left the room by the side exit, and made his way down to the headquarters gymnasium.
He opened his locker and changed into trainers and shorts, then took out a pair of boxing gloves. Slipping them on, he walked over to the heavy punching bag and began to hit it: jabs with his left hand at first, light blows, then shorter, harder-hooking punches, thrown in combinations, rising in speed and ferocity.
He pounded the bag non-stop for almost half an hour, ignoring the ache in his swollen right fist, sweat pouring from him, his face contorted with the effort, winding up the session with a huge sweeping left hook which lifted the bag up, and rattled the chains upon which it hung.
By the time his buzzer sounded to signal the arrival of Sergeant Karen Neville, he was showered and back behind the Chief’s big desk. He stood as she entered . . . followed by DCI Maggie Rose. He looked at his former assistant, a question in his eyes which she answered quickly.
‘Good afternoon, sir. You’ll be surprised to see me, I expect. Sergeant Neville asked me if I would come along as her personal representative. She felt she’d like a woman here.’
‘Understood; take a seat, both of you, please.’ He showed them to the leather chairs, as Gerry Crossley came in with more coffee. He pointed to the tray as it was set down on the low table. ‘I’ve asked for this just to emphasise that this is an informal meeting.
‘Let’s blow out any notion that this is a disciplinary hearing. It’s not. I’ve looked at PC Keenan’s allegation and at your statement, sergeant. I’ve also made inquiries about your accuser. This is a straight situation of your word against his, and nothing I’ve read or been told makes me inclined to find in his favour. So relax, Karen, you’re off the hook on the harassment complaint.’
The blonde officer looked at him gratefully. ‘
‘In that case,’ the DCC went on, ‘you may be wondering why I didn’t just cancel the hearing, and let you know of my decision in writing.’
Sergeant Neville looked at him, but said nothing.
‘Well, the fact is, I did think that I had cause to speak to you. You’ll recognise the name Sammy Pye, I think. In fact, I might even say that you’ll be familiar with it.’ In a second, the woman’s face went bright pink. ‘Then there’s Neil McIlhenney. I understand that . . . how do I put it? . . . you made a pass at him at another gathering.’ He glanced at Maggie Rose. By now she was staring at her companion in disapproving astonishment.
‘You’ve obviously never met Olive McIlhenney,’ said Skinner, with a chuckle.
‘On top of that . . . if I may use the phrase . . . am I misled that your reluctance to have Sergeant Geary act as your Fed. rep. at this meeting might have had something to do with an encounter two or three years back?
‘Finally, I haven’t been misinformed, have I, that your former Divisional Commander once gave you a friendly warning about . . . let’s say about fraternising?’
Staring at the coffee table, Karen Neville shook her head.
‘Okay. I don’t want to embarrass you, sergeant, any more than I have to. I’ll say to you what I’ve said to someone else today.Your private life is your own business, within the letter of the law. As the world knows, no one believes that more than I do.
‘My point in raising all these things is to bring home to you the fact that young Mr Keenan’s allegation wouldn’t have left the Divisional Commander’s office had it not been for the chat on the station grapevine. I spoke to Sammy Pye, and to McIlhenney. I had to lean on both of them . . . especially Pye . . . to make them confirm anything, and I’m convinced that neither of them has done any bragging.
‘Since there were only two parties to these transactions, that rather suggests that you may be to blame yourself for the subsequent gossip.
‘Keenan made his allegation, Karen, because he thought it would be believed.’
The woman spoke for the first time. ‘I had worked that out for myself, sir. It doesn’t make me proud, believe me.’
‘I know, I know.’ He smiled at her. ‘The world’s changing, but not to the point at which a lass can behave like a lad and expect the reaction to be the same. Girl Power is no more than a marketing slogan in that respect. It might not be fair, but it’s fact.
‘Look, as I said, there are no adverse career consequences from this, but we’d better get you out of Haddington. There’s a vacancy for a sergeant in Special Branch.’
He flashed the briefest of looks, and grins, at Maggie Rose, just as her eyebrows rose.
‘I won’t put you there, of course, not straight from uniform. However, Sergeant McNee, who’s been filling in in DCS Martin’s office, will be moving across. Mr Martin’s happy for you to move into his job. You don’t have any problems about working with Sammy Pye again, do you?’
‘No, sir.’
Skinner smiled broadly. ‘That’s good. Neither does he. In fact, he seemed quite keen on the idea. Just remember, though; in future keep professional and private well separated.’ The smile turned into a laugh. ‘The cupboard in CID’s far too small anyway.’
37
The acting Chief Constable looked around the drab meeting room in the Musselburgh Police Station. ‘It’s a fucking awful place this, Andy,’ he said. ‘All that’s missing are a few bloodstains on the walls, or it would pass for a Stasi interrogation centre.
‘First thing tomorrow, I’m going to take a look at our renovation programme. If this place isn’t right at the top, I’m going to put it there.’
Martin laughed. ‘That’s right, Boss. What’s the use of having all that power if you don’t use it? You seem to be settling well into Proud Jimmy’s chair.’
Skinner shot him a dark frown. ‘Don’t you believe it, mate. I’ve made three decisions today, and I’m almost certain of a fourth. The first was to go to Raglan’s with Pringle and Steele. No way would Jimmy have done that, nor I if I was full-time in the job. Yet if I hadn’t, Stevie would be dead now, and probably Pringle too. Christ, those Russian bastards might have killed everyone in the place.’
He let out a weary sigh. ‘The second thing I did was to end the career of PC Mark Green. It had to be done, but I hated it, even though I did my best to let the lad go with dignity. Christ, Andy, he even thanked me at the end.
‘And the business with Karen Neville, that was as embarrassing for me as it was for her.’ He broke off with a smile. ‘Man, but you should have seen Maggie Rose’s face when she thought I was going to transfer her to Special Branch beside her Mario!’
‘Aye,’ Martin responded with feeling. ‘But just you make sure that Alex doesn’t get to hear any of this now that she’s coming to work for me!’
Skinner put a hand across his mouth. ‘The matter is closed. Neville’s learned her lesson, and she starts with a clean slate.’
‘I’ll keep an eye on her and Sammy though, just in case. Anyway, what’s your fourth decision?’
The DCC stared out of the dirty window. ‘That’s about me, Andy. I’ve just about made up my mind that I don’t want to be Chief; here or anywhere else.’
‘What! That’s a bit premature, isn’t it? You’ve only been doing the job for two days.’
‘Even so.’ His right index finger stabbed out, pointing towards the street. ‘I belong out there. I belong alongside Dan Pringle and you, and all the other people putting their lives at risk, not stuck in a big office taking run-of-the-mill decisions, and not playing politics with bloody councillors.
‘Know what I did with Topham today? I threw her out of my office. She came in whining about the bank robberies, and I just fucking lost it and showed her the door. Jimmy might have the patience to deal with people like her, but I sure as hell don’t.’
‘Come on, Bob,’ the DCS protested. ‘Jimmy would have thrown her out too if she’d tried to lecture him about operational matters.’
‘No, he wouldn’t. He’d have given her a biscuit and explained to her, very politely, where her role came to an end. Anyway, the woman went on about people stopping her in the street. People in the street haven’t a fucking clue who she is. She was doing the bidding of our old enemy Councillor Maley, and she and I both knew it.’
