clear he didn’t believe David wanted to find Neil for a pint and a chat about the good old days.
‘I don’t know anything about him.’
‘But he was in the police, wasn’t he? He did work here?’
Bell looked uncomfortable being on the receiving end of questions.
‘He left not long after I joined.’
‘So you knew him?’
‘Not really.’
‘What was he like?’
‘I thought he was your mate at school,’ said Bell, back on the offensive.
‘He was, but I was wondering what he seemed like by the time he worked here. He was in the Marines before he joined the police.’
‘I heard.’
I’ll bet, thought David.
‘And he apparently had a bit of trouble there.’
‘No shit,’ said Bell.
‘So I was wondering what he was like when he was in the police.’
‘And I told you, I didn’t know him.’
‘But you must have…’
‘Look, Mr Lindsay,’ said Bell, ‘I think we’re done here, don’t you? I have your statement about Mr Spink’s death. Unless there’s anything else you want to add officially?’ He waited a second. ‘Thought not. If you want to track down Neil Cargill I suggest you do it elsewhere and on your own time.’
David sat in reception waiting for Nicola to finish her stint with Bell, wondering how much the copper really knew about Neil. He had to make contact with the one person who knew himself, Gary and Colin on equal terms from all those years ago, if only to talk through what a stupid fucking thing these deaths were, if only to find out what had been happening in Neil’s parallel universe for the last fifteen years. If only to put his mind at rest.
When Nicola emerged from the interview room, he looked at her smiling face and all thoughts of Neil, Gary and Colin left his mind completely.
‘Can we, Mum, please?’
They were standing at the edge of the harbour with ice cream dripping from cones down their hands, like something out of an old-time seaside comedy film. The harbour wasn’t exactly picture postcard, despite the presence of a handful of almost quaint pink and yellow houses, a fish smokehouse puffing a thin trail of brownness into the shimmering air and a smattering of tied-up sailing boats clanking in the dock. Larger rusting hulks of fishing boats were scattered around the harbour, and the smell of diesel, rotting fish and woodsmoke made for a pungent aroma hanging over the oily water down below. Blue sparks wheeled into the sunlit air as a filthy man with homemade tattoos and a blowtorch tried to keep his boat in one piece. The boat in front of them didn’t look in much better nick. A small fishing vessel converted to take passengers, it rocked gently in the water, its ferric hull and peeling white paint appearing and disappearing below the water with the gentle bobbing motion. The boat was offering sightseeing tours up and down the nearby coast for a few quid. The guy in charge was like a Captain Birds Eye gone to seed, his beard was yellowy grey and unkempt, the uniform was greasy and faded and his gut was trying to burst some buttons at the front. Nicola had difficulty thinking of him as a captain, with the responsibility and seafaring knowledge that went along with such a title, although his leathery face had certainly seen enough time on the sea, a lifetime of fishing ingrained in the heavy lines under his eyes. For all that, he did have kind eyes and an endearing gummy smile, and she warmed to him. He was using his charms to gently work on them, claiming he only had three more spaces on the boat to fill. She looked at David, who smiled a little hesitantly and shrugged.
‘Why not?’ he said, and the three of them, David, Nicola and Amy, stepped on board.
The thin phutter of the engine as it made its way out the harbour beefed up to a proper chug as they turned right (Was that port or starboard? thought Nicola, she could never remember) and headed out to sea. Nicola was immediately embarrassed by the sight, directly in front of them, of the Signal Tower Museum and, beyond it, Inchcape Park only a couple of hundred yards away. From here on the water, illuminated by beaming sunshine, it looked amazingly exposed to the elements, as well as prying eyes, and she couldn’t believe it was the place where she and David had sex last night. She sneaked a look at David who was doing a bad job