointed out, glancing towards the entrance, just as Sauce and Cheeky made their way out, his arm around her shoulders. And then her expression changed. The laugh left her eyes and the smile left her lips, as her gaze locked on to a man who stood just inside the door. He was in conversation with Ray Wilding, but had the look of someone who wanted to escape. He was around six feet tall, heavy-shouldered, with blond curly hair and green eyes that she knew only too well. ‘Oh fuck,’ she hissed, as he left the detective sergeant and headed in their direction. ‘Just when the night was taking a turn for the better. Pops, I’m out of here.’ Bob stared at her, dumbstruck, as she laid the bottle on the bar and slung her bag over her shoulder.

  ‘What . . .’ he began, as she started to leave . . . only to be forestalled by the newcomer’s arrival.

  ‘I’m sorry, Alex,’ said Andy Martin. ‘I’d no idea you’d be here, but I need to speak to your dad.’

  ‘Sure,’ she snapped. ‘Well, the last thing I need is to be the sandwich filling between you two.’ She glared up at Bob. ‘Did you know he was coming here?’

  Skinner turned to face the new arrival. ‘I promise you I didn’t,’ he said, grimly. ‘You wouldn’t have been here if I had, but neither would he. Who told you about this?’ he demanded.

  ‘A source who will remain nameless,’ Martin replied. ‘But it isn’t exactly a secret, is it? Bob, I’m sorry, but I really do need to talk to you. Since you’re never available when I try your office, I haven’t been left with much option but to waylay you.’

  The chief constable looked him in the eye, as he weighed up the situation. ‘OK,’ he decided. ‘There’s a table in the corner. Let’s go over there before we draw too much attention and you can say what you have to. Alex, this won’t take too long. Hang around and I’ll take you home when we’re done.’

  She shook her head. ‘You take as long as he needs, Pops. Don’t worry about it; I’ll grab a taxi. See you, Andy. How’s the baby, by the way?’ She turned and walked away before he could answer.

  ‘I don’t reckon what’s broken between y
ou will ever be repaired, Andy,’ said her father, looking after her. ‘Nor should it be.’

  ‘I’m not trying,’ Martin told him, as he led the way towards the empty corner table.

  Mary Chambers started towards them as they sat, but a quick look from the chief constable warned her off. ‘So,’ he said, coldly. ‘Why do you need to talk to me? Are you going to tell me who tipped you off that I’d be here, so that I can gut the bastard?’

  ‘First off, thanks for the gift you sent for Robert. I appreciated it.’

  ‘It has fuck all to do with you. It’s for the boy, just as Danielle’s investment bond is all hers. They’re tied up till each of them turn eighteen. Now stop prevaricating; what’s this about?’

  ‘Bob, I’m sorry, heart sorry, about what happened between me and Alex, and the way it all went public.’

  ‘It didn’t go public, remember. My kid doesn’t work for the best law firm in Scotland for nothing. And the guy who took those candid camera snaps is in a place where he can’t try to flog them to anyone else.’

  ‘As well for him,’ the other man said. ‘I’d have fucking killed him myself if I’d found him.’

  ‘You’d have been in a queue. But this has nothing to do with why you’re here. So tell me why the deputy chief constable of Tayside has chosen to by-pass his boss in making contact with me directly. Your opposite number is Brian Mackie, not me.’

  ‘Not any more,’ said Martin, quietly.

  Skinner’s eyebrows rose. ‘You haven’t quit the force, have you?’ ‘No, but I’m on my way out of Tayside. I assume you saw the circular a few days ago, advertising the deputy director post at Serious Crime and Drug Enforcement.’

  ‘Yes. Are you telling me you’ve applied for it?’

  ‘No, I’m telling you I’ve got it. I was approached on Wednesday and told that the job was mine, there and then, if I wanted it. There are new circumstances. Arnie Vardy, the director, is on long-term sick leave; he’s been diagnosed with motor neuron disease, so the Justice Secretary told his department to fill the deputy job fast. They came to me, I said yes. It was effective immediately, so as of Monday I’m acting director general of the agency.’