Windsor Place

by Russell Robertson

  It was an easy choice for Alex. “Glass of champagne would be in order.”

  Alex and Harry always enjoyed drinking in The Foresters. The staff were friendly, the beer and food were good and the decor and ambience were more than passable. Guess that’s why it had become the most popular pub in Portobello.

  “Harry, can I ask you a question?”

  “You’re going to anyway.”

  “Skye is a very attractive and pleasant person and you look great together. I’m just wondering if this is all happening too quickly. Curtis and I don’t want to see you getting hurt.”

  “Thanks for your concern. I can honestly say I have never felt more in love or at ease with anyone other than Skye. I feel we are made for each other. I know that sounds like a cliché, but it’s true. She makes me happy. I miss her something terrible when she’s not around and she makes me laugh. And it is not on the rebound. What more can A guy ask for?”

  “I’m glad to hear that. We just wanted to make sure you were doing the right thing. Obviously, you are. That makes us happy.”

  “I better go and get you that drink now, eh?”

  Alex felt content as she watched him wander over to the bar.

  She had known Harry for only a short time but he had impressed her with his honesty, his calmness in tough times and he was most definitely a people person. She had observed him in both personal and business situations and was pleased that they had crossed paths and as a mentor he was a great example to her and many others

  “What are you going to do, career-wise?” Harry asked as he returned and sat down.

  “Oh, I think I might take a short holiday, pluck my identity out of the bag, get rid of the emotional overcoat and play some golf with Curtis. Then think about where were heading in the future. I love my job. It’s the people I work with who cause me grief.”

  “Can I ask you Alex, are you homesick for England?”

  “No, not at all. I love Edinburgh; best move I ever made. In what other modern city can you virtually walk anywhere? Look at a stunning twelfth century castle from wherever you are in the city. Have the most varied weather in Europe and host the best festival in the world every year? Besides it’s a great challenge learning a new language.

  “Gotta go now. Promised to meet Curtis at the Sheep Heid for a drink. Would you like to join us?”

  “Thanks, but I’ll take a rain-check on that. I think I’ll have a coffee here and make a couple of phone calls before heading home.”

  Harry gave her a wry smile. He was going to miss her and Curtis. They were good people.

  Harry made his calls and was just about to get up and leave when he was gently pushed back down into the chair.

  “My name is Reid, Brian Reid. Don’t panic. I’m only here to pass on a message.”

  Harry looked up to see a tall well-dressed man smiling at him. “Do you mind if I take a seat?” he asked at the same time as he sat down.

  “Sorry. I don’t think I know you.”

  “Probably not, but I will only take a couple of minutes of your time and if you have a problem with that, then the two gorillas over by the door might be asked to help.”

  “What do you want?”

  He threw down a small brown envelope onto the table. “I want you to give this to Tony Kidd when you see him next.”

  “What makes you think I know how to contact him?”

  “Harry, we know you know where he is and all we ask is you deliver it to him.”

  “Then tell me what’s in the envelope?”

  “Shall we say a small donation for his drug rehabilitation, courtesy of our Chinese friends.”

  “I see. Payment for the attempt on the life of Alf Hunter from a dying man with nothing to lose. Very clever. Only my understanding is that your type only pay when the target is terminated.”

  “Shall we say on this occasion, half the fee for half the job. Would have been one hundred thousand if the target had died but the result effectively puts him out of business and for that, half the amount is good value.”

  “Were not interested in you or Tony. Just deliver the envelope and by the way, thank you for stopping your investigation and returning to Australia. You could say it saved your life.”

  Harry said nothing, nodded his head, put the envelope in his pocket and got up and left, brushing past the two giants at the door.

  Chapter 80

  Harry, Alex and Blair had gathered in the apartment for their final meeting. Alex had suggested she not inform them of the official view of the police until after they had listened to Harry’s summary. The group were okay with that.

  As an investigative journalist, Harry found it easy to summarise the events to date and lay out his assumption to his friends as they settled into their positions in the CAOS room. “I think that there is no doubt that Alf Hunter ordered the deaths of Carole Hunter, myself and Reginald Buchanan. The Mason brothers were contracted to carry out the hits but stuffed up at Windsor Place by arriving early and taking out the daughters. Lucky for me.

  “Dolly Dyson was still involved as the go-between for Alf Hunter and the Dean brothers.

  “It is possible that Nugget Reid was working together with Carole to topple her husband and planned the prison riot on the instructions of the Chinese.

  “Bryson Kidd was promised money for his son via the Chinese as a reward for his attempt to kill Alf Hunter. Kidd was dying of cancer and had nothing to lose.

  “The Chinese then disposed of the Mason brothers, sanctioned Nugget as their new man in Scotland and slipped back to China in their ‘official’ role as executives of the drone company. All very legitimate and business like.

  “The mystery around the coded text messages are unproven but were likely to have been the instructions to carry out the contracts from within the prison walls.

  “You remember the call I took at one of our meetings from Joltz? Well his full name is Joltz Lazar an old friend I met years ago when I was in London. He was involved in code breaking behind the old Iron Curtain in Hungary. Now works in MI5. I filled him in on the case and asked him to look at the code about the Masons.

  “Well, his take on the code is as follows;

  ‘Go shop at M&S is a reference to hire the Mason brothers. M for Mago and S for Stewie.

  ‘Bring in the Stones for drainage.” Again, Stones being the code for Masons.

  ‘Bury all seeds in one location,’ was the code to take out the targets at the Windsor Place location.

  The final message ‘seeds buried in the garden,’ was the coded message that the contract was complete and the targets had been taken care of.’

  “An ingenious coded system put into place by Alf Hunter to dispatch his orders and baffle the authorities. However, he didn’t count on a very cunning and ambitious solicitor half-breaking the code.

  “All conjecture but probably close to the truth, although it would need a good lawyer to prove that in a court of law.

  “And finally, I have no doubt that Cropley is the mole and one would have to question whether he will get to retirement unscathed.

  “It is all merely speculation. That being the case, we need to ensure that any information or leads we have or get in the future find their way to the new team on the case.”

  Blair had arrived at the same conclusion. “All sounds plausible to me. The only question I still have is what information do we pass on to the police if at all any?”

  Alex responded. “It is my view that if we decide to pass on any information it should be anonymously. That way none of us leave ourselves exposed.”

  “I agree,” Harry said. “We could channel any information through Raffles. He would love to take the kudos and we can trust him.”

  Alex then proceeded to reveal the assumptions of the police from yesterday’s final briefing. There were differences in the views of the police to theirs, but both were absent of any convictions or evidence of guilt.

  “I think our conclusions are closer to the truth. Perhaps
that will be the outcome when the cases are finally resolved. I just hope it is in our lifetime.”

  This was the end of an era. But not good friendships, they would continue.

  Whilst sad that they didn’t succeed in solving the crimes, they were upbeat about their lives going forward. Inwardly they all knew that they would get together some time soon.

  Alex asked her friends, “Did you notice the headlines in The Scotsman this morning?”

  Harry replied. “Don’t have time to read the papers these days.”

  Blair ignored the question.

  “It was nice to see a good feel story on the front page. Two brothers from East Lothian won one million quid between them and both have young families.”

  “Good luck to them, I hope they don’t waste it. The beggars will be swooping like flies to shit.”

  “I don’t think they will, they were smart enough to remain anonymous.”

  “Good on them,” Harry said.

  Tomorrow night’s party at Alex’s house was going to be emotional for all of them. However it was a chance to not only say thank you to everyone who had helped them but also relax and do a bit of socialising. Something none of them had done much of in the last few months.

  Chapter 81

  The final media conference was a low-key affair with only a couple of B-grade reporters in attendance. The others had moved on to the breaking story of the three missing teenage girls last seen in a pub on Saturday evening in the tourist area of the Royal Mile. The city was buzzing with all sorts of rumours. None of them had any substance.

  The superintendent had introduced the new team taking over the Hunter and Buchanan cases but the real interest was on the release of the names of the dead prisoners from last week’s prison riot.

  “We can confirm the death of five prisoners in the prison riot in Saughton.

  “They were Billy and Kenny White, Stanley Kerr, Murphy Brown and Bryson Kidd.

  “Their next of kin have been informed. We would ask you to respect them and leave them to grieve.”

  “Anyone been charged?” Raffles asked.

  “Not at this stage. We are still in the middle of our investigation.”

  “What about Alf Hunter?” One of the other reporters asked, with pen poised to take notes.

  “Alf Hunter was stabbed in the neck narrowly missing the main vein. He will survive and today was discharged from hospital and returned to prison.”

  “Have you identified who stabbed him?” The same reporter asked.

  “Yes, Bryson Kidd; one of the deceased just mentioned was responsible.”

  “What was the motive?”

  “That has not been confirmed at this point, but we have reason to believe it could have been an argument over drugs.”

  There were no further questions. The reporters had what they came for and rushed off to report to their editors. Unfortunately, this would not be front page news due to the disappearance of the three teenage girls.

  Chapter 82

  It was an unusually mild January evening, so Alex and Curtis decided to hold the going away party for Harry and Skye in the backyard. A barbecue would be fitting before the happy couple left for Australia. There would be a mix of police, friends, family and business associates attending. That pointed to an interesting evening, to say the least.

  Curtis had hired and erected a large marquee in case it rained and Alex had organised caterers.

  It was around seven p.m. when the first guests started arriving. Neighbours were always the first to arrive at any party followed by a steady stream of the couples. Singles were generally the last to arrive.

  Sam Cropley was the first of the workmates to arrive and noticeably under the weather already. Curtis quickly introduced the havering idiot to some of the neighbours then started mingling amongst the other guests himself.

  He would have to say that a couple of root canal treatments without any anaesthetic would be much preferred to spending time socialising with Sam Cropley when he was intoxicated.

  Harry and Skye arrived half an hour later.

  The caterers moved into action with perfect timing. Food was a great handbrake to the police drinking culture.

  Jim and Moira Scully finished their party sausage rolls before interrupting a conversation between an unknown male and the stars of the evening.

  “Hi, Harry. How’s things?”

  Harry and Skye welcomed the interruption. “Couldn’t be better.”

  The conversation flowed and the stranger got the message and sidled away towards a group of loud guests mingling around the barbecue.

  “You know, Harry, moving away from all this shite is the best thing you guys can do. A new start with a beautiful lady. What more can you ask?”

  “Not much, Jim. But if you could find out who killed Carole and her daughters that would make me feel much better.”

  “I will give it my best shot.”

  At that point, Blair had stepped up to the microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen and those who work in the Scottish Police Force.”

  His opening line was greeted with a howl of laughter.

  “I think there would be many people here tonight who would love to swap roles with Harry and Skye and escape from the lovely Scottish weather for sub-tropical Brisbane. Considering what Harry has gone through lately I don’t think anyone would envy them that. Harry and I, as most of you will know, have been good friends for a long time and I couldn’t wish for a better one.

  “We go way back to our school days at Towerbank Primary and I can honestly say that we have never had a cross word in all that time. Harry is loved by all his peers. He is gentle, unfortunately good looking and has a heart of gold. I can sense from all the people here tonight that they share those sentiments.

  “Skye, you have made one of the best choices in your life. You won’t regret it. My only regret in our friendship over the years was not buying him the early edition of Divorce for Dummies. But looking at his new partner I doubt very much if he will need it now. Skye summed him up beautifully the other day when she said. ‘I know, love and trust him.’

  “Cut the crap and get to the point, some of us have to go to church tomorrow morning,” someone yelled from the back of the crowd that sounded awfully like Sam Cropley.

  Blair ignored the interruption. “In a couple of days, this lovely couple will be relaxing on a sun-drenched beach and we’ll all be dodging the persistent rain in the middle of a bleak and dreary winter. I wonder who got the best deal. Anyway, I ask you to raise your glasses and toast a lovely couple, their wonderful future and best wishes to life in the Colonies.”

  Harry and Skye were emotionally drained after saying all their goodbyes. As the last of the guests departed they stayed back for a coffee with Alex, Curtis and Blair before ordering a taxi to go home. They talked briefly about the case and Harry thanked them for all their help. He also extended an invitation that if they ever decided to move to Australia, then he would have no problem in sponsoring them. He could do that as an Australian citizen. They all thanked him and said they would keep that in mind.

  Tears welled in Alex’s eyes as she gave them a hug and watched them climb into the car. Curtis held her hand, he could sense that she was sad. Sad at the thought that she may not see a long-time friend for years. Blair hugged Skye and Harry before disappearing back inside.

  It had been a fabulous evening and they had no regrets about their decision to leave all their family and friends. Australia was the right decision for Harry and Skye.

  Chapter 83

  The country air in Haddington was obviously doing Tony the world of good. He looked ten years younger, cleaner and happier. He had now been off the drugs for two months thanks to the help from his girlfriend and her family.

  “Tony, on my last visit to your father he asked me to give you this envelope should something happen to him. He also requested that you don’t ask where the money contained in the envelope came from and to be rest assured that it was legit.”r />
  “Thank you, Harry. Dad said that you were a true friend and that I could trust you no matter what happened.”

  “That’s nice to know. I had the greatest respect for your father, even though he bent the rules sometimes. He was always a trusted friend of mine. One thing I can assure you of Tony, your father always wanted the best for you.”

  Harry knew that the envelope contained fifty thousand pounds. Courtesy of the Chinese connection for his father carrying out the contract on Alf Hunter.

  This should allow him to move forward in life and that made Harry happy. Alf Hunter may well have survived the attack but it had finished him in the drug dealer’s eyes.

  “Harry, I know my father would have wanted you to attend his funeral and so would I.”

  Christ, three funerals in as many weeks, he was thinking they’ll have to rename the well-known movie “Four Funerals and a Wedding.”

  “No problem Tony. I’ll be there.”

  “I hear that you are going back to Australia to live.”

  “Yes, and you never know, maybe one day you might come over and visit us?”

  Harry gave him a hug and said his goodbyes. He hoped that he would spend the money building a new life and not waste it on drugs. He had a gut feeling that Tony would carry out his father’s wishes.

  He had now taken care of everything that he had set out to do except follow-up on the birth certificate extract of his mother he had uncovered a few days ago. He had some unfinished business there, but it would have to wait until he revisited Edinburgh on his next holiday from Australia.

  Chapter 84

  “You know, it troubles me to think that you will be lying around soaking up the sun on some deserted beach in Brisbane while I’m breathing in the polluted air in some dreich and mingin pub in Portobello or Leith and being accosted by some local bampot.” Announced the best journalist in Edinburgh.