‘The very man,’ a voice barked from behind him. He turned to see the Chief Constable, Jim Byars, striding towards him in almost military fashion, arms swinging. The Chief stopped a couple of inches from Fox’s face. ‘What in the name of the Holy Father is going on?’ he demanded.
‘Sir?’
‘How have you managed to get up Andrew Watson’s nose?’
‘I needed to discuss something with his sister.’
Byars glared at him. ‘I take it you mean Alison Pears, Chief Constable of Central Scotland Constabulary?’
‘That’s the one.’
‘Who happens to be a personal friend of mine, and who is also currently leading the highest-profile inquiry of her career.’
‘So she probably doesn’t need me sticking my oar in?’ Fox nodded slowly. ‘Well, she answered my questions, so that’s that.’
‘What was it you were asking in the first place?’
‘Just a tenuous link to the death of Alan Carter.’
Byars rolled his eyes. ‘As tenuous as your connection to the whole bloody thing.’
‘Hard to disagree, sir,’ Fox conceded.
‘Well then…’
Fox removed the report from his pocket. ‘I’ve got our conclusions right here. Just need to check a few details before it goes to Fife Constabulary.’
‘And that’ll be the end of it?’
‘That’ll be the end of it,’ Fox stated.
‘I can put Andrew Watson’s mind at rest?’
‘Absolutely.’ Fox paused. ‘You can also remind him that his job title includes the word “Justice”.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ the Chief Constable was asking, as Fox began to walk away.
He drove to Jude’s house. She wasn’t answering her phone. He wondered if she’d maybe knocked herself out with some tablets or a few slugs of vodka. When he rang her doorbell, there was no response. He put his face to the living-room window but the place seemed deserted. He bent down at the letter box and yelled her name. Nothing. No sign of life at her neighbour’s house either, so he got back in his car and headed for the hospital. He was hitting the rush hour, and the traffic crawled. Then it took him a few minutes to find a bay in the car park. He entered the main concourse. The cafe and shop were doing good business – not just staff and visitors, but patients, too, identifiable by name tags on their wrists. Fox was gasping for a coffee, but took one look at the queue and kept walking.
As he’d suspected, Jude was seated by Mitch’s bedside.
‘Thought I was collecting you,’ he complained.
‘Woke up early.’ She was holding her father’s hand again.
‘He’s still not come round?’
She shook her head. There were three other beds in the ward, one of them vacant, elderly patients in the other two. ‘Shouldn’t you be at work?’ she asked.
‘I’ve already been.’ He pulled the report from his pocket. ‘I was going to sit here and read this.’
‘Fine.’
Chairs were stacked against a nearby wall. He lifted one down and carried it to his father’s bedside. He didn’t know if it was a conscious decision on her part or not, but Jude’s chair was angled so that if he were to sit next to her, his own chair would be sticking out into the room, posing a possible obstacle to the staff. Instead of asking her to slide over a bit, he seated himself on the other side of the bed from her.
‘Have they given you a time for the scan?’
She shook her head again. She was stroking their father’s hair. There was grey stubble on his cheeks and chin, and a line of dried saliva at the side of his mouth. A nurse stopped to check the readout on the machine and enter the findings on a chart at the bottom of the bed. Fox asked her about the scan.
‘Hopefully before lunchtime,’ she told him. ‘He had a peaceful night.’ She smiled, as if to reassure him.
He’s not peaceful, Fox wanted to correct her, he’s comatose. But he just returned her smile and thanked her. As the nurse moved away, Fox saw that his sister was scowling at him.
‘What?’ he asked.
‘Can’t you throw some weight around?’ she hissed.
‘What sort of weight?’
‘You’re a cop, aren’t you? Have a word with them – see if there’s any way of jumping the queue.’
‘They’re not the enemy, Jude.’
‘Not exactly putting themselves out either, though, are they?’
She had barely finished when two attendants arrived. The nurse brought them over to the bed.
‘CT scan,’ she announced.
‘Thank you,’ Fox said again.
‘Can we go with him?’ Jude asked, getting to her feet.
‘Best stay here,’ one attendant stated. ‘We’ll have him back in no time.’ The man had tattoos on his arms. He was broad-shouldered and sported a couple of scars on his face. He seemed to have placed Fox as a policeman, just as Fox would have bet money on the man having served time. Jude was reluctant to let go of her father’s hand. She leaned over him to plant a kiss on his forehead, then burst into tears.
‘Nothing to worry about,’ the nurse stressed. Then, to Fox: ‘Maybe take her for a cup of tea…?’
Jude didn’t want a cup of tea, but Fox managed to navigate her down the corridor towards the cafe. She pulled herself away and told him she was going outside for a cigarette.
‘Thought you’d stopped,’ he said.
‘Someone’ll give me one,’ she replied, walking towards the automatic doors. Fox bought a paper at the shop, then queued for coffee and a bacon roll. He ordered the same for Jude and sat at a table. His phone buzzed. Caller ID: Tony Kaye.
‘Morning, Tony.’
‘How’s your old man doing?’
‘Just gone for a scan.’
‘You at the Infirmary?’
‘Yes.’
‘We’re just heading across the bridge. Back to sunny Fife.’
‘I’ve not had a chance to look at the report yet.’
‘No rush.’
‘Conclusion looks sound, though.’ Fox had made the mistake of opening the bacon roll. The meat was as grey as the faces around him. He pushed it away.
‘I had a text from Cash first thing,’ Kaye was saying. ‘Joe and me both get to sit in on the interview. We’re supposed to keep our traps shut, but if there’s something we think he’s missed, we give him a sign and discuss it outside the door.’
‘You okay with that?’
‘You know me, Malcolm.’
Fox smiled to himself. ‘That’s why I’m asking.’
‘Nothing I like better than obeying an order, especially when there’s a complete prick on the other end of it.’
Naysmith made a comment from the car’s passenger seat.
‘What’s Joe saying?’ Fox asked.
‘He’s accusing me of getting too close to the Beamer in front.’
‘Outside lane?’ Fox guessed. ‘Seventy-five, eighty…?’
‘And?’
‘And making a phone call.’
‘Just jump-starting young Joe’s heart, so he’s on his mettle in Kirkcaldy.’
‘Let me know how it goes.’
