Duncan looked at Karen. She shrugged. He took a deep breath and sighed. "I'll be listening in," he said. "If I think the situation is getting out of control, I'll end the call."
Relief made Alex dizzy. "Fine. Let's do it," he said.
Duncan brought out the phone and clamped headphones over his ears. He handed a pair to Karen and the receiver to Alex. "It's all yours."
The phone rang. Once. Twice. Three times. Halfway through the fourth ring, it was picked up. "Back for more, Lawson?" the voice on the other end said.
He sounded so ordinary, Alex thought. Not like a man who would kidnap a baby and dangle its life in the balance. "This isn't Lawson. This is Alex Gilbey."
"I've got nothing to say to you, you murdering bastard."
"Give me a minute of your time. I've got something to tell you."
"If you're going to deny you killed my mother, save your breath. I won't believe you."
"I know who killed your mother, Graham. And I have proof. It's here in my pocket. I've got paint flakes that match the paint on your mother's clothes. I took them this afternoon from a caravan by Loch Leven." No response other than a sharp intake of breath. Alex soldiered on. "There was someone else there that night. Someone nobody paid any attention to because he had a reason to be there. Someone who met your mother after work and took her back to his caravan. I don't know what happened, but I suspect she probably refused to have sex with him and he raped her. When he came to his senses, he realized he couldn't let her go to tell her tale. It would be the end of everything for him. So he stabbed her. And he took her up to Hallow Hill and left her there to die. And nobody ever suspected him because he was on the side of the law." Karen Pirie was staring at him now, open-mouthed and horror-struck as she grasped the implications of what he was saying.
"Say his name," Macfadyen whispered.
"Jimmy Lawson. It was Jimmy Lawson who murdered your mother, Graham. Not me."
"Lawson?" It was almost a sob. "This is a trick, Gilbey."
"No trick, Graham. Like I said, I've got proof. What have you got to lose by believing me? End this now, you get the chance to see justice done at last."
There was a long silence. Duncan edged forward, poised to take the phone from Alex. Alex deliberately turned away, gripping the handset tighter. Then Macfadyen spoke.
"I thought he was doing it because it was the only way of getting some kind of justice. And I didn't want it his way because I wanted you to suffer. But he was doing it to cover his back," Macfadyen said, his words meaning nothing to a bewildered Alex.
"Doing what?" Alex said.
"Killing you guys."
Chapter 45~46
Chapter 45
A pall of darkness hung over Carlton Way. Within the gloom, darker shapes moved, semiautomatic weapons held close to their bulletproof vests. They covered the terrain with the silent delicacy of a lion stalking an antelope. As they approached the house, they fanned out, crouching to stay below window sills, then regrouping on either side of front and back doors. Each man fought to keep his breathing soft and steady, heart pounding like a drum calling him to battle. Fingers checked that earpieces were in place. None wanted to miss the clarion call to action when it came. If it came. This was no time for ambivalence. When the word sounded, they'd demonstrate their commitment.
Above their heads, the helicopter hovered, the technicians glued to their thermal-imaging screens. Theirs was the responsibility for making sure the moment was right. Sweat prickled their eyes and dampened their palms as they focused on the two bright shapes. As long as they stayed apart, they could give the go-ahead. But if they merged into one, everyone stayed on pause. There was no room for error here. Not with a life at stake.
Now it was all in the hands of one man. Assistant Chief Constable James Lawson walked down Carlton Way, knowing this was the last throw of the dice.
Alex struggled to make sense of Macfadyen's words. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"I saw him last night. With the baseball bat. Under the bridge. Hitting your pal. I thought he wanted justice. I thought that's why he was doing it. But if Lawson killed my mother?
Alex clung to the one thing he knew to be true. "He killed