By All Means (Fiske and MacNee Mysteries Book 2) (18 page)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

As she drove into work on Monday morning just after seven o'clock, DCI Vanessa Fiske needed to take her mind off the huge amount she had to do before going to GRH for her scan at four o'clock the next day. She thought about the cliché, much employed by the press, of the "dawn raid".  It was a certainly a cliché, but the process was effective, maximising the surprise (and so ensuring that the press would report after the event rather than in real time, except when the police saw some advantage to having the whole thing filmed), and minimising the possibility that the target would be alerted to the fact that his house had been surrounded by cars he didn't recognise, full of people, some in uniform, some not, he didn't know.

She was a little unsettled by the fact that, although she would be in charge of the arrests, she was not in control of the logistics.  She was relying on Strathclyde CID to organise the vehicles and the officers needed to make simultaneous arrests, at 0530 hrs on Tuesday morning, in the West End of Glasgow and in Saltcoats or Carluke.   She needed to be able to decide when Mathieson/Nuttall, and whichever MacIlwraith she decided to bring in, would learn that the other had been detained.  Vanessa remembered the Prisoner's Dilemma scenario, from a course at Bramshill during her time in the Met, but she had never been able to use it in a real investigation.  
As  a way of putting on pressure during questioning, it might be very useful, but only if she could choose at what point to offer each the opportunity to incriminate the other.

As she parked, Vanessa began to think that she might already be over-complicating the process of arrest and interrogation, and she knew that this was because she had very little to go on.  These men would be arrested, and their homes and workplaces searched, on the basis of enhanced CCTV images and a relationship that they had had when they were students nearly ten years ago.  It was possible, though unlikely, that they had had no contact with each other since then.   However, it was vital that their arrests came as a complete surprise and that the search warrants were executed immediately.   Unfortunately, nothing was known, or hadn't been when Vanessa left the office on Friday, about where either man worked. DC Aisha Gajani had stayed in Glasgow over the weekend, and she had agreed to do some digging, possibly informally assisted by Cam Ritchie, on Sunday.

But the arrests would not take place for nearly twenty-four hours.  There was an awful lot to do before then.

*

Detective Chief Superintendent Esslemont's car was already in the underground car park when Vanessa arrived, and as she climbed the stairs to the CID floor, she saw DI Colin MacNee drive in.   The place reserved for the Chief was unoccupied but, Vanessa thought, not for long.   She had to talk to the DCS before they both got the inevitable summons to the Chief's presence.

As she walked towards her office, Esslemont came out of the lift carrying a coffee in a paper cup, and a bacon roll.   He looked slightly sheepish, not something she had seen before.

'Left very early.  The wife wasn't up to make my breakfast.' Vanessa's expression made him look even more sheepish.  He knew his younger colleagues called him 'old school'. Maybe they were right. What he didn't know was that Vanessa's expression had as much to do with the taste of morning sickness as with distaste for his benighted sexism.  'We need to talk.'

'Oh, yes, sir. We do.'

*

'These guys don't seem to have any hinterland.'   DS Sara Hamilton had just got back to Glasgow and Aisha Gajani was telling her what she had discovered about their suspects.

'Hinterland? Hinterland? What are you on about?'

'Sorry, Sarge.  I had this sociology lecturer at uni who was always on about how "hinterland", the things in the background of people's lives, helps to explain their behaviour.  Hadn't thought about it for years, but Cam took the same course and he reminded me...'

'Cam?  I see...'

Aisha looked a little embarrassed.  'Anyway.  We couldn't find any record, anywhere, of the Saltcoats MacIlwraith or Mathieson being employed anywhere, at least not recently.  And they're not on benefits.  The Carluke MacIlwraith is a primary school deputy head in Biggar, so we'll know where to look if he's our man. Which I doubt.'

'We need to know how they survive, but we can't risk poking about any more.  The Boss is going to arrest them first thing tomorrow.  We need to join the team meeting by video at two.'

*

‘Duncan Williamson dug up some interesting stuff about Fleming, sir. But before we get on to that. I need to talk to you about how I should report to DCC Ingram.’

‘And I need to talk to you about yesterday’s
Banner
.  We should get our story straight before the Chief calls us in.’

‘Maybe we better do that first.  His car wasn’t in the car park when I got here, but he’s usually in his office by eight.’

Esslemont looked at his watch.  It was 0740.  ‘So where did the story come from?  Not here.  Too much political detail.  And we’ve stopped up our leak.  Unless there’s another one.’

‘I spoke to Harry Conival last night and he’s pretty sure this was planted by somebody quite highly placed in Edinburgh.  He wasn’t prepared to guess who, but he said that it was unlikely to be a minister, though maybe somebody close to ministers.’

‘The Chief won’t want to talk about the reference to him and the Scotland job, but he’ll have a go on the bits about lack of progress on the murders.  What can we tell him?’

‘We can tell him that arrests are imminent, but I don’t think we want to be forced to tell Ingram that.   If there is a connection between my suspects and Paul MacIver, any indication that we are about to detain suspects for the murders could make it very difficult to pursue any line of enquiry that involved conspiracy or collusion.  I don’t know whether MacIver is of interest to us, sir, but all my instincts tell me to that we should act as though he is.   Otherwise we risk giving him an opportunity to cover his tracks.’

Esslemont snorted.  ‘The trouble with that approach is that it just underlines that no progress is being made.   But we may have to put up with a bit of bad press as the other papers follow up.  We’ll have to persuade the Chief to support that line.  If he does, I'll phone Ingram and tell him that we are pursuing several lines of enquiry.   It’s pretty weak, but since the First Minster can't report to Parliament until tomorrow afternoon, we might get away with it.’

Vanessa nodded.  ‘We still need to talk to the Chief about MacIver.   Let’s assume that when we arrest my suspects tomorrow we find something, anything, to link them to MacIver.   In any murder case, we would follow up known associates, even if only to eliminate them. No exceptions.’

‘Yes.  You’re right. We need to get the Chief on board this morning. Who knows, he may be more amenable if he’s convinced he’s out of the running for the top job.’

'Then there's the stuff about the links between the murders and the attacks at Last and Mercury?  Completely the opposite of the First Minister's line to the Chief.  What's that about?'

'I have no idea.  After we've seen the Chief, you can spend some time applying your
cui bono
test and see what you can come up with.  If he

raises
it we can say, honestly, that we don't understand what the
Banner
's "sources" are on about.  And if things get really heated, I'll play the "no political policing" card.  He'll like that.'

Esslemont’s phone rang.  It had just gone eight o’clock.  He smiled wryly. ‘Here we go!’

*

Esslemont and Fiske were in the Chief 's office for about half-an-hour. For ten minutes they were the audience for the Chief Constable's rant about the irresponsibility of the Press, the attempt, as he saw it, by anonymous politicians to influence the conduct of a double murder investigation, and the cravenness of indirect personal attacks through the media.  This last was the nearest he came to mentioning the reference to his own ambitions.   He seemed to relax after he had vented his anger, and they turned to more immediate and more sensitive matters.

'How is the investigation going, Campbell?

Esslemont sat forward in his chair. 'A bloody sight better than the
Banner
would have people believe, but we can't say so today.  Vanessa?'

He turned to DCI Fiske and indicated that she should take over.

'Sir, I intend to arrest two prime suspects first thing tomorrow, one for each of the murders.  I believe they know each other and that they may have acted together.  My difficulty is that I still have no clear idea of the motive, or motives, for the killings.  I hope this will be clarified by questioning and by searching the homes and, if we can find them, the workplaces of the suspects.'

'So, we can convey that to the politicians via Ingram and get them off our back?'

'Not yet, sir.  Bear with us.'  Esslemont nodded to Vanessa to go on.

Vanessa described to the Chief the possible link between the prime suspects and the First Minister's closest political adviser and the possibility that there was some connection to the murders. 

'Liaison on this to the First Minister is from DCC Ingram to the Justice Secretary and MacIver, so I really need your support to make my report to Ingram today very general and unspecific.  I don't even want to promise him better news tomorrow.  So we'll take some stick in the media for the next twenty-four hours.  I don't see any alternative.'

The Chief shook his head.   'I don't like it.  I don't like it at all.  But we may have to swallow hard and do as you suggest. But before I sign off on it, I need to hear the possible scenarios after the suspects are in custody.' 

'If we find nothing that links either suspect to MacIver, we'll issue a formal statement describing in general terms, but not naming, the men who've been detained in connection with the murders.  It's not perfect, for a link might still emerge under questioning, but it's the best we'll be able to do. 

'And if you do find evidence of a connection?'

Vanessa looked at Esslemont.  They hadn't had time to discuss these 'scenarios' before they were called into the Chief's office. Esslemont nodded.

'Then we'll need to arrange to brief the First Minister without MacIver there. Not easy, as you know, for she seldom goes anywhere without him.  I suggest we arrange it through Special Branch and the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government.  There is no-one else who can insist on a private meeting, and no-one else who can insist that it takes place in his office rather than hers.  And Special Branch can use unspecified matters of security to gain access.'

The Chief looked worried. 'And MacIver?'

'We'll detain him while the FM is with Sir James.'

*

Vanessa left Colin MacNee to agree the logistics of the arrests with Strathclyde while she drove out to the offices of Mid-Aberdeenshire Council to talk to Martin Gilbertson.  She had decided to turn up unannounced. When she got to reception she was directed to a small annex to the converted private villa that served as the corporate headquarters of the council.   The sign on the door said 'Press and External Relations' and beside it there was an intercom button.

'I'd like to speak to Martin Gilbertson, please.'

A woman's voice said, 'What is it regarding?'

'It's a private matter.'

There was a pause and then, 'Name, please.'

'Vanessa Fiske.'

'Representing?'

'I think he'll know the name.'

There was a click and silence.  Vanessa was trying hard not to get pissed off, but, as she stood in the chill of an autumn east wind, it was a struggle. 

She began to wonder why she had decided to spare Gilbertson the possible embarrassment of a visit from a senior police officer.  One flash of her warrant card, or a call to the council chief executive, would have cut through all this crap and saved some time.