Designer Crime

by Allen Whitehead

'Do ye have an architect called Joe works for ye?'

  'I'm afraid he's out of the office at the moment. Can someone else help? Who should I say is calling?'

  'Nah, I don't want to talk speak to anyone else. Have you got an address for him – that Joe?'

  'No, no, I'm sorry. I'm not able to give personal details about members of the staff, over the phone, without their permission.'

  'Well, fuck you then, hen,' said the caller, hanging up.

  'Delightful,' said Alison, surprised and puzzled. She put down the handset, then called over to Liz who was passing on her way to the lower studio. 'Liz, I've just had a fellow on the phone asking for Joe. He sounded a bit of a rough customer, and he was asking for Joe's home address. I wouldn't give it to him, so he just swore at me and hung up!'

  'You did the right thing, Ali' said Liz. 'I'll have a word with Paul about it. We might be able to call Joe on his mobile and find out if he knows who it could have been. The last time he was in Caithness, though, he didn't get a very good signal on his mobile.'

  * * *

  Liz and Neil left the office together, chatting as they hurried to the small yard where they parked their cars.

  It had been raining all afternoon and they had to avoid the many puddles in the uneven cobbles of the street. Antonelli had been sheltering from the rain across the road, standing in a doorway. He was pretending to be talking on his mobile phone. He put the phone in his pocket and followed close behind. He watched them get into their cars and drive off, and he made a mental note that there was still another car remaining in the yard. He hunched his shoulders, walked back along the road and stepped back into the doorway. Three more people came out of the gate, but all turned left heading towards the city centre.

  Two minutes later, Bob Weston, one of the architectural students came out. He put up an umbrella and headed along the road towards the car park, so Antonelli quickly followed and caught up with him, just before he reached the yard.

  'Excuse me,' he said smiling. 'Do you work for CAT Architects?'

  'Yeah?'

  'Does an architect called Joe work with you there?'

  'Joe Sutherland?'

  'That's the guy. I'd forgotten his surname. Is he still in the office?'

  'Nah. I've not seen him at all today.'

  'Does he still live in Polwarth?'

  'Don't think so. I thought he and Sam had a flat in Ashley Terrace.'

  'Must have moved then … I'll maybe catch up with him another time. Thanks for your help.'

  'No bother. Who should I say was asking for him?'

  'Tony. Tony Johnston. Cheers, man.'

  He turned and set off in the opposite direction, reaching into his pocket for his mobile phone.

  'Shane, it's Mario. We've got him. There can't be too many Joe Sutherlands living in Ashley Terrace.

  * * *

  Neil called at the supermarket, for food supplies, before heading back to his flat. He lifted the carrier bags off the back seat of his car, and walked along the path to his front door. He stopped and was fumbling for his keys when a small figure joined him.

  'It's Neil isn't it?'

  'Ana?'

  'Yah. I gotta have word with you.'

  He looked around him. 'You'd better come in.'

  They went inside and he quickly shut the door, latching the security chain. The girl's hair and her suede coat were soaked and, even though her face was wet from the rain, it was clear from her eyes that she had been crying.

  'Ana, what is it?'

  'I just come from the hospital. Maddie's in a bad way. They hurt her bad – the fucking bastards!'

  'Who hurt her? What happened?'

  'When she didn't come to see me today, I went to look for her. Someone said she been found in the street all cut up, an' an ambulance took her to the hospital.'

  'Oh, hell!'

  'I find her but she was unconscious. The nurses give her something, I think. She not wake up 'till this afternoon, an' she tell me it was fucking M&M's guys, but she daren't tell the cops.'

  'But why would they do that?'

  'They want to find out who she buy coke for.'

  'Shit!'

  'She say she lie to them but they not believe her. They beat her up an' slash her face.' Ana burst into floods of tears. 'She not want to tell them,' she sobbed, 'but they make her. She say it was Joe ... they make her tell them!'

  'Oh, Christ! I'll have to warn Joe that they're looking for him. He's not here just now, either. It's probably as well. He's gone up to Caithness. I only hope Sam's gone with him as well.'

  * * *

  Samantha had only just sat herself down when the bell rang on the answer-phone. With difficulty, she pushed herself up from the sofa, and reached for the handset.

  'Hello?'

  'Is that Joe Sutherland's flat?'

  'He lives here, yeah.'

  'I've got a delivery for him.'

  'Okay, you'd better come on up, then,' she said, pressing the release on the door lock.

  She heard heavy footsteps in the stairwell, and Antonelli appeared. He had nothing in his hands.

  'What's the delivery?' she asked.

  Instead of replying, he pushed past her and went into the flat.

  'Hey!' she shouted turning after him.

  She didn't see Doig coming up the steps. He shoved her in the back, pushing her though the door, and kicked it shut. Antonelli had disappeared and had begun searching the other rooms.

  'We're looking for Joe,' Doig snarled.

  Sam was a small woman, the top of her head barely reaching his shoulder, but “back-off” was not part of her vocabulary, and she had taught classes in self-defence to other women for several years.

  She took a step towards him, her chin jutting out. 'My Joe?' she asked

  Doig recoiled slightly with an amused sneer on his thin lips. But as she closed, Sam suddenly brought her knee up fast and it crunched into his groin. The grin left his face as he bent forward, grunting in agony. Stepping to the side she whipped her elbow explosively into the side of his head, and he fell to his knees.

  Finding the other rooms empty, Antonelli returned and he raced to help his partner.

  'You fucking little bitch!'

  He came up on her from behind and threw his arms around her, almost lifting her off her feet. She snapped her head backwards into his jaw, raked the heel of her shoe down his shin bone and, as he gasped in pain, stamped hard on his instep.

  'Aagh! … You fucker!'

  Sam turned, pushed aside his flailing arm and lunged forward, her rigid flat hand smashing him in the eye.

  He screamed in pain. 'She's put my fucking eye out!'

  She hadn't seen Doig get up, but suddenly felt an agonizing pain shoot though her spine as he thumped her hard in the kidneys, and she collapsed on to the floor.

  'Bitch. Fucking little wildcat bitch,' he shouted and kicked her.

  A neighbour had heard the disturbance and she shouted, 'Leave her alone, you brutes. I've called the police! They're on their way!'

  In a frenzy, Doig continued kicking and stamping on Sam, as she tried to curl up and protect herself. Antonelli, one hand over his eye, climbed to his feet. He reached out and dragged him off.

  'Shane, he's not here – we're gonna have to go. Leave her now!'

  They pushed past an old woman, who was standing on the landing, and stumbled down the stairs. The distant sound of a police car could be heard in Slateford Road, approaching from the city centre.

  A trembling voice called after them, 'I've seen you, you brutes. I've seen you!'

  * * *

  As he crossed the bridge over the canal, Neil saw the flashing lights of the ambulance and police car. He turned right and parked his car beside Harrison Park, then got out and hurried around the corner where he joined the small crowd of onlookers. They watched as the ambulance crew carried Samantha down the steps on a stretcher and lifted her into the back of the ambulance. A paramedic leaned over her.

 
'What's happened?' Neil asked the man beside him.

  'Someone's beaten up the young woman.'

  'Aye, an' she was pregnant an' all,' added a woman in a headscarf. 'Poor wee soul!'

  'Did anyone see who did it?'

  'I think the old woman talking to the cops, over there, might have. She's the one who dialled 999.'

  The ambulance drove off and the people on the pavement slowly began to disperse.

  Neil walked back to his car and phoned Liz. 'Liz, Someone's just attacked Sam and she's just been taken to the hospital. I need to contact Joe and let him know what's happened. I've tried his mobile phone but it's switched off.'

  'What? Oh, Lord no! ... Poor Sam. I hope she's going to be okay … Joe's with his folks up in Caithness. I thought she'd have gone there with him … You ... you'll need to call him on a land line though, 'cos they get a really poor mobile signal up there. He did call the office and speak to Paul this morning, though, so they've got a phone on the croft … You could try directory enquiries – surname Sutherland in a place called Burness ... Have you got any idea where they've taken Sam?'

  'No. Probably the nearest Accident and Emergency.'

  'I'll find out and I'll go and see how she is.'

  * * *

  Chapter 15 December

  Three hundred miles north of Edinburgh, peat was burning brightly in the hearth. Jim had insisted on getting out of bed and was sitting in his armchair wrapped in a blanket. His eyes were bright and he was enjoying being the centre of attention. Joe sat opposite him, Jock Shearer on a chair beside the small dining table, while Maggie kept getting up to make tea, bring biscuits and fruit cake, and generally fuss around her man.

  Jim had also wanted to offer Jock and Joe a glass of whisky, but his wife had turned a deaf ear to the request, knowing too well that he would have wanted to join them.

  When the phone rang, Maggie picked it up. 'Hello ... Yes ... Joe's here. Who shall I say? … Aye, right.' She held her hand over the mouthpiece. 'Joe, lad, it's a fella from your office – says it's Neil.'

  'Okay, I'll speak to him, Mum.'

  He took the handset and walked out into the tiny hallway. 'Hi, Neil. What's up?'

  'Joe …. I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you. Sam's been hurt and she's been taken to hospital.'

  'What! ... How! ... Why, what's happened?'

  'She got beaten up, Joe – I think it was M&M's men.'

  'Why? ... How?'

  'If it's who I think it was, they were looking for you, Joe. Ana came round to my place, all upset. She came to tell me that Madalina's also been badly hurt. They tortured her, 'cos they were wanting to know who she bought cocaine for. In the end, she gave them your name – she was forced to tell them!'

  'Oh, Christ!'

  'And earlier today, Alison told Liz that someone was on the phone trying to get your home address. She wouldn't give it to him, but I reckon they've got hold of it somehow and they went round to your flat.'

  'What have they done to Sam?' Joe asked in an anguished voice.

  'I don't know, yet, Joe. I was hoping that she'd gone up to Caithness with you, but I went straight round to your place to make sure. I saw the paramedics loading her into the ambulance. It didn't look good.'

  Joe was breathing heavily, his mind racing, fearing the worst. 'I'm coming back down. Which hospital have they taken her to?'

  'I don't know yet. Liz is going to find out and let me know. If I hear anything more, I'll call you straight away.'

  'You do that. I'll be on the road, and mobile coverage up here is crap, so if you can't get through, Neil, leave a message and I'll pick it up when I can.'

  He hung up, and walked back into the Living Room looking dazed.

  'Whatever's the matter, Joe lad?' Maggie asked 'Was it bad news?'

  'The worst, Mum. Neil tells me that Sam's been hurt and is in hospital.'

  'What? Has there been in an accident?'

  'No. It seems that someone attacked her ... I don't know any details, though.'

  'But who'd attack a wee lass?' asked Jim, looking horrified, 'and her carrying a bairn too!'

  'She's gonna be heartbroken if anything's happened to the baby,' said Joe softly. 'Look, I know I said that I'd stay on for a few days, but I can't stay now. I'm going to have to go back – I ... I'm sorry Dad.'

  'Of course you must go to her, lad. Don't you worry about me – I'm fine. You go and look after your wee girl.'

  Joe quickly gathered together his few clothes and possessions, and in less than half an hour he was in his car heading back to Edinburgh, with a grim expression on his face and a sinking feeling in his stomach.

  * * *

  The car sped south. The roads were wet but there was no rain and little wind and so, apart from having to stop once for fuel, Joe managed to cover the three hundred miles in just over six hours. Days later, Joe tried to recall the journey, but couldn't remember anything about it – he had been so preoccupied with his own thoughts. Neil sent a text message to say that Sam had been taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, so Joe headed straight there, arriving just after half past two in the morning.

  At reception, he was told that she'd had an emergency operation, but she was now out of the theatre and had been taken to an intensive care ward. He hurried along the broad corridors with his heart thumping in his chest. It was still busy despite the time of night. He discovered that she was in a room off a maternity ward, and went to speak to the charge nurse who was standing at a desk.

  'Samantha McKay. She was brought in earlier this evening. They tell me she's had an operation. How's she doing?... What can you tell me about her condition?'

  The nurse was a pleasant woman of around thirty five. She had plump, rosy cheeks, rectangular frameless spectacles, and her salt and pepper hair was cut square with a straight fringe.

  She nodded and pointed to a small interview room. 'Come and sit down. Can I get you a cup of tea or anything?'

  'No – I'm not thirsty. I just want you to tell me how she is.'

  'I understand your concern. Can you tell me your name?'

  'Joe – I'm Joe Sutherland ... Sam's my partner.'

  The nurse nodded and, taking his arm, led him into the room and closed the door.

  'She's had a bad time of it, Joe. There were quite a lot of injuries – three broken ribs and her collarbone. Her elbow was also fractured, and for a while it was suspected that her skull might also have a fracture, but fortunately that wasn't the case. There may be some damage to her internal organs as well – the doctors are concerned about her kidneys and spleen, but we're not able to confirm the situation there at the moment – until we've done some more tests.'

  'Will she be okay, though? Is she still in danger?'

  'She's in intensive care for the time being, but the prognosis is good. She's strong – a fighter.'

  'What about the baby she was carrying?'

  'Yes ... well ... I'm afraid there were injuries there as well, Joe. The surgeon had to induce a premature delivery. He was hoping that we'd be able to save the child in intensive care, but sadly she was no longer alive.'

  'She? It was a baby girl?'

  The nurse nodded.

  'Oh Christ!' he said in dismay. 'Sam'll be heartbroken. She was convinced it was going to be a girl. She'd even chosen her name – Josie.'

  'She's very ill herself, Joe. She's going to need all the support you can give her.'

  'I know ... can I see her now?'

  The nurse nodded and led the way through the ward to a single room. Sam was sedated and connected to several monitors and an intravenous drip. She looked extremely small and vulnerable. There was a broad bandage around her head and scuffs and scratches to her face, which was swollen with patches of discolouration. He didn't try to disturb her, but sat and held her hand throughout what was left of the night. He was starting to doze himself when another nurse came in. She said that she needed to do some tests on Sam, so he went to get a cup of coffee and wake himself up.
/>   When he returned, Sam was awake. She looked up at him through half-closed eyelids.

  'Hi, love. How are you feeling? ... I've been so worried about you.'

  Her bottom lip trembled. 'I've ... I've lost our baby, Joe.' She began to sob and tears trickled down her cheeks.

  'I know, love. They told me. It's you I care about most, though. We'll be able to have another baby – one day.'

  'I've lost Josie. I'll never have another girl ... I know it,' she cried, and Joe couldn't find any words to comfort her.

  He put his face next to hers and stroked her cheek while she wept silently.

  * * *

  During the course of the next week, two female police officers came, on three occasions, to take statements from Sam and Joe. Sam said that she had no idea who the men were who had attacked her, or why. She told the officers that it must have been a case of mistaken identity, and Joe said the same. The officers had exchanged glances that suggested that they didn't believe them, but said nothing. The sergeant said they had got a good description of the men, from the elderly neighbour who had phoned 999, and the details had been circulated throughout the force.

  Neil said that Joe could stay with him in his flat, in case M&M were keeping a watch in Ashley Terrace, and he was grateful to accept the offer. The older man was also a good listener, and it was helpful for Joe to be able to talk things through with him. He did go back to the flat once, in the middle of the night, to make sure that everything was safe and, while he was there, he filled two holdalls with clothes for Sam and himself.

  Fraser called him twice on Neil's phone but didn't visit. He said that he thought it would be best if everyone kept apart until the dust had settled.

  As it turned out, the precautions were unnecessary. Frank Mannion had been furious with Doig and Antonelli, for the way that they had acted, and Jimmy McNeil told them, in no uncertain terms, to get out of the area until their own injuries, in particular the damage to Antonelli's eye, had received treatment. He told them he'd let them know when things had cooled down and they could return to the city.

  Liz visited Sam in the hospital and, on her second visit, brought her flowers, make-up and a pretty nightgown, as well as some small gifts including perfume.