‘So you’re saying that Hurrell fired a test round and then reloaded? Why? Was he planning to shoot himself in the head seven times?’
‘Come on,’ Mario protested. ‘He could have fired the test any time.’
‘He could,’ I agreed, ‘but that’s not what happened. Fuck me,’ I sighed. ‘You really are missing me. Tell Sammy and Lottie to get the scientific team back in there, with Dorward in charge so it’s done right. This is what they’re looking for: there and somewhere else too.’ I spelled out my thinking for him.
‘You serious?’ he asked when I’d told him.
‘Never more so,’ I assured him. ‘Now, in return for the large favour I’ve just done ScotServe, I want one from you in return.’
‘What’s that?’
‘I need to borrow your helicopter.’
Sixty-Four
High noon on Wednesday and the gang were all there.
Where? Gathered on the roadway that led down to Eden Higgins’ boathouse, all of them there on my summons.
Eden had been stroppy when I’d visited him four hours earlier in Moray Place, to advise him that his presence would be required, along with that of his wife and son.
‘I hate unfinished business,’ I told him. ‘In fact I don’t allow it.’
‘I thought I made it clear,’ he snapped, ‘that your input was no longer needed.’
‘I’m not a tap you can switch on and off,’ I barked back at him. ‘Trust me, Eden,’ I added, ‘if Alison was still alive, she’d be standing beside me at this moment, telling you to be there.’
A slap across the chops wouldn’t have brought him into line any more quickly. ‘What’s it about?’ he asked, his usual quiet demeanour restored.
‘Patience, friend,’ I replied. ‘You’ll find out.’
‘I don’t like grandstanding, Bob.’
I smiled. ‘Me neither as a rule, but sometimes . . .’
Rachel Higgins was furious as she stood beside the Bentley; she looked good though, in a fur jacket and hat, her designer jeans tucked into calf-length boots.
Rory Higgins was curious as he locked the car; a light smile played with the corners of his mouth. All the same, his expression suggested that what was coming had better be good or his mood could change very quickly.
Eden was reserved; his outburst that morning had been unusual in a man who was not given to letting his emotions show on the outside.
Rory had driven his parents from Edinburgh. I suspect that it had been something of a treat for him. His father had offered me a seat when finally he’d agreed to come, but I told him I preferred to make my own way.
‘Come on then, Bob,’ he said, in a ‘humouring him’ tone of voice as we stood waiting. ‘Get on with your Poirot moment.’
I held up a hand. ‘Not yet.’ I looked back along the road, towards Rhu. ‘But soon,’ I added, as I saw three cars approach in convoy fashion. The lead vehicle had blue lights on top.
They came to a halt at the entrance gateway and five others stepped out, joining us in the unseasonably warm sunshine: Mario McGuire, in plain clothes, and his four lieutenants, Pye and Haddock, Mann and Provan. Only the DCC knew all of the story; the others were in for something of a surprise.
‘What the hell?’ Eden exclaimed as they walked towards us, looking vaguely like the cast of Reservoir Dogs.
‘You called it my Poirot moment, chum,’ I said, ‘and you were right. Since I seem to have become a consulting detective, I thought I’d wrap this up in the grand manner.’ I dug into my trouser pocket and produced a key that Mario had given me the day before. ‘This was found in Hurrell’s flat,’ I announced as I moved towards the boathouse door. ‘It fits an Abus padlock, which this is. Let’s hope it works on this one or I’m going to look a right twat.’
It did. I slid the newly freed doors apart, letting the others see what was inside. Back, secure in her mooring, was the Princess Alison, all seventy-five feet of her.
‘My God,’ Rory laughed. ‘How big a hat did it take for this bloody rabbit?’
Rachel stared into the boathouse, eyes wide.
Eden smiled. He took a step towards me, extending his hand. ‘I’m sorry, Bob,’ he began. ‘I never thought for one moment . . .’
‘I know you didn’t, so you’ll allow me the grandstanding.’ My own hand stayed by my side.
He nodded. ‘Absolutely. Where did you find her?’
I walked into the great shed, and threw a switch beside the door, turning on the strip lighting, as the