avocado sauce, which she had cooked that afternoon, to be eaten cold. It had become their custom to dine in the conservatory, watching the sun going down towards the horizon. When Sarah appeared to take her seat at the table, having changed out of her T-shirt into a loose-fitting blouse, she was carrying a bottle of white wine in a cooler, and two glasses.
‘I know we decided we weren’t going to have alcohol every night,’ she said brightly, ‘but tonight, I think you need this.’
Bob nodded. ‘Yeah, I wouldn’t mind. With the funeral, then a difficult meeting with Archergait’s son, the day’s been pretty stressful. I don’t see it getting any better this week. I’ve got Annie Brown’s service tomorrow, then the old judge’s on Thursday.’
He accepted a glass from Sarah and held it as she filled it almost to the brim. ‘Christ, there won’t be many of them in the bottle.’
‘There’s another in the fridge if you need it.’
He nodded. ‘This may turn out to be the case,’ he said.
As they ate, Sarah recounted Mark’s description of his first day at his new school. ‘He seems to have made a couple of friends already. There’s a boy who lives along in Marine Terrace, and a girl round in Nisbet Road. He mentioned both of them.’
Bob grinned. ‘He won’t have any bother settling in, that one. It’s the teacher I feel sorry for. She’ll never have been hit with so many questions.’
Sarah pushed away her empty plate. ‘Speaking of questions,’ she said, quietly, ‘you still haven’t really answered mine from earlier. There’s something else troubling you, isn’t there, as well as these investigations.’
He picked up his glass, only to find that it was empty. Refilling it from the chilled bottle, he leaned back in his chair.
‘Aye, well,’ he began, swinging round to look out at the wide waterway. ‘I’m trying not to let it bother me . . . and I certainly didn’t let Jimmy see it . . . but I don’t know how I’m going to handle being acting Chief Constable for four weeks.’
‘Hey,’ she broke in, brightly. ‘I’d forgotten about that. You’re the big cheese while Jimmy’s on holiday. Are you telling me that you don’t find that a challenge?’
‘Sweetheart, I’m telling you that I find it something of a chore. I’m a policeman by instinct, not an administrator. Sure, I can do Jimmy’s job, but right now, when everyone else in the force is bursting their balls - or their bras - trying to clear up two of the most serious crimes we’ve ever faced, I’m going to find it hellish frustrating to be trotting along to meetings of the Police Board, the Chief Constables’ Association and God knows what else.
‘Jimmy even talked me into moving into his office for the duration, since I’ll be using Gerry, his secretary.
‘The truth is my love, I’m jealous.’
‘Of whom?’
‘Of Andy, of Neil McIlhenney, of Maggie Rose, of Mario McGuire, of Brian Mackie, of everyone with hands-on involvement in these two investigations. Christ, I’m even envious of young Sammy Pye, stuck in a room on his own for at least a week looking at video tapes for something that may not be there!’
She could see the frustration written on his face. ‘Do you know the only criticism I ever hear of you from the people under your command?’
He chuckled. ‘I’m a brutal bastard to work for?’
‘No! It’s more that you’re not. Everybody likes working for you. But what they all say is that you’re lousy at keeping your hands off.’
‘And you’re saying that having Jimmy’s job for a month is part of the process of learning to delegate. Is that what you’re leading up to?’
‘Yes, I suppose it is. But what is delegation of authority but a means of ensuring that one’s own time and skills are put to the best possible use? In Jimmy’s case, that means running with the politics of the job, and schmoozing the councillors. In yours, it most certainly doesn’t.
‘So sure, delegate. You’re not the only guy in the Command Corridor. Pass on the committee stuff to Jim Elder and stay in touch with the investigations. Keep yourself fully available to Andy whenever he needs to consult you, as he will.’
He smiled at her. ‘You’re really good for me, you know. But I doubt if Jim Elder will see it that way. If I sling most of the admin. work along to him, who’s going to do his Ops job?’
‘Simple,’ said Sarah, rising from her chair and coming round the table to sit on his lap. ‘Are you or are you not a well-resourced police force?’ He nodded. ‘In that case, ACC Elder can learn to delegate, too.’
30
Skinner sat behind the Chief Constable’s huge desk, staring morosely at the documents piled high in the in- tray. He swung round in Proud Jimmy’s chair, looking out of the window only to see an array of vents and aerials rising from the roof of the rear section of the headquarters building.
Suddenly, one of the telephones on his right gave an insistent beep. He picked it up. ‘Can I come in, sir, to run through the day’s appointments?’ asked Gerry, his temporary secretary, who came with his temporary office.
‘Sure. If there’s coffee on the hob bring us in a couple of mugs.’
‘Mugs, sir?’
The acting Chief grinned. ‘I’m not going to copy all of the boss’s ways. You use a cup if you like, but I’ll have mine in a mug; touch of milk, no sugar. I need a serious caffeine fix.’
Within a minute the door opened and Gerry Crossley stepped into the room, carrying a tray with two steaming mugs and a plate of biscuits, and with a folder tucked under his arm. The young man placed a mug on a coaster by Skinner’s right hand, and made to take a seat across the desk.
‘Pull your chair round to the side,’ said the DCC. ‘You’re bloody miles away sitting over there.’
Gerry nodded and did as he had been asked. Skinner looked at him appraisingly. From the day on which he had come to work for Sir James, he had made an impression with his neatness, his efficiency and the speed with which he got things done. Yet even in such enlightened times, a male secretary was still regarded as a shade peculiar, and Skinner had overheard the odd remark calling Crossley’s sexuality into question.
In fact, Gerry was married to a public relations executive, who was expecting their first child.
He opened the folder. ‘Today’s business, sir. At ten o’clock, you have two pupils from St Augustine’s High School coming in to receive Certificates of Commendation for Bravery. Their names are Hugh McQuillan and Andrew Byrne, and they tackled a man who was trying to snatch an old lady’s bag.’
‘Did they detain him?’
‘Yes, sir. He pleaded guilty in Edinburgh Sheriff Court and was imprisoned for eighteen months. The boys’ head teacher proposed them for recognition, through our community relations section.’
‘Which reports to ACC Elder,’ said Skinner. ‘In that case it’s only right that Jim makes the award in the Chief’s absence, rather than me. Brief him, please, Gerry. Right, what’s next?’
‘At ten-forty-five, sir, you’re scheduled to receive a Commonwealth visitor, Mr Kwame Ankrah, from Ghana. He’s a senior police officer on a Foreign Office-sponsored tour of the UK, looking at methods in this country.’
‘What am I supposed to do?’
‘We’ve been asked to give him a briefing on the force, sir, with the emphasis on criminal investigation.’
‘How long?’
‘It’s scheduled to include lunch, sir, in the Senior Officers’ dining room.
‘Who’s accompanying him?’
‘Mr David Seward, sir, from the Police Division in Scottish Office, and Miss Hilda Thomson, from the Information Directorate.’
The DCC frowned. ‘I suppose I’d better do that one myself. Ask Andy Martin to join me, though.’
‘Very good, sir. The party is scheduled to depart at two p.m. After that you’re due in Galashiels at three p.m. for young PC Brown’s funeral.’
