‘Any chance of that?’ Skinner asked.
‘Not much. He was born in Drumchapel, and there’s no’ too many signs up there of a rich benefactor sending pound notes home to the poor folk!’
Skinner laughed. ‘So your informant’s tale, that Shun Lee was belted because he and Ho stole some candy from the big boys, is thrown into doubt because Ho could have been one of the big boys himself, and had the stuff on him as a matter of business.’
‘That’s the idea.’
‘Has Ho said anything?’
‘Not a dicky bird, and he won’t. It’s quite a cushy life being banged up in solitary in Peterhead, compared with the rest of the place. Especially when you’re Chinese. There’s some nasty racist people up there, and one or two who might just take a fancy to a nice wee yellow boy.
‘What it comes down to is this. If the Haggerty notion is right, and Shun Lee wasn’t into Ho’s smack, then he was done for some other reason. But the Triads could still be the bookies’ favourites, because there were imilarities between Shun Lee’s murder and the few Triad hits that are on record. Several people involved, and several weapons used.’
‘You’ve no fingerprints, no footprints? No forensic leads?’
‘Next to nothing. We’ve got a machete that was left stuck in the guy’s collarbone. Other wounds include two different-shaped axe cuts, and knife punctures. Oh ay, and they cut his balls off.’
Skinner felt his scrotum tighten at the thought. ‘Were they left at the scene?’
‘No, they’ll be in someone’s trophy case somewhere. That happens in Triad hits, by the way. So what about it, Mr Skinner? Does that help?’
‘It’s possible. I’ve got to think this one through. Did you hear about that advocate going under the train in Queen Street?’
‘The suicide? Aye.’
‘She defended Shun Lee in his murder trial. Ho’s advocate, Mortimer he was the first one killed through here.’
‘Jesus Christ!’
‘Look, Willie, not a word about this for now. I’ll pursue my lead through here, and obviously if I get anything that has any bearing on your enquiries, I’ll be in touch. Sit tight till you hear from me.’
24
‘No, Brian, we will not scale down the Royal Mile patrols, even though the Queen has gone. It’s what, only ten days since the last murders, it’s Friday night, and we don’t have an arrest yet.’ Mackie could see that his boss was adamant, and dropped the subject.
‘But I am having a couple of nights off. Your arm’s fine now. You can take charge on the streets.’
‘With respect, sir, I’m only a detective sergeant, and this is a big operation.’
Skinner smiled. He picked up a sealed white envelope from his desk and handed it to Mackie.
‘With respect, Brian, as of this moment you are promoted to Detective Inspector. That letter confirms it. Now I’m off to think about tackling Toshio Yobatu.’
It was 7.30 p.m. When he arrived at Stockbridge, Sarah was waiting for him, dressed casually, as usual. She was barefoot; a big, bright, loosely buttoned shirt hung down to her knees. She opened the door, grabbed him by the lapels, pulled him inside, and kissed him. ‘Here,’ said Skinner, gasping, ‘does everyone who rings your doorbell get this treatment?’
‘Only policemen and insurance salesmen.’
‘Milkmen too low-caste for you, are they?’ They kissed again, longer this time. Her body moulded with his; he felt himself stir as she rubbed her belly against him. ‘Hey!’ he murmured in weak protest. ‘I told Andy to get there for about 8.30.’
‘Alex’ll be home by now. She’ll look after him if we’re late.’
Sarah looked at him, her hazel eyes filled with what he recognised by now as her bedroom look.
‘You’ve had a hard week, Chief Superintendent. I can feel the tension in you. And that’s not good for a man of your years. Lucky for you that Doctor Sarah is on hand with her amazing device for the relief of stress.’ She stepped back from him and wriggled her shoulders. The loosely-buttoned shirt slipped from her shoulders, and floated gently down to settle at her feet.
25
‘So this is what they mean by being under the doctor!’ Skinner murmured softly in Sarah’s ear. She lay on him, stretching down his lean body, her legs wrapped around his. As she moved against him she was still smiling, but the look in her eyes had changed from anticipation to satisfaction.
‘You know,’ she whispered, ‘there is absolutely no medical justification for the notion that men are sexually over the hill once they leave forty behind. And you are living proof of the opposite.’
‘This isn’t something that hard-bitten detectives are supposed to say.’ She bit his shoulder, gently. ‘ — Ouch! — but I love you, Doctor!’
‘That’s as well, my man, because I couldn’t live any more without your taste in music.’
On Sarah’s CD player, Joe Cocker, set on repeat programme, sang ‘We are the One’, for the eighth, or it could have been the eleventh, time. The choice had been Bob’s from a disc he had bought for her. One of the things that Sarah had discovered about her policeman lover was his remarkable talent for creating a mood.
Later, just after 9.00 p.m., as they drove down to Gullane, Bob slipped a cassette of Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony into the tapedeck. ‘Just to remind you where you are,’ he said.
They drove mostly in silence; Sarah was almost asleep by the time they reached their destination, lulled by the richness of the music.
They were smiling and completely relaxed when they arrived at the cottage.
‘And where the hell have you been?’ said Alex, rising to her feet as the living room door opened. Then she looked at the pair, Bob’s arm round Sarah’s shoulder. ‘On second thoughts, don’t answer that. There are certain things a father should not discuss with his daughter.’
Andy Martin sat stiffly on, rather than in, a big recliner armchair, managing somehow to make it look uncomfortable.
‘Sorry we’re late, Andy,’ Bob volunteered, still smiling. ‘Traffic was murder tonight!
‘Let’s go. The chef will be getting anxious.’
Alex drove Bob’s car on the ten-mile journey from Gullane to Haddington. They had reserved a table in a riverside restaurant. The proprietor wore a relieved smile as they entered.
‘Sorry, Jim,’ said Bob. ‘This lot kept me back!’
The meal was superb. King scallop chowder was followed by three fillet steaks, with Alex opting for baked sea-trout. As Bob finished off the second bottle of Cousino Macul, Sarah was happy to note that the unwinding process was almost complete.
They talked of music and movies, or rugby and royalty, the light, amusing conversation of a close group on an evening out.
Just before midnight, Alex, who had restricted herself to mineral water, pulled the Granada to a halt outside the friendly, family-owned hotel in Gullane which Bob had adopted years before as his local pub. It was one of his special places, and one in which Sarah felt completely at ease.
They settled into a table in the broad bay window.
At the restaurant, Andy had insisted on paying for the meal. ‘This is my celebration,’ he had declared. In the bar, Bob countered, astonishing Mac, the laid-back barman, by ordering champagne.
‘Christ, Bob, is it your birthday or something?’
‘No, you bugger, at the prices you charge, it’s yours!’
An hour later, with the car secured in the hotel park, the foursome walked home under a clear crisp winter sky. In the cottage, as Alex made up the bed in the guest room, Bob poured three glasses of Cockburn’s Special Reserve port. As Andy accepted his nightcap, he looked hard at his host.
‘Are you going to tell me, or not?’
Skinner smiled expansively. ‘Tell you what?’
‘You think you might have cracked it, don’t you? You think you’ve nailed our man.’
The smile grew even wider.