51

Susie met Rebecca at a small café on Leith Walk, got her to go over what Drainey had told her.

“Harvey Robertson,” Rebecca said, shaking her head in disbelief. “Said he got a call from Harvey saying that there was strong evidence that the Greig and Montgomery cases were linked.”

“He telling the truth?” Susie asked, not wanting to hear the answer. “Or you think he was just playing you to get what he wanted?”

Rebecca stared into her cup as if the answer was there. “I thought about that, but then I phoned around. No-one wanted to tell me who had leaked the story when I didn’t have a name, but they were happy enough to confirm it was Robertson when I mentioned the name to them, so yeah, it’s legit.”

Susie took a swallow of her coffee. It was as bitter as her mood. “Fuck,” she whispered. “So Doug caught your hint, got his pal Harvey to phone it around so he could keep his name out of it and watch us squirm.” She shook her head. She had wanted to believe him when they talked on the phone earlier. What was it he said? The last thing I’m going to do is lie to you – or Rebecca.

So much for that.

Rebecca swirled the tea in her cup. It had been her first reaction, too. Yet there was something that just didn’t feel right about it. Oh, Doug could be a bastard if he thought there was a story in it, but to see both of them out?

“I’m not sure,” she said finally. “There’s something that still doesn’t sit right with this. Why would he do it? He told both of us where he was going, who he was going to see. So why get him to phone around the story if he knows we’d link him straight to Harvey anyway?”

Susie shrugged. She had a point. What did Doug get out of it? He had said it himself, it was a big story, no way he was going to give away a good line on it. And he hadn’t known for a fact that the killings were linked – as he admitted himself, it was only when Susie confronted him that he knew for certain.

“So what’s the alternative?” Susie asked. “That this guy Robertson found out about the link on his own, decided to phone it around? Why? He’s been retired for years, from what Doug said. Why get back into the game now? And why leak it to rivals when he could just run the story himself?”

“I don’t know,” Rebecca admitted. “But something just doesn’t add up about this.” She paused. “You had any luck getting in touch with him?”

Susie shook her head, frustrated. “No. Phone just keeps ringing out or going to voicemail. You?”

“Same,” Rebecca replied. “I’ve sent a couple of texts, no reply to them, either.”

“He must be driving,” Susie said. “He said he was coming back today. We can ask him what the hell is going on when he gets here.”

Rebecca stuck her hand in the air, Susie following her gaze. Grimaced slightly when she saw King at the door of the café, waving enthusiastically. He’d called twenty minutes ago, asking where she was. She’d agreed to meet him, but had hoped he would take a little longer to get here.

He bustled over to the table, nodded a greeting to Rebecca, who flashed him her best press officer smile in return. He sat down beside Susie, intentionally turning his shoulder to Rebecca. You’re not part of this conversation, the move said.

Susie rolled her eyes. “Eddie, whatever you’ve got to say, you’ve got my permission to say it in front of Rebecca. If it breaks any regulations, it’s on my head, okay?”

Eddie gave Rebecca an uncertain glance, then fixed his attention back on Susie.

“Okay,” he said. “You know that incident with Stevie Leith the boss asked us to look into?”

She nodded. She’d heard the radio chatter while on her way here, skimmed the initial incident report. The gruesome ones were always talking points and this one, with a kid ending up with a syringe buried in his eye, certainly qualified.

“Well,” Eddie said, settling into his role as head storyteller, “I went down to the ERI and interviewed the suspects. Took an inventory of items found at the scene as well.”

Susie made a murmur of approval. Good, solid work. “Anything interesting?” she asked.

Eddie broke into a smile so wide it could almost be genuine. It made him look like a kid again. A spoiled kid used to getting his own way, but a kid nonetheless.

“Oh yes,” he said, producing his phone and flicking on the camera. “Thought this in particular might interest you.”

She took the phone, peered at the image of Diane Pearson’s business card. Looked up at Eddie, her face full of questions.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I asked the one who was conscious about it but he refused to say anything. Guess he could have been a client of hers, but we’ll have to check with her or the office to find out.”

Susie thought quickly. Phone and make sure she was there or try and surprise her?

She gulped down the last of her coffee, looked across to Rebecca.

“We’ve got to follow this up,” she said. “Keep trying to get him. If you do, give me a call?”

“Definitely,” Rebecca said. “And in the meantime, I’m going to do a little asking around about Mr Robertson.”

“Good,” Susie said. She stepped away from the table and paused, an idea threatening at the edges of her mind. Something Eddie had said earlier.

“What?” Rebecca asked.

Susie shook her head. “Nothing, just a thought. Come on, Eddie. Let’s go and have a chat with Mrs Pearson. I want to know how she knows Stevie Leith and Paulie One Eye.”

King laughed too loudly at the joke, made his way for the door. Rebecca looked up at Susie, rolled her eyes.

Men, the look said. Susie found it hard to disagree.