‘I’m getting tired of going through the same bastarding crap every time you have a bad week!’
He cleared his throat. ‘Dr Goulding wants access to Knox.’
‘I’m being serious, Laz.’
‘I…You haven’t called me “Laz” for months.’
Steel sighed. ‘Fuck’s sake, you’re hard work. You know that, don’t you?’
For a minute the only noise in the little office was the gurgling rattle of the radiator. Logan shifted in his seat. ‘I’m sorry.’
Another awkward pause.
Another sigh. ‘Thought you were supposed to be getting yourself sorted out.’
‘Yeah, well…Not going quite so well at the moment.’ Fidget. ‘What do you want to do about Polmont’s post mortem?’
‘Don’t look at me – got a flight to sunny Puerto de la Aldea at eleven, need to pack my bikini.’
Now there was an image worth a thousand condoms.
‘Can’t believe you’re still going, when—’
‘Course I’m still bloody going. I’m no’ giving up my last holiday of freedom just cos there’s a murder on the go. Susan would sodding kill me.’ She sniffed. ‘Get DI Whatshisface from Fraserburgh to attend. Be a nice welcome to Aberdeen: seeing an alcoholic sparky getting hacked out of a concrete block. Meantime,’ she thumped a hand down on Polmont’s journals, ‘take a squint through these, see if there’s anything worth taking a punt on. And get someone to process all that stuff he nicked.’
‘What about the book Danby took?’
She pursed her lips. ‘You let me worry about that.’
Logan hauled himself out of the chair. ‘Anything else?’
‘Aye, try no’ to fuck anything up, or anyone off, while I’m away. I can’t be arsed breaking in a new DS.’
Logan deleted the last sentence and rewrote it again, before firing the whole thing off to the printer in the corner of the sergeants’ cubbyhole. One formal letter of apology.
Someone said, ‘Knock, knock?’ and he looked up to see PC Butler standing in the doorway, holding a sheet of paper. ‘Thought you’d be gone by now.’
Logan groaned. ‘Not another bloody armed robbery…’
Biohazard Bob grinned. ‘Sergeant McRae’s feeling a bit down this evening, Vicki. Professional Standards gave him a rough seeing to. Without the benefit of foreplay or lubricant.’
‘Up yours Bob.’
‘No, up
Butler held up the sheet. ‘It’s that e-fit you asked for.’
Logan took a look. Then groaned again. ‘This is crap.’
‘Yup.’
The computer identikit face was dominated by a big comedy beard and a pair of dark glasses. ‘So all we need to do is arrest every member of ZZ Top and we’ll be laughing.’ He stuffed the e-fit in his in-tray and slumped back in his seat. ‘Brilliant.’
‘He wore gloves, a disguise, kept the door from locking when they tripped the silent alarm, and never even glanced at the CCTV camera once.’
Logan covered his face with his hands, mumbling through the fingers, ‘But he grabs the crappest, shiniest baubles and doesn’t even think to go for the cash register.’
Bob performed a little drum roll on his desk. ‘You want to know what
‘Not really.’
‘Suit yourself.’
Logan let his hands drop and watched Bob gather up a handful of Unlawful Removal forms, stand, and make for the door. He stopped right on the threshold, turned back, scrunched up his eyes, raised a finger and said, ‘Just one more thing…’ in his best Columbo voice.
‘What?’
But Bob just grinned, stepped outside and closed the door.
PC Butler turned back to Logan. ‘So what do you want me to do about our armed robber?’
‘Go round anyone we’ve done for resetting in the last five years, better do the pawn shops too. Whoever he is, he’ll be trying to flog his takings…’ Logan drifted to a halt as he saw the expression on Butler’s face sour. ‘Are you —Oh
‘What’s that, Sweetheart? No, you’ll have to speak up.’ Julie sticks a finger in her ear, face turned away from the steering wheel. ‘Yeah, that’s better…How’s Tiggy and Milly?’ She laughs. ‘Did she?’
Tony sits in the passenger seat, trying not to eavesdrop as she asks after her tabby cat and Tibetan terrier. The Range Rover’s illegally parked on a double yellow, but when Julie’s driving stuff like that kinda gets forgotten about. Along with the speed limit and the number of obscene gestures you should make at other motorists.
He stares out of the window, watching the main entrance to the hotel. It’s a fancy looking place, all carved granite and sticky-out bits.
