‘Is it done?’
‘It is. There’s just one problem.’
He turned to his brother. ‘I don’t like problems, you know that.’
‘Problems are just roadblocks. We just work our way around them. We meet the challenge head on and deal with it.’
‘It’s a pity about that fucker McInsh and his dog.’
‘Let’s not do anything silly. McInsh would hand you your arse on a plate. I can take of the others, but I’m not going to put myself at risk. There can’t be any collateral damage. This is going to be bad enough without any extras added into the mix.’
‘I understand that. It’s just a pity we couldn’t rope him into this.’
‘It would have been easier if he didn’t have an alibi,’ his brother said.
‘That would have taken a lot longer to plan, and time was against us.’ He turned to look back at his father’s grave. ‘But let’s focus on the job at hand. We have this weekend and that’s it. We’re not going to get a better opportunity, so let’s stick to the plan.’
‘Agreed. Those officers from the mainland could be a problem.’
‘No, they won’t be. It’s something we planned for. Do you think they would let that daft bastard Turnbull investigate? He couldn’t investigate the froth on the top of his pint. No, it was always going to be a detective in a murder case. We just need to keep putting them off the scent.’
‘Easier said than done.’
‘No, it’s not. We’ve gone over everything. Just stay level-headed and this will be over before we know it.’
His brother smiled. ‘I’m more than happy to take out that copper if he gets in my way.’
He looked at him. ‘Which one?’
‘Any of them. All of them. I don’t care.’
He put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. ‘Just listen to your older brother and we’ll be fine.’
Sixteen
The carnival’s owners were hoping that the music festival would have a knock-on effect on their takings, and they were mostly right.
‘Ever been to a concert, neighbour?’ Dunbar asked.
‘Aye. We went to see Genesis in London, two thousand and seven. We went away for a long weekend. It was great.’
‘What about you, Alex?’ Evans said.
‘I hate to admit it, but I’ve only been to T in the Park. I’ve never been to a concert to see one group. What about you?’
‘Nothing that he would admit to,’ Dunbar said. ‘He does like Wimbledon, though.’
‘Anyway, what’s the difference between a carnival and a fairground?’ Evans asked, eager to change the subject.
‘I think a carnival is like a circus; it travels around. But a fairground is like the Pleasure Beach in Blackpool,’ Harry said. ‘This one here, the carnival joins on to the fairground for the summer.’
‘How do you know so much about it?’ Alex asked him.
‘I read a pamphlet in the hotel. And guess where Old Man Boxer gets his name from?’ Harry replied, nodding to a painted board outside a tent.
‘Christ, he’s a carny boxer,’ Dunbar said. ‘You can pay to fight him.’ He looked at Evans. ‘Now’s your chance to give him a good skelp.’
‘Really? I don’t want to hurt the old bloke.’
A young man walked out, holding paper towels to his face. The blood had been roughly cleaned up from his face and a friend was supporting him while holding on to his shirt.
‘You could always go, sir,’ Evans said. ‘I mean, I would put money on you winning, of course.’
‘Why would I want to fight cleanly?’
‘Roll up! Roll up! Challenge the boxer to a fight!’ a young man shouted through a megaphone. He was dressed like a ringmaster. ‘Go five rounds, win a hundred pounds!’
Harry locked eyes with him; it was Brendan Shaw.
‘You, sir!’ the young man shouted. ‘Come inside. You look like a hard man. Beat the boxer, win some cash.’
‘Go on, Harry,’ Alex said.
‘Decorum, wife of mine. A senior officer can’t be seen to participate in such frivolous activity when he’s on duty.’
She sighed. ‘Oh well, I can only try.’
‘You don’t need a hundred pounds that desperately.’
‘I don’t mean me fight him. Anyway, it’s not about the money. It’s showing that old fool that he can’t talk to anybody any way he likes.’
‘He must be fit, though, neighbour,’ Dunbar said. ‘Nothing a good kick in the bollocks wouldn’t take care of, but that’s not in the Queensberry rules.’
‘I wouldn’t go in there with him,’ they heard a voice say from behind them. ‘He has weighted gloves.’
Nancy Shaw, the owner of the Laoch Lodge and Boxer’s wife, was standing watching the ringmaster touting for business.
‘I didn’t know your son was part of this business,’ Harry said.
‘That’s Jack, Brendan’s twin brother. Brendan doesn’t get involved. Jack, on the other hand, laps all of this up.’
‘Your husband been doing this for a long time?’ Dunbar asked.
‘For more years than I can remember.’ She had a light jacket on and pulled it around herself more as a cool wind came in off the sea. She looked from her son to Dunbar. ‘He didn’t always need the weights in his gloves. But the years and the drink got hold of him.’
‘Does Jack box as well?’ Alex asked.
‘Oh, no, love. Jack is good at talking but not at fighting. A wet paper bag would make a fool of him. But he has the gift of the gab, as you can see.’
‘Did you hear about Shona Wolf?’ Dunbar asked.
‘I did. You can’t sneeze on the island without somebody knowing about it. But that sort of thing could happen to anybody. Accidents happen every day.’
Dunbar looked at Harry for a moment, before looking back at Nancy. ‘She was murdered, Mrs Shaw. Word is going to get out anyway.’
‘I heard it was an accident. Good God, that’s awful.’
‘When you’re a powerful family like the Wolf family, you make enemies,’ Harry said.
Nancy turned towards him. ‘I’m sure that’s true in every business, but they did so much for this island. They brought it to life. I have never heard a bad word said against them.’
‘Except by somebody called Joe Murphy,’ Dunbar said.
