The inspector's smile widened. 'Not quite, boss; she's not up to that yet, but she's well on the mend. Her temper's healed up faster than her arm, thank the Lord.'
'When does she expect to be back at work?' Andy Martin asked: a shade brusquely, the DCC thought.
'All being well, the hospital said, she can go back on light duties office only, no driving — in a couple of weeks. She'll start physio then and with that, in another month or so she'll be back to normal.'
'How the hell's she going to get to Haddington if she can't drive?'
'Couldn't she work in St Leonard's for a while, sir?' asked McGuire.
'Yeah, I suppose she could,' the Head ofCID conceded. 'I'll speak to Brian about it. He'll be glad to have her back anywhere; his division's clear-up rate has gone down in her absence.'
'As long as you don't expect it to shoot up when she goes back, Andy,' said Skinner. 'Now, gentlemen, to the reason for this meeting.'
He glanced at Mcllhenney, who was seated on his right. 'Neil knows this story already, but I brought him along anyway because I want him involved.'
He gave a thin smile. 'I'll bet that ever since Michael Hawkins was taken off the active list, you boys have been laughing up your sleeves about the economic conference. What a Christmas present, eh?
Something this size and no CID or SB involvement.' He gave a quick, wicked smile.
'Well, tough luck, colleagues. You might have known it was too good to be true.'
'Great,' McGuire muttered, as Mcllhenney grinned at him. 'What's coming now?'
'You can guess, I'm sure,' the DCC retorted. 'Now that the South African's failed his pilot's test, the people in London have had a rethink on security. They've decided that in the absence of a specific threat, they do not want Edinburgh to look like a fortress to the world's television viewers.
'So they have stood down the Ministry of Defence security team and have thrown the ball back to us.'
'What does that mean?' asked Martin.
'Frankly, Andy, it means a rucking nightmare. Under the original plan, the soldiers would have done the lot. Now, the intention is that each Head of State will be accompanied by his own normal protection people, under normal conditions. We will be responsible for liaising with them all, checking all booked accommodation before they arrive, accrediting them, and devising and issuing some form of discreetly visible identifying badge so that every officer in that hall knows who's meant to be armed and who isn't.'
'But that's crazy, sir,' McGuire protested. 'They're all going to be carrying?'
'That's how it will be. The Americans always insist that their Secret Service carry arms; they won't come otherwise. And if they do, the Russians must, and if they must, the Germans… and so on. So the decision is that everyone can bring their toys if they want, just as long as they're declared to us.
'We'll be responsible now for the whole vetting operation, including the journalist accreditation. The Foreign Office will pass us all the names of everyone who applies to cover the conference, and we'll have to run PNC checks on them all, before they're issued with their badges by the FO Press Office people.
'Oh aye, and, just in case that isn't enough for you, they've added a bit of extra spin… as they say.' He paused. 'With an eye to the elections to the Scottish Parliament, the Government has decided that the conference will be opened by an address from the potential First Minister, in other words, Dr Bruce Anderson, the Secretary of State for Scotland.
'Mario, you'll be responsible for looking after him, reporting both to me and to Sir John Govan.'
Martin frowned. 'Where the hell will we get the manpower?'
'From everywhere,' said Skinner. 'I want you to oversee the whole operation. You and your team will become an expanded Special Branch, if you want to look at it that way, merging with Mario and his people. Neil will work with you, too.
'If you find that you're struggling, let me know. Jock's said that he'll lend us people from Strathclyde if we need them, but I'm proud enough of our force to want to do without that.'
He paused. 'The word proud reminds me. The Chief had his official medical this afternoon. I'm enormously pleased to tell you that he'll be back at work as of next Monday morning.'
'Aw, that's great,' exclaimed Mcllhenney, spontaneously, as Martin and McGuire both smiled with pleasure at the news.
'Now, like Maggie, he'll be on light duties only, initially. He's been told that it's mornings only for the first month, and I'll make damn sure he sticks to that. But still — he's looking great, and it'll be a relief to have him here even on that limited basis. It will also allow me to play a proper part in the conference policing… I'll be there most of the time, in overall command.'
Skinner pushed his chair back from the table. 'The Foreign Office is sending us, by close of play today, a full list of contacts in each country attending the shindig. I'll have Neil circulate it as soon as it arrives. Until then, Andy and Mario, you'd better call your troops together for an initial briefing.'
He stood, and the others followed. McGuire and Mcllhenney headed for the door at once, but the DCC held back.
'Here Andy,' he asked, failing to sound casual, 'have you seen our kid lately?'
Martin nodded. 'We went to a movie on Saturday night, then for a meal.' He chose not to add that they had spent the night at his flat.
'How was she?'
'She was okay. In fact, she was better than that.' He paused, gnawing self-consciously at his bottom lip; a strange gesture for him, Skinner thought. 'Just lately Bob, it's got so that she and I couldn't sit down together without a fight starting. We had a big bamey, oh, more than two weeks ago now, in a restaurant, and we sort of stayed away from each other for a while just to let it cool off.
'It seems to have worked, for when we met on Saturday, she was great. Back to her old self; bubbly, full of chat, and looking like two million dollars. Almost hyper, you'd have said. I guess she was right to move out; it seems to have done the trick for us.'
He glanced towards the window, smiling to himself at the memory of Saturday night and Sunday morning. Skinner looked at him, in turn, frowning slightly. 'That's good,' he said. 'That's good. I'm glad to hear it. I only asked about her because she hasn't been in touch for a bit. She was out when I called her at her temporary digs last night, and I don't like phoning the office.
'Listen, if you hear from her before I do, ask her to give me a ring.
I've got something to tell her.' He paused. 'Sarah's expecting again.'
As Martin turned. Skinner realised that it was the first time he had seen him smile from the heart in all of three months. 'Bob, that's great. When did you find this out?'
'Just yesterday, for certain.'
'When's she due?'
'Months yet. Next May, she reckons.'
'A girl this time?'
'Sarah wants that, I know.' He let out a laugh that was half growl.
'As for me, I know how much bother daughters can be. Don't we just, pal.'
55
Bob Skinner enjoyed the drive back to Gullane. In the relatively short period during which he and Sarah had made their main home in Edinburgh, he had missed the wind-down time which it afforded him, the opportunity to return to his family freed from the tensions of an invariably fraught day at the office.
A Seal CD was playing in the car, as he turned off the roundabout at the foot of the Milton Link, and headed past the hypermarket, out towards East Lothian. A light rain was falling, but nothing to make the road conditions hazardous, or to lessen his pleasure as he reflected upon the success of the Police Board meeting, and most of all, anticipated the pending return of the Chief Constable to the office.