by Val Penny
Colin ignored Lizard; he wasn't going anywhere. He took a moment to look at Bear in his rear view mirror. He saw Bear leaned out of his window looking puzzled: it was clear that he could not work out what Tim was trying to accomplish. Colin saw Bear frown and his lips move. Colin got out of his car to speak to him.
“What the hell is Tim doing?” Bear asked Colin.
“If he's not very careful, I think he is going to get killed,” Colin muttered.
“Not on my fucking watch, he’s not!” With a primeval roar Bear launched himself out of the car, with the keys in his hand. He looked back and flicked the doors locked. Did he see Heinrich Reinbold wink at him?
Bear reached the driver’s side of Saleh's car in four strides and hauled the terrified little man onto the pavement.
“Don't even think about running over my friend!” he shouted in Saleh's face. “He’s worth ten of you. Probably more since you got your mum's trust fund, right, Tim?”
“Possibly. Thanks Bear. What took you so long?” Tim grinned.
“I couldn’t work out what you were doing or why. Then I saw The Lizard make a break from Colin. What's going on? Shouldn’t the boss and Mel be dealing with Mr Saleh right now?”
Colin came round to join Tim and Bear. He had dragged The Lizard up off the pavement by the scruff of the neck.
“We’ll tell you all about it at the station, Bear. Meantime, can you get Mr Saleh’s car off to the side of the road and make sure Mr Reinbold makes it safely to the station? Tim, you and I will drive with Mr Saleh and Lenny The Lizard. I’m afraid you’ll be in the back of the car with them.”
“My great pleasure,” Tim said. “Put the childproof locks on, will you, Colin?”
Chapter Forty
Jamie and Frankie went to visit Ian Thomson together. It was Sunday afternoon and it gave Ian a chance to see his little great-nieces. He was very fond of Kylie-Ann and Dannii-Ann, and proud of the way Frankie and Jamie were coping with them together.
Jamie strolled in and sat down, while Frankie manoeuvred the girls to a table. When Frankie sat down, with a daughter on each knee, he bounced them up and down and smiled proudly at his uncle.
Jamie went to get three coffees from the machine and set them on the table. He liked seeing his pop. Visiting him in prison wasn’t perfect, but at least Pop was never late.
“You’re all looking good, and those darling wee girls are growing fast,” Ian said.
“Aye, we’re okay.” Jamie replied.
“And I hear you’re on the side of truth and justice now, working with Sir Peter’s lad?”
“Not really, Pop. Just to get that old bastard Blair taken down a peg or two. He was due that after the rotten job he did for you when you got banged up.” Jamie had never forgiven Donald Blair for failing to keep his father out of jail for a bank robbery almost three years earlier.
“Yeh, he wasn’t great for me, but I think he deserved his comeuppance more for bowing to Mansoor’s demands and bringing coke in here. That’s a dirty business.”
“I suppose. Did you hear they worked out who Bill was?”
“Aye. Smart bastard. Too clever for his own good, Mansoor. They’ll throw away the key this time. I believe his courier, Akram, and Mansoor’s brother-in-law, Saleh, are coming here on remand. A real family gathering we'll have here. I just hope they all get the message and stop using my fucking showroom as part of their drug route. It was such a shame about wee Jenny. Have they told you how she died?”
“Aye. She suffocated in the boot of the car and got so much cocaine dust into her lungs that she went unconscious and never woke up. I just don’t know who or why.”
“That’s probably just as well. I don’t want you on any vigilante effort for that poor lassie. She was a bright girl, Jenny.”
“I liked her. I’ll miss her,” Jamie said.
“I know, son. I still miss yer mam, even if she is doing the dirty with The Lizard in Spain. He’ll be on his way back to her now his own mam is buried.”
“Doubt it. Cops took him in with some European guy. Haven’t seen him since.”
“You know The Lizard, he’ll be in it up to his neck and still come out of it all smelling of roses,” Ian Thomson winked at his son.
“I don't think so this time,” Jamie said. He decided to change the subject. “Any word about your parole, Pop?”
“Not yet, but I should be due a hearing in the next month or so. Fingers crossed it goes well.”
“I think we’ll need a new house if you’re coming back, Uncle Ian,” Frankie said. “We’ll need another bedroom.”
Ian grinned. “You and Jamie can share. It’ll be fine.”
Luckily Jamie and Frankie’s response was drowned out by a loud bell sounding the end of the visit. They left the visiting room bickering, the way they had ever since they were kids.
***
Jamie and Frankie decided to go home via the pub. They were pleased the girls were both asleep in their buggy, and it seemed a good idea to take some time out for themselves. As they entered the bar, Frankie took a seat in the family area while Jamie went to the bar to order their pints and risk getting them back to their table, despite the stooky on his arm.
Frankie heard a toff at the other end of the bar speaking to a pretty lady.
“I’ve got a new guy starting in the business, Cameron his name is. I think he'll be useful. I’ve put him up in the Frederick Street flat as he has nowhere to stay.”
People always commented on Frankie and his twins, so he wasn’t surprised when the toff went on.
“Look, Sophie, those little babies are almost as pretty as the kids we would have.”
“That’s a lot of pressure,” the lady replied. “We’ve only been dating a few weeks, Lucky.”
“Almost as pretty?” Jamie said, as he turned from the bar with the pints carefully cradled in his arms. “There’s nae weans in the world bonnier than they babies, so watch your tongue, man, or you’ll find it sliced and in a sandwich.”
“Don’t you speak to me like that, my man. Don’t you know who I am?”
“I don’t know: I don’t care,” Jamie said.
“He’s Lord Lucky Buchanan,” the pretty lady said.
“I said, I don’t care. Do I look like I do?” Jamie demanded gruffly He put the beers gently down on the toff’s table.
“Jamie, no!” Frankie called firmly.
Jamie’s demeanour changed. “No hard feelings.” He smiled, took the toff’s hand in both of his and shook it quickly, then he seemed to slap the man’s side and touch the man’s left arm lightly in camaraderie before he picked up the drinks and wandered back to Frankie and the girls. Jamie smiled as the toff sat down and began to chat up his bird again. Jamie was amused. The posh boy obviously hadn't noticed that Jamie had lifted his expensive watch and wallet full of cash and cards. He was glad to see that he hadn't lost the touch.
On their way out of the bar, Jamie tossed the valuables on to the toff’s table. The look of horror on the man’s face was priceless.
“You don’t know who I am either, chum. You should be more careful.” Jamie winked at the shocked couple as he held the door open for Frankie and the girls.
“Why did you even do that, Jamie?” Frankie asked.
“Just for a laugh. There's not enough laughter, especially at the expense of folks like that self-satisfied arse.”
Frankie nodded and they wandered the rest of the way home in silence.
Chapter Forty-One
Hunter sat on a table in the incident room with a large mug of freshly-brewed coffee in his hand. He knew he would get more information from the suspects if they were anxious, so keeping them waiting was in his favour. They had all asked to have a lawyer present, so he couldn’t do anything until the duty lawyer got there. Hunter was glad it was the tall, silver-haired, polite Andrew Barley, not one of the young guns still trying to cut their teeth and get a reputation. Barley and Hunter were well known to each other.
The
lawyer had been in his profession for over forty years, and always made things easier with his good nature and self-effacing wit. Although Hunter never forgot the lawyer's sharp intellect. Nobody knew why Barley left his name on the roll of duty lawyers, but he would be busy because of that today.
“Boss, would you mind if I got myself over to the hospital?” Bear asked “I have to see Mel for myself.”
“Of course, Bear. Off you go. Take all the time you need.”
“Thanks, Boss. I don't suppose I can have five minutes alone with Saleh before I leave?”
“Correct. You can't. Now go and see to your lady.”
Hunter watched Bear leave and was then pulled back into the present by Tim. “What order do you want us to see them in, Boss?” the DC asked.
“We've got Squires out of the way on remand. He broke Jamie’s arm and threatened him and Frankie, but that’s all we’ve got on him. We can’t bang him up for being a big, fat, ugly lump.”
“Thank God for that,” Tim joked.
“You’re not fat,” Hunter smiled.
“Thanks very much, I think. Who next, Boss?”
“Probably Saleh,” Hunter said.
The phone rang and Hunter picked it up.
“We’re on, Barley’s here,” he said. “Colin, you and Nadia write up the formal charges on Squires. I can’t see him getting bail as he’s a flight risk and likely to bugger off back to Spain. I’ll get Saleh brought up from the cells. Tim, you’re with me.”
***
“Mr Saleh, you have had time to confer with your legal representative and are aware that this interview will be recorded both aurally and visually,” Hunter said, after he had introduced those in the room for the benefit of the recording devices.
“Mr Saleh, you are Arjun Mansoor’s brother-in-law. I believe his wife is your sister?” Hunter said.
“Correct,” Saleh agreed.
“Today you assaulted a police woman in the line of her duty, and fled from the scene of the crime. I witnessed that incident, and you are charged separately with that.”
“My client tells me that was an accident and he would like to apologise,” Barley said softly.
“It was no accident, Mr Barley, and his apology is not accepted. But today we are here to take your client’s statement about other matters. Mr Saleh, you arranged to collect an old blue Volvo car from Edinburgh Airport for Mr Mansoor and take it to the garage area at Thomson’s Top Cars.”
“Correct.”
“Why did you choose Thomson’s Top Cars?
“Everybody knew where it is. No other secret reason.” Saleh looked like a sulky child as he spoke.
“Everybody?” Hunter asked.
“My client means it is a well-known establishment,” Barley interrupted.
“Sure he does. Can he tell me himself what he means please, Mr Barley?” Hunter turned back to Saleh. “What reason did you give to the mechanic at Thomson’s for leaving it there?”
“He was told it needed a service before it was to be sold.”
“Was that true?”
“It probably did need a service. The car was about nine or ten years old.”
“Can you tell me why the car was really there?”
“It was to be collected by a contact of Arjun’s who was doing a little piece of business for him. The car was payment for that job.”
“So it was never to be sold. It must have been one hell of a job,” Hunter exclaimed. “The car had been reported as stolen from Folkestone, and there were ten kilos of cocaine in the boot.”
“I have no knowledge of that. I only know the car was to be his reward.”
“Don't take me for a fool, man! A ten-year-old car wouldn't be much of a reward for anybody! Of course you knew about the drugs. The car was left at Edinburgh Airport by Hadi Akram. You had to check Akram had delivered the full amount of cocaine before the poor, sad mule went back to Paris to get another load of coke for Donald Blair that Mansoor could sell in the prison.”
“My client says he knew nothing about the content of the boot. He had been told the car was to be exchanged for the work,” Barley said.
“What was the piece of work, Mr Saleh?”
“I do not know. I was never told.”
“Who was the contact, then?”
“I had no need to know that. I just had to move the car from the airport to its collection point.”
Hunter lowered his voice but not his gaze. “But you do know who the contact was, don’t you? You are the boss now Arjun is off the streets.”
“I say the truth.”
“You wouldn’t know the truth if it bit you on the bum, Saleh,” Hunter sneered. “You’re asking me to believe that you did not know the job was to murder George Reinbold? Give me a break.”
“DI Hunter, my client is co-operating. Kindly remain courteous,” Barley insisted.
“Mr Saleh, we have evidence that you are running the business for your brother-in-law, Arjun Mansoor. You are Hadi Akram’s handler. You required him to steal a car and take it to Calais to collect his first supply of cocaine. You told him to take it to Thomson’s Top Cars, but he got another job for Mansoor, direct from Donald Blair this time, didn't he? That was why you had to change your plans. Akram dropped the car at Edinburgh Airport and picked up the plane ticket to Amsterdam that Blair gave him.”
“No. Blair has no authority to instruct such actions. That would not happen. And I did no murder.”
“And yet Blair did instruct such actions. I have a hospital report on Mr Akram. From this, I know that when the man came back to Edinburgh, by air this time, he was full of pellets of cocaine. So full, in fact, that he nearly died. Was that for Blair to take to Arjun and supply the jail? Akram said it was.” Hunter paused and glared at Saleh.
“You know, Mr Saleh, when I spoke to Mr Akram, I met him on his hospital bed. He made it very clear that he doesn't want to be charged with a murder he didn’t commit, and so he told me a great deal about your business. How close am I to the truth, Mr Saleh?” Hunter smiled.
“And that is your evidence? The word of Akram, a hopeless junkie who was stuck in The Jungle of Calais for years and is desperate to get into Britain, by any means? That is what you’ve got? You are a disgrace for a detective, man.”
“Who was meant to collect the car from Thomson’s, Mr Saleh?”
“Mansoor’s man. I don’t know the name.”
“I think you do. Would you recognise a picture of him?” Hunter spread pictures of Lenny The Lizard, Squires, Heinrich Reinbold and Max Merkel on the table.
Saleh did not speak, but he looked at one of the photos for much longer than the others.
Gotcha! Hunter thought.
“Who did collect the Volvo from Thomson’s, Mr Saleh?”
“I was not there, I could not know.”
“But you have learned who went for a test drive with the young receptionist? She was not meant to die, was she? She was never part of the deal. She died while the car was on fire, breathing in the cocaine in the boot of that car. Your cocaine. That must make you very angry.”
“I did no murder.”
“Who took the car from Thomson’s, Mr Saleh?”
Saleh stared at another photo. Then he looked at Hunter.
“Thank you,” Hunter said picking up the four photos.
“I said nothing,” Kasim Saleh said.
“Book him, Tim.”
***
While Andrew Barley was talking to Heinrich Reinbold, Hunter and Tim took a chance to go up to the incident room. They met Nadia as she went in carrying biscuits.
“Your turn to fetch the biscuits again, Nadia?” Tim teased as he took one from her hand.
Nadia just smiled.
“Boss, I'm going to step outside to try and call Bear,” Tim said.
Hunter nodded and walked away to get a coffee from his own office.
***
“Any joy?” Colin asked as Tim walked back into the incident room.
�
�No. His phone's switched off. I left a message saying we were all thinking of Mel.”
“That's good, Tim. I’ve just heard from Cameron,” Hunter said.
“Great! And is he in Shetland with your daughter, Alison?”
“No. He met a fellow in rehab. He’s been offered a job with place to stay, in Frederick Street no less: that’s why he checked out early. He sounds so happy. Says it was too good an opportunity to pass up. Job comes with a flat and a car. But somehow I don’t like it. I can’t put my finger on it; I just don’t like it.”
“Is the job with someone on your radar, boss?”
“No. Goes by the name of Lucky,”
“Lucky Buchanan?”
“I think that’s what he said. You know him?”
“Yes, and you know of him too, boss. Lucky Lord Lachlan Buchanan. I’ve known him since our school days, I was at Merchiston Castle School, while he was at Fettes College. We had debates against each other, rugby, saw each other at parties. I’ve really not seen him much since school days. But he’s dating Sophie Dalmore.”
“Your Sophie?” Colin asked.
“Not any more, she’s not,” Tim frowned. “Lucky inherited the family fortune and title when his father died suddenly a couple of years ago. ”
“Yes, come to think of it I read about it in the papers at the time. You like him?” Hunter asked.
“No. I don’t trust him either. I certainly wouldn’t accept a favour from him, far less a job.”
“Great, that’s all I bloody need. I just hope Lucky has changed since he came into his inheritance and keeps Cameron out of trouble.”
“I hope so too, Boss.”
“I do want it to work out for my boy. Just this once.”
Tim didn’t comment. As he looked up, he noticed Colin and Nadia were huddled over a computer screen.
“Did you know Heinrich Reinbold was a competition marksman, sir?” Nadia asked Hunter.
“No, how do you know this?”
“Well, Colin had a bout of curiosity, brought on by lack of biscuits. He looked him up on Google while you and Tim were downstairs and I went for supplies. Here he is.”
Hunter leaned over the screen. “Interesting. So he was a member of the German Olympic Men’s Shooting Team, and competed in the 25-metre pistol shooting competition?”
