It's held together by good faith, and it can be broken by bad. People with the sort of faith that Nana Soutar had, people like that can move mountains.
One thing that I know for certain is that I don't know everything. And I'll tell you; I don't want to! So don't worry, my friend; I won't brood on what the daft old lady said. I'll let it lie, for my sake and for everyone else's.'
Alex wiped Jazz's mouth with a soft cloth. 'What the hell are you two going on about?' Sarah asked.
I'll tell you later, and I'll let Andy tell Alex. Meantime…'
Once more, he was interrupted by the ringing of the telephone. 'What now, I wonder?' He picked up the remote handset which lay on the table, near to hand, extended the aerial and pressed the 'Talk' button.
`Skinner,' he said, his voice unusually tetchy.
`Hello, sir. It's Brian Mackie. I'm coming out to Witches' Hill, but right now I'm still in the office. There's been some news from England'
Oh aye? What's that?'
`Richard Andrews has been found.'
Skinner sat upright in his chair. 'Andrews! Where?'
`He's turned up in Farnham, in Surrey, sir. In a private clinic.
`When we started looking for him, we circulated the number of his hired car to every force in the country, with a request to locate at all costs. Last night, a Detective Constable on the Surrey force was visiting his mother in the Farnham clinic, when he spotted it in the car park.
`He went in and he checked the clinic's records. Andrews has been a patient there since last Saturday. He's due to leave today. The Surrey CID have him under observation, but they're taking no action till they hear from us.'
`Did they ask who made the booking?'
`Sure, it was made for him by his doctor in the States, two weeks ago, on an emergency basis.
He turned up on schedule, last Saturday evening. He was checked over on Sunday, had his surgical procedure last Monday, and he's been recuperating ever since. He's never been out of his room, he's made no phone calls and he's received none. He's read no newspapers, just listened to music all week. Non-stop Pavarotti.'
Skinner, phone in hand, glanced across the table at Martin. `So why the secrecy? Why didn't he tell anyone where he was going, not even Morton, his cousin as well as his boss? Do we know?'
He was surprised by Mackie's uncharacteristic laugh. 'I think I can guess, sir. The Farnham clinic is internationally respected, apparently. It specialises in the treatment of complaints of a delicate, personal nature.
Apparently Andrews was the unhappy owner of one of the finest collections of haemorrhoids they've ever seen. Piles of them, you might say. Like a bunch of grapes, the Matron described them.
I can understand a guy with a major dose of the Farmers being a bit shy about them, boss.
They wouldn't do anything for his hard-man image, would they?'
Skinner laughed. 'No, I don't suppose they would. Still, it's nice to know that the Almighty bestows his bounty where it's most deserved.'
`What do you want the people in Surrey to do about him, sir? Pick him up?'
`No, Brian. There's no reason for that. All they've got to do is break the news to him that he's minus one cousin. Put that in hand, will you?'
He paused, in thought, for a few moments, and a dark gleam came into his eye. 'Eliminating Andrews completes the jigsaw, Brian. The picture's clear now.
`Listen, don't come out here yet. I want some enquiries made very fast in a couple of places.
And I need a favour from my colleagues in the security services, in the communications section.
`Here's what you do.'
Sixty-seven
The weather had moved from overcast to oppressive as Skinner climbed the steps to the mobile office. He felt the humidity hanging in the air, and the mounting heat even in mid-morning. The conditions were alien to the Scottish climate, particularly in September, and they added to the feeling of unreality which gripped him.
Alison Higgins, Maggie Rose, Mario McGuire and Neil Mcllhenney were waiting inside as he stepped through the door, with Andy Martin, in plain clothes, on his heels. To the Inspector and the two Sergeants, their arrival together rang of a reunion, but none voiced their thoughts.
Skinner looked around his grim-faced colleagues.
`Well people, it's been quite a week, hasn't it? Just when we were hoping it was over, we've lost another. But that's it, I promise you. It stops today.'
He turned towards Higgins, kindly. 'Superintendent, you've done a bloody good job. But it's been an impossible one. I believe I know the whole story, now. I still have to put it to the test, but I'm certain of it. There's no need for watchers on the course any more. Richard Andrews was found this morning, and he's out of the picture. I know who we're after, and how we'll find him.
Alison, I only came upon the truth through an incredible piece of luck, but once that happened, the whole thing came together, as clear as crystal. There was no step you didn't take, nothing you could have done that would have brought us to it any sooner. Knowing it's one thing though. Proving it will be something else again. Still, we'll see what the day brings.
There are a couple of traps I can set. One of them's already in place.'
He looked across at McGuire. The other one, that's a backstop, and for it, Mario, I need you to make a purchase for me. This is what it is.' As he gave the Sergeant-turned-caddy his instructions, even Andy Martin looked puzzled.
Sixty-eight
‘Tell you what, Maggie,' said Skinner, as he and his assistant stepped down from the mobile office. 'Before I go off to practise, I think I might take my captain's advice and see what odds the bookies are giving on his score today.
I know you're not much of a gambler — neither am I… with money at any rate — but if they're long enough, they might be too good to miss. Fancy it?'
The red-haired Inspector grinned up at him. 'OK, sir, if you're for it, so am I. I'll follow your lead.'
`Right then, let's find the bookmaker's tent.'
They turned towards the heart of the small tented village, past the big exhibition pavilion, into which Mario McGuire was disappearing, and headed past the champagne tent and the almost legendary bar which is reserved at major tournaments for golf club stewards, down towards a marquee which flew the colours of a leading gaming house.
`You're really certain you know who we're after, boss, aren't you? I assume you think all three murders are connected.'
He nodded. 'Absolutely. Everything's connected, apart from the Witch's Curse, of course.
You, incidentally, are in line for a commendation for your work on that, and Henry Wills will have a letter of thanks from the Chief Constable, and whether he likes it or not, a consultancy fee. You've worked it out, by now, haven't you?'
She looked at him, hesitant. 'Well I've worked out that James Carr framed Agnes and the other two women because they were an embarrassment to him, and he wanted them out of the way.'
`Good. I've got a document back in Gullane which will take you the rest of the way. I'll show it to you after this lot's over. In the office tomorrow, maybe.'
I can't wait.' They walked in silence for a few paces, until Rose looked up at him again. 'Sir, I know I'm being
