by Bill Daly
Chibundo looked confused. ‘But a man from the Home Office came to see me. He told me my application had been turned down. He said he could put me in touch with a lawyer who would fight the case on my behalf, but I couldn’t afford him.’
‘We’re aware of that,’ Tony said. ‘That’s why we’re here. The man who came to see you wasn’t from the Home Office. He works for a racketeer.’
Chibundo’s jaw dropped.
‘Did he suggest that you go on the game in order to raise money for the lawyer?’ Charlie asked.
Chibundo blushed as she cuddled her daughter closer to her breast. ‘He set up an appointment for me with a client, but I didn’t go. I couldn’t do it.’
‘We have reason to believe that the man who claimed to be from the Home Office, and the person he works for, are going to come here tomorrow afternoon at three o’clock,’ Tony said. ‘They’re not happy about the fact that you didn’t go to meet the client and they intend to make an example of you – and they intend to resort to violence in order to make their point.’
‘However, there is no need for you to be concerned about that,’ Charlie interjected. ‘We will not allow that to happen.’
‘What do you normally do on Mondays?’ Tony asked.
‘Go to the foodbank,’ Chibundo said. ‘They’re open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.’
‘What time do you go there?’ Tony asked.
‘They open from half-past twelve to half-past two. I usually go round about two o’clock.’
‘I want you to go there tomorrow as soon as they open,’ Charlie said, ‘and make sure you’re back here by two o’clock.’
‘All right.’
‘How many rooms do you have here?’ Tony asked.
‘Just this one – and the bathroom.’
‘Okay if I take a look?’ Tony asked.
‘Yes.’
Tony crossed to the bathroom and stuck his head round the door. ‘It’s a bit tight, sir, but it should be okay.’
‘With your permission,’ Charlie said. ‘We’ll be here tomorrow at two o’clock.’
Gently stroking her daughter’s brow, Chibundo nodded.
Monday 12 September
When Gavin Carter arrived at CID headquarters in Pitt Street, just before ten o’clock, he was shown into an interview room. Charlie and Tony deliberately left him alone with his thoughts for fifteen minutes before going downstairs.
‘Do you know why you’re here Gavin?’ Charlie asked as he lowered himself stiffly down onto the chair on the opposite side of the steel desk.
‘All I know is that O’Sullivan told me I had to be here at ten o’clock.’
‘Can you hazard a guess as to why?’ Tony asked as he took the seat beside Charlie.
Gavin shook his head.
‘Let’s start with The Abbotsford,’ Tony said. ‘The CCTV cameras covering the entrance to the pub don’t show you going in on the night in question. Why do you think that was?’
‘The cameras must’ve missed me.’
‘If that’s the attitude you’re going to take,’ Charlie said with a slow shake of the head, ‘it’s going to be a very long day.’
Gavin sucked hard on his bottom lip.
‘There are CCTV cameras the length of Rose Street,’ Tony said. ‘By some strange coincidence, all of those cameras seem to have missed you as well.’ Gavin gazed sullenly at the floor. ‘But on the other hand,’ Tony continued, ‘you were picked up on camera as you were crossing North Bridge on your way to Whistle Binkies, but not at eleven o’clock as you told us. You were seen there at twenty-past twelve. How do you account for that?’
Gavin didn’t respond.
‘We know you arrived at Waverley Station at twenty-five past seven,’ Charlie said. ‘And we know you were on North Bridge at twenty-past twelve. What I want to know is what you were doing during the intervening five hours.’
‘Perhaps you came back to Glasgow?’ Tony suggested. ‘Perhaps you bumped off Preston, then went back through to Edinburgh in time to team up with your mate?’
‘That’s total crap!’ Gavin’s gaze flicked from Charlie to Tony and back again. ‘I stayed in Edinburgh. I had nothing to do with Preston’s murder. For God’s sake, you’ve got to believe me!’
‘You’re not making that easy,’ Charlie said. ‘Let’s start again. Did you or did you not go to The Abbotsford?’ Gavin slowly shook his head. ‘Were you ever in Rose Street?’ He shook his head again. ‘Where were you?’
‘I.. I can’t tell you.’
‘You mean you won’t tell us?’ Tony said. ‘In which case, a quick trip to Glasgow and back is beginning to look like favourite.’
‘I told you!’ Gavin shouted out. ‘I had nothing to do with Preston’s murder!’
‘You’ve already given us two fictitious accounts of your movements on the night in question,’ Charlie snapped. ‘Either you provide us with evidence that you stayed in Edinburgh or else I’m going to charge you with the murder of John Preston.’
The colour drained from Gavin’s complexion. He kept his gaze fixed firmly on the floor. ‘I was with someone,’ he said quietly.
‘Who were you with?’ Charlie demanded.
‘A woman.’
‘What were you doing?’ Tony asked.
‘For Christ’s sake! What do you think?’
Tony and Charlie exchanged a quick glance.
‘Where were you?’ Tony demanded.
‘At her place.’
‘Where’s that?’
‘She has a flat near the Haymarket.’
‘I need her name,’ Tony said.
Gavin hesitated. ‘It’s Sheila.’
‘I need her full name.’
Gavin hesitated again. ‘She’s married,’ he muttered.
‘It’s not the first time that’s happened,’ Tony said. ‘And I dare say it won’t be the last. What’s her full name?’
Gavin exhaled noisily. ‘Sheila McVey.’
‘Well, well, well,’ Charlie said, smiling. ‘That wouldn’t be the Sheila McVey who owns SHERPA, by any chance?’
Gavin nodded nervously.
‘Do you know her, sir?’ Tony asked.
‘I’ve spoken to the lady on the phone.’
‘Where does she live?’ Tony asked, turning to Gavin.
‘She has a flat in Rothesay Terrace. I don’t know the number. The first time I went through to Edinburgh for an interview she met me at Haymarket Station and she took me there.’ Gavin paused. ‘Will you have to involve her?’ he asked.
‘If you’re going to be relying on her to corroborate your story and avoid a murder charge,’ Charlie said. ‘I think that would be a good idea. Don’t you?’
‘Fucking hell!’ Gavin dragged his fingers through his gelled hair. ‘Her old man’s a jealous bastard. If he finds out about us, he’ll kill us both.’
‘We will be discreet,’ Charlie said reassuringly. ‘As far as we’re concerned, there’s no reason her husband should have to find out what the two of you were up to.’
‘How long have you been seeing her?’ Tony asked.
‘On and off for the past couple of years. Lesley put me in touch with her. She handles the commissions for SHERPA. She told me that she liked what she’d seen of my stuff and she invited me back through to Edinburgh to discuss a possible contract.’
‘I gather she had something else she wanted to discuss, apart from a contract?’ Tony suggested.
‘She’s on her own a lot,’ Gavin said. ‘She’s bored out of her skull. Her old man’s got some high-powered job in an offshore oil company and he spends a lot of time away on business. At least, that’s what he tells Sheila. She’s convinced he’s shagging his secretary. When Sheila knows he’s going to be away overnight, she gets me to come through. She phoned me last Friday and told me to come through on Saturday evening because it was her birthday. She told me I couldn’t stay over because her old man was going to a meeting in Perth and he’d be back at their place around eleven o�
��clock.’
‘How do you explain your trips away to Lesley Adams?’ Tony asked.
‘I make up stories about going to computer conferences and having to stay over, but I didn’t have to do that this time because I knew Stuart was going through to Edinburgh for a gig and I could tag along with him. And I knew I wouldn’t be staying the night because Sheila’s old man was coming home.’
‘Does your friend, Stuart, know what you were up to?’ Tony asked.
‘No way! He’s totally useless at keeping secrets. There’s too much of a risk that he would let something slip in front of Lesley. To make sure he wouldn’t suspect anything, I stayed on the train with him as far as Waverley. When we split up I told him I was going to The Abbotsford to get something to eat.’
‘Did you go straight to Mrs McVey’s flat when you got to Waverley?’ Charlie asked.
‘Yes.’
‘How long did you stay there?’
‘I was only planning to be there for a couple of hours, but her old man called her at nine o’clock to tell her that his business meeting in Perth had overrun and he would have to stay the night.’
‘Saturday’s an odd night to have a late-running business meeting,’
Tony suggested.
‘That’s what Sheila said.’
‘What time did you leave her place?’
‘Just before twelve o’clock.’
‘Was that not cutting it fine?’ Tony asked. ‘If your pal’s gig had run to schedule it would’ve been over by midnight.’
‘Gigs often run late. I phoned Whistle Binkies at half-past ten to find out what time First Tiger would be on. They told me there was no way their slot would start before midnight.’
‘I’ve probably still got Mrs McVey’s mobile number somewhere,’ Charlie said to Gavin, ‘but give it to me again, just in case I can’t lay my hands on it.’
‘Why do you need to talk to her?’ Gavin protested.
‘We could get in touch with her and arrange a suitable time to go and see her,’ Tony said, ‘or else we could drop in unannounced when her hubby might be at home. Which of those do you think she’d prefer?’
Muttering under his breath, Gavin checked his mobile and read out Sheila McVey’s phone number.
‘Of course,’ Tony added, ‘even if Mrs McVey confirms your story, this could turn out to be another red herring.’
‘What are you on about?’
‘You realised you were in deep shit, so perhaps you asked this woman to bail you out? Maybe you’ve got a hold over her?’ Tony suggested. ‘Perhaps you’re blackmailing her? Threatening to spill the beans to her old man about what the two of you have been up to if she doesn’t provide you with an alibi?’
‘That’s absolute pish!’
‘Is it? If your lover is the only person who’s in a position to corroborate your story,’ Tony said, ‘it’s a flimsy alibi at best.’
Gavin gazed at the phone in his hand. ‘There is something else,’ he said hesitantly.
‘What?’ Tony asked.
‘I took a –’ Looking up, he broke off.
‘You took a what?’
‘I took a selfie in her flat.’
‘So what?’
‘The photo will show the location and the time it was taken.’
‘Let me see it,’ Tony said.
Reluctantly, Gavin swiped to a photo in his phone and handed it across. Tony studied the image before handing the phone to Charlie. Two naked people; Gavin, grinning, lying on his back on a double bed, straddled by an attractive woman who looked to be about thirty. She was holding up a glass of champagne and smiling for the camera. The strapline at the top of the photo read: Edinburgh: 3 September : 22h46.
‘So that’s how you chose to mark the anniversary of your brother’s death,’ Charlie said, throwing the phone back to Gavin. ‘Instead of taking a bunch of flowers to his grave like any normal brother would, you cooked up a tissue of lies so you could cheat on your girlfriend who, as far as I can see, is the only person who really cares about you.’
Gavin bit into his bottom lip as he stared at the floor. ‘I loved my wee brother,’ he muttered.
‘Well all I can say,’ Charlie said with a dismissive shake of the head, ‘is that you’ve got a very funny way of showing it.’
CHAPTER 27
Harry Thompson had been parked in his usual spot for half an hour when he saw Chibundo Ikande coming out of the foodbank. Another new girl had come out ten minutes before her. Normally, Harry would have followed the new girl home, but his heart wasn’t in it. He’d thought about calling in sick today, but Jim Colvin would have seen through that. He’d spent most of the morning trying to figure out if there was any way he could get out of doing what he’d been told to do this afternoon. Was there was some way he could warn Chibundo? She seemed like a nice enough girl. Was there any way he could get a message to her, telling her not to be in her flat at three o’clock? Harry shook his head in resignation. At best, all that would achieve would be to delay things until tomorrow – it wouldn’t solve anything. And there was no point in him trying to talk Jim Colvin out of going through with it. When Colvin made up his mind about something, he never changed it.
When Tony O’Sullivan arrived outside Chibundo Ikande’s flat at two o’clock he found Charlie waiting for him. Having dropped off the equipment, Tony drove round the corner and parked his car in a side street before hurrying back to the flat.
By half-past two, Charlie and Tony had completed the installation and tested the sound system. Two hidden microphones, one in the infant’s cot, the other taped to the underside of the kitchen table, both linked to a recording device in the bathroom.
‘As I told you yesterday, Chibundo,’ Charlie said, ‘we expect two men to come here at three o’clock. I want you to let them in. Try to act as naturally as possible – and leave the rest to us. Okay?’
Chibundo nodded nervously.
‘How do you want to play things as far as Gavin’s concerned?’ Tony asked, shifting his position to try to relieve the numbness in his buttocks as he sat perched on the edge of the bath in Chibundo’s cramped bathroom.
Squatting on the toilet seat, Charlie rubbed at his chin. ‘We’ll go through to Edinburgh and have a chat with Mrs McVey.’
‘Do you want me to organise that?’
‘Yes,’ Charlie said. ‘Give her a call this afternoon and, if possible, try to set something up for tomorrow morning. If she’s available, we can go through to Edinburgh by train.’
Charlie checked his watch. ‘It’s quarter past three,’ he complained. ‘Are you sure Bert Tollin said three o’clock?’
‘That’s what he told me and –’
‘Shush!’ Charlie’s command cut Tony off as they heard the ring of the doorbell. Leaning forward, Charlie activated the recording device as Chibundo buzzed to let them in.
‘I wasn’t expecting to see you,’ Chibundo said, sounding puzzled as she opened her door and saw Harry. ‘What do you want?’
‘We need to have a word with you,’ Harry stated.
‘I don’t have time. I’m just about to go out.’
‘Good girl,’ Charlie whispered.
‘You’re not going anywhere, dear.’ Tony recognised Jim Colvin’s voice. ‘Explain to this daft, wee bitch why missing an appointment with one of our clients is a very bad idea, Harry,’ Colvin said, producing a flick knife from his jacket pocket and handing it across.
Harry hesitated as he took the knife. ‘Do we really have to do this, boss? Could we not just slap her around a bit?’
‘For fuck’s sake! Do I have to do everything myself?’ Colvin shouted, his eyes blazing as he snatched the knife back and snapped open the blade. Placing the tip of the knife against Harry’s temple, with one quick movement Colvin swept the blade down as far as his chin. ‘There’s nothing to it!’ he yelled. ‘It’s as simple as that!’
To the accompaniment of Harry’s agonised yelp as he sank to his knees, Colvin turned to face Chi
bundo.
‘You or the wean?’ he snarled, nodding in the direction of the cot. ‘Who’s it going to be first?’ Twirling the bloodied blade, he jabbed at the air in front of Chibundo’s face.
Colvin spun round when Charlie and Tony burst into the room.
The Jacobite Arms was quiet when Tony O’Sullivan walked into the pub at six o’clock.
Seeing Tony arrive, the landlord acknowledged his presence with a wave.
‘I don’t know how many times I’ve told my customers that your lot are a bunch of useless wankers,’ he said, polishing a pint tumbler on a grubby tea towel as Tony walked up to the bar. ‘But I take it all back,’ he said, stretching up to put the tumbler into the overhead rack. ‘It seems that, just occasionally, you can be useful wankers.’
‘What brought about the sudden change of heart?’
‘Good news travels fast. The word is that Jim Colvin’s going to be out of circulation for quite some time, which means his dole-day lending customers are now dole-day spending customers.’
‘We’ll need all the help we can get in order to secure a conviction,’ Tony said. ‘Do you think some of your customers might be prepared to testify against him?’
The landlord chortled. ‘Because they’re willing to splash out a bit of cash, it doesn’t mean they’re prepared to commit suicide.’
‘How about you?’
‘You tried that one on before,’ he said with a grin. ‘The answer’s the same. But I’m more than happy to show my gratitude. How about your usual – on the house? Which, if I remember correctly, is a soda water and lime?’
‘Thanks,’ Tony said. ‘With a lump of ice.’
‘We arrest Colvin at quarter past three,’ Tony said, ‘and by six o’clock everyone in The Jacobite Arms knows he’s in custody. How do they do it?’
‘They say that good news travels fast,’ Charlie said, swinging his feet up onto his desk. ‘Did you get anywhere with the landlord?’
‘The good news is that I got a soda water and lime on the house,’ Tony said.
‘Don’t forget to include that in your tax return.’
‘But the bad news is that there’s no way he, or anyone else, is prepared to testify against Colvin.’
‘That’s hardly a surprise,’ Charlie said. ‘Any news on the extent of Harry Thomson’s injuries?’
