“Yes, and?”
“It’s still active. It’s still on. And the phone’s been moving. It’s not stationary.”
“Where is it now?”
“The phone company is going to give us the last location in about five minutes time. Anderson is in the Incident Room. He’s asked if you can join him? It looks like we might’ve just had our first break. It could be the killer has forgotten to dump the phone or take out the battery. As soon as we get a fix on the location, the Sergeant is going to dispatch a helicopter for surveillance and get some uniforms to the location. With luck, if we play our cards right, we’ll get the bastard who did all this!”
Chapter 34
Monday
The Figgate Park
17.15
McKenzie emerged from the underground chambers into the daylight of the Figgate Park and sucked in lungfuls of clean fresh air. Never before had air smelt so wonderful.
His phone buzzed.
“Guv, we’ve got the latest location. I’ve passed it to the squad cars and the helicopters. They’re on the way… They’re tracking the mobile signal in real time now. At the moment it’s stationary… ”
“I’m coming. Be there in a sec.” McKenzie replied and hung up.
Just then McKenzie could hear the sound of a helicopter. It was getting louder.
Looking round, scanning the sky he couldn’t see it, but he could definitely hear it.
Scrambling as quickly as possible out of their forensics suits, they headed towards McKenzie’s car which he’d parked a few hundred metres down the road before he’d found the entrance to the park and the concrete building Galbraith had described to him.
They were just nearing the car when the helicopter flew over ahead. Jumping in, he fumbled with the key in the ignition then sped off down the road to the junction and turned left towards the main road on which the old school sat.
As he headed up the road and neared the lights, he slowed down and started to turn left onto the main road.
The helicopter was very loud, almost directly overhead now. Brown opened the window and strained to look out and up.
“Bizarre… it’s very close.” She commented.
McKenzie’s phone buzzed again. It was Anderson.
“The phones on the move. It’s quite fast. It must be in a car. But, it’s really strange… it seems to be very close to… ”
Flashing blue lights suddenly lit up the inside of McKenzie’s car.
Brown and McKenzie both spun round in their seats to see a police car rapidly approaching them from behind, and almost at the same moment, another car shot up the road past the old school and swerved across the front of McKenzie’s car, blocking his way forward.
Two policemen immediately jumped out of the car and ran across to them. Behind them the other squad car drove up fast and stopped threateningly close to their tail end, blocking any rear escape. Another two police officers jumped out, one of who was now brandishing a gun.
Above them, the helicopter swooped down lower, and hovered directly overhead.
“What the hell’s happening?” McKenzie shouted, smashing his fist on the steering wheel.
“Stay in your car. Keep your hands where I can see them!” one of the approaching police officers on the road was shouting at them.
McKenzie wound his window down and thrust his hands out as instructed.
The police officers were now surrounding his car, with one of them, gun levelled straight at McKenzie’s face, only a metre away.
“Sir, slowly, please step out of your car and put your hands on the roof.”
“Officer, I am Detective Inspector McKenzie. It’s my team that called you out!”
Unable to hear McKenzie yell because of the helicopter, the officer waved his weapon again and reissued the command.
McKenzie swore aloud and then stepped out of the car, as instructed.
“Slowly… ”
“I’m Detective Inspector… ”
“Remain silent… ”
McKenzie felt powerful hands grab his, wrap them behind his back, and handcuff him. Across the top of the car, he could see Brown going through the same experience.
“We have the suspects!” McKenzie heard the policeman shout into his radio, before beginning to spin him around so that his back was against his car.
For a second, there was a look of momentary confusion on the young uniformed police officer’s face.
“I know you. I’ve seen you… ”
“Before? Yes, I’d hope so. I’m Detective Chief Inspector Campbell McKenzie. And the other person you’ve just handcuffed is Detective Inspector Elaine Brown. Good job, officer. Well done!”
-------------------------
Monday
The corner of Duddingston Road and Mountcastle Drive South
17.30
The look of confusion on the young policeman’s face was priceless.
It compared only with the same look on McKenzie’s and Brown’s faces.
“Just exactly what is going on?” McKenzie demanded. “And call that helicopter off. It’s too close.”
“Sorry, sir, but we’ve been ordered to chase down the person in a car who’s carrying a mobile. It’s a moving target. You’re the only car on the road just now. We just assumed… I mean… ”
Anderson rounded the corner, running from the school, and appeared by the young PC’s side, his Airwave phone in his hand.
“It’s okay, officer. You’ve done fine. There’s something funny going on here though.” He held up his airwave and brandished it in the air. “The latest message from the people tracking the phone is that it’s here. Exactly here.”
“How’s that possible?”
“It was stationary, and from the map reference they just sent me, that was just round the corner beside the Figgate Park. Then it started to move… and now it’s here.” Anderson explained. “Basically, Guv, either you’re carrying it, or it’s in the car.”
They all turned to look at the car.
“Are you going to unlock us or are you actually arresting me?” McKenzie asked the young officer, but with a smile on his face to diffuse the tension.
The officer jumped to it, and within seconds McKenzie and Brown were both free.
“I’ll check the inside of the car. Elaine, you check the back. And Murray, could you please give me ten?”, McKenzie joked, pointing at the ground, and making it obvious that he wanted the Sergeant to drop to the floor and check the underside of the vehicle.
It only took a few minutes to find the answer to the mystery.
“Got it!” shouted Anderson from just underneath the front of the car. Standing back up, he held out a small plastic box. It was attached to the underside of the engine, stuck on with a powerful magnet. “Looks military.”
Anderson opened the box and held it out for everyone to see: it was a mobile phone.
McKenzie swore, turned and hit the roof of his car.
-------------------------
Monday
The base of the Sir Walter Scott Monument
Edinburgh City Centre
17.45
Stuart Nisbet stood at the bottom of the Sir Walter Scott Monument, scanning the crowds of tourists who passed him by.
He was looking for one person.
Someone, who in an incredibly short period of time, had turned his world upside down.
Marie McDonald.
Stuart was a powerful man. If he wished to flex his financial muscle, he would be one of the most powerful men in the United Kingdom. He was a complex man. Capable of manipulating others, controlling them, persuading them. He knew how people worked. What made them tick.
Yet, in the past forty-eight hours, something amazing yet incredibly dangerous had happened.
He’d fallen in love.
It made him feel weak.
But at the same time it was totally exhilarating.
Standing there, waiting for Marie, was more exciting than anything he’d done in
years. Just waiting. Doing nothing, but straining every nerve in his body.
Would she come? Or not?
Once, several years ago, he’d had to wait in a room in Dubai with a telephone, sitting by the phone, staring at it, waiting for it to ring.
At the time, if it rang, it would have been because a deal worth almost £100m was going to go through. If it didn’t he was going to lose tens of millions.
Sitting in the room back then, he didn’t know which way the deal was going to go.
He’d thrived on that feeling back then, both hating it and loving it at the same time.
But the feeling now was far worse. He couldn’t believe how nervous he was.
Would she show? Or not?
In Dubai, although the call had come in late, the phone had rung.
He’d become even richer.
Now, standing in Edinburgh all those years later, he looked at his watch.
The big hand was almost at six, the little hand…
“I have two seconds left. It’s five… fifty-eight!”
Stuart looked up and laughed. He was smiling.
Maggie kissed him then, slowly and passionately, even better than she had promised.
When they stopped, Stuart knew that in those few seconds he had become richer than ever before.
“So,… Mr Stuart Nisbet. Where are you taking me for dinner? I’m starving.” Marie declared.
“The Witchery, just beside the Castle. I can’t think of any place more suitable, given that you have totally bewitched me and seemingly cast a spell over me.” Stuart replied.
“Seemingly? Only seemingly?” she cocked her head to one side and raised an eyebrow.
“Definitely. Not seemingly. You Marie McDonald have definitely done something to me that I can’t yet figure out. Most definitely. And in return, I would like to do something to you… ”
And before she could object, Stuart had wrapped his arm around her, dipped her theatrically and kissed her passionately.
“I’ve been wanting to do that all day. I’ve thought of very little else. Apologies. Normal service will now be resumed.” He joked, mocking an apology.
“Oh, that’s a shame. I quite liked that! But perhaps if I can get you to drink a little too much over dinner, maybe you’ll do it again.”
“Is that a command, or an invitation?”
“A command.”
Stuart laughed.
“I am but your humble servant.”
Sticking his arm out, he offered her his elbow. “We’d better go. Our table is for 6.15 a.m., and we shouldn’t really be late.”
They started walking.
“How on earth did you manage to book a table at the Witchery at such small notice? I’ve never been there before, but I know it’s one of the best restaurants in Scotland.”
Stuart smiled, resisting the temptation to admit, quite simply, that he’d recently bought it.
Instead he tapped his nose with his forefinger and raised an eyebrow.
“That, my dear, is for me to know, and you to be impressed by. Please.”
She laughed. “I am impressed. But, I should warn you that tonight I have brought a list of questions with me, and we’re not leaving the restaurant until you’ve started giving me some answers. I must admit I do quite like this ‘international man of mystery’ persona you’re exuding, but I’ve only got a few days left in Edinburgh, and I would like to learn more about you.”
“Why spoil the little time we have left then? There’s nothing special about me at all. I’d rather talk about Marie McDonald.”
Marie stopped, took a pace forward and turned to face Stuart.
“I’m actually serious, Stuart. I don’t know anything about you. I’ll be honest. I’m interested in you. And I want to know who you are.”
As if to prove her sincerity, she kissed him.
Stuart responded, then when she pulled back, he nodded.
“You win. If we have time, you ask. I’ll answer.”
They started walking again, and then he added, quietly. “But only ten questions. I have about a hundred questions I have to want to ask you too. And there’s something very important I want to tell you. Something very exciting indeed, Miss Marie McDonald. Just don’t forget to ask me what it is, after you’ve asked me your first question.”
“Why the first question?”
“Because after I tell you what it is, you’ll forget completely to ask me the other nine.”
Just then, Stuart’s phone rang.
He pulled it out of his pocket, and looked at the display.
It was an important call.
Potentially worth millions of pounds.
“Anything important?” Mare asked, seeing the look on his face.
Stuart smiled, hit the button on the side that switched it off, and replaced the phone in his pocket.
“No,” he replied. “It might have been important before, but now it’s not important at all.”
-------------------------
Monday
Operation Blue Building
Incident Room
18.30
The full team had assembled in the portacabin, including the night shift led by Mather, who had been called in early.
McKenzie stood in front of them, his face looking haggard and drawn. Everyone could see the strain the case was beginning to put on him, and everyone else too. They were all tired, and most of them had missed lunch. Again.
There was also a new face present.
“Before we start, I’d like to welcome PC Dania Jordon. She is our new Office Manager. Over the next few days she’s going to become the most important person here. From now on, we do everything by the book. The leads and actions are piling up and we can’t afford to miss one thing. I’m instructing her to be on all our backs, including mine. Report to her twice a day, or more. As soon as you complete an outstanding action. When you completed one action, go to her and she’ll assign you another. If it’s the middle of the night and you can’t get hold of her, update the incident log yourself but make sure she knows about it first thing the next day.”
“I’ve ordered in Pizza. It’ll be arriving in thirty minutes. This is going to a long session, so apologies in advance, but we’ve got a lot to cover. A lot has happened, and I don’t want to leave here until everyone has updated us on their actions, and everyone has contributed to the team with new ideas, no matter how stupid they may seem.”
“I’ll give you a full report on all my activities in a moment, but before we start, I just want to frame the seriousness of this. We’ve had another threat. A phone message directly targeted at us, picked up on Mark McRae’s answering machine when we visited his home: - “You’ve found three, now expect four!” In other words, unless we can find the killer or killers soon, we’re going to be dealing with another death in the imminent future. The killer used the word ‘expect’ so I don’t think it’s happened yet. But this is just another example of the killer being one step ahead of us. Whoever it is, is playing with us. It has to stop. I’ve spoken to DCI Wilkinson and given her a full update. Tomorrow she will finally be assigning us a Criminal Psychologist to start profiling the killer and their motives and hopefully help predict their moves and actions, and to help catch him. A bit late, but it’s better late than never. Oh, and last thing for now on the phone message – I’ve asked Murray to work with the phone companies and our forensics department to try and do as much analysis on the message and the voice as possible. Can we get a voice print from the message? Was that real laughter that we heard on the call, or something tagged on, or recorded from something else? Is there anything in the message that can tell us about the killer?”
“Okay, now, I’m going to go first because there’re a few things I need to tell you about, then we’ll go through the existing action register and get updates from you all. Agreed?”
Everyone agreed.
McKenzie then spent the next thirty minutes explaining what he’d been involved in and wha
t had happened recently. Not everyone had heard all the details yet, and there were a few gasps and choice swear words openly exchanged in the room as some of the details were revealed.
In quick succession he covered off everything, including his visit to Mark McRae’s house, the threatening phone message, the mobile phone number he’d retrieved, the discovery of the book called ‘Remember Me?’ which he’d subsequently retrieved from both Blake and Weir’s house, his conversation with Gary Bruce, the discovery of the tunnel and their investigation of it, and the incident with McRae’s phone being found attached to the underside of his own car.
Actions were given out left right and centre, and for the first time they were all recorded professionally by PC Jordon.
The team all engaged, throwing their suggestions into the mix and expressing opinions and ideas, many of which were recorded on a new ideas board that had been brought into the room.
When the pizza arrived, they took a small break, but it was consumed so quickly they carried on only ten minutes later.
Several big themed questions arose.
‘How did the killer seem to know where McKenzie was all the time, and how did he manage to stay one step ahead of the team?’
‘With ‘Remember Me?’ being the message scrawled on at least two of the victim’s foreheads, and also the title of the book found at their houses, what was the connection?’
‘Who were the victims meant to be remembering? Did they know the killer?’
McLeish had a good question: ‘Who was the message meant for, the victim or those investigating their deaths?’
‘Who might be next?’
And the biggest of all: ‘who knew about the tunnel and would have access to it?’
McKenzie parked some of the questions for later, making sure that they first had reports in from everyone. He wanted everyone to have the same common solid foundations based on everything they knew, before building fresh ideas and planning what came next.
First up from the team was Anderson. He’d got back the analysis on the call records from the three phones belonging to the deceased. The last call records for Weir and Blake were from the area of their homes. They’d discussed this at the last meeting, but there were no new conclusions to be drawn. The actions on those two phones were now closed. The discussion on McRae’s phone was more interesting. It had gone dead last Wednesday evening, but then suddenly become active again while McKenzie was in McRae’s house, just outside his house. The presumption was that the phone had been dismantled when McRae was kidnapped, the phone and SIM having been taken out, and the phone being kept in a metal Faraday cage somewhere. Then it was suddenly resurrected just outside of McRae’s house at the time McKenzie had visited. As later discovered, it had been attached to McKenzie’s car. The whole affair showed expertise on behalf of the murderer – he obviously had knowledge that phones could be tracked even when they were switched off, and the battery possibly removed - and had taken precautions. It also showed, as Anderson declared quite angrily, that the murderer was quite blatantly ‘taking the piss out’ out of them all.
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