Charlie was sitting in his office, flicking through his mail, when his intercom buzzed.
‘I’ve got the Director of BBC Scotland on the line for you, sir.’
‘Thanks, Pauline. Put him through.’
‘Fran Gibbons left a message that you wanted to talk to me, Inspector.’
‘Thank you for calling on a Saturday morning. It’s concerning the anonymous phone call to the BBC yesterday, by the individual who identified himself as the nine of diamonds. In case he contacts you again, I’d like you to record all incoming calls to your Glasgow switchboard.’
‘Our legal department would have to clear that, Inspector, but as long as certain conditions are met, I wouldn’t anticipate a problem.’
‘Such as?’
‘We wouldn’t be prepared to give you carte blanche access to all our calls. However, I think we could agree to taping the incoming calls and letting you have the recording, if and when this nine of diamonds character phones us again.’
‘That’s fair enough.’
‘And we wouldn’t be willing to give an open-ended commitment about recording calls. There would have to be some kind of time limit.’
‘How about if you agree to record everything for the next week – and then we take a checkpoint?’
‘Wake up, sleepyhead,’ Sue whispered. Fully dressed, she stood by the side of the bed and rocked Tony’s shoulder gently. ‘I let you sleep as long as I could, but Jamie’s liable to wake up soon and when he does I don’t want him to find you here.’
‘What time is it?’ Tony said, yawning as he sat up in bed.
‘After nine o’clock.’
Interlocking his fingers, Tony yawned as he stretched both arms high his above his head. ‘And here was me hoping to break Willy Sharp’s scoring record.’
‘Not this morning, you won’t. Get up!’
‘What about my freshly-squeezed orange juice and scrambled eggs with smoked salmon?’
‘It’ll be scrambled brains you’ll be getting if you’re not out of that bed in one minute flat.’
Tony reached across and wrapped his arms around Sue’s waist, pulling her towards him. He rested his head gently against her stomach. ‘Nine out of ten for last night’s meal,’ he said.
‘What do I need to do to get ten out of ten?’
Sue slammed her hand over Tony’s mouth before he could answer. ‘I think I heard Jamie getting up,’ she whispered, straining her ears. ‘I’m sure I did. Get dressed – quickly – and tiptoe down the stairs. Don’t stand on the second step from the bottom. It squeaks,’ she said, untangling herself from his arms. ‘I’ll go to Jamie’s room and distract him.’
‘You mean – you’d be prepared to try to con a seven year-old?’
‘Will you be quiet!’ Sue said in a forced whisper.
‘Okay, okay. I’m on my way.’ Scrambling out of bed, Tony pulled on his underpants.
‘Leave the Yale lock on the front door on the snib so it doesn’t make a noise when you pull it closed behind you,’ Sue said, snatching up her mobile phone from the bedside table.
‘I’ll call you,’ Tony whispered, pulling on his shirt and his trousers before planting a kiss on the middle of Sue’s forehead.
Jamie was out of bed when Sue rapped on his bedroom door. ‘How about you put on your Partick Thistle jersey so I can take some photos of you in it?’ she said. ‘Then you can choose the ones you want to send to Sean.’ When she heard the sound of a car engine starting up, Sue stole a glance out of the bedroom window in time to see Tony’s car pulling away from the kerb.
Jamie tugged his jersey over his head and Sue took snaps of him in several poses. ‘Pick the ones you want to send,’ she said, handing across her phone. Jamie studied the photos carefully and, when he’d made his selection, Sue transmitted them.
‘Okay, now get washed and dressed while I fix breakfast.’
As she walked down the stairs to the hall, Sue saw four letters had been posted through her letter box. She unsnibbed the Yale lock and closed the front door as quietly as she could before scooping up the letters and flicking through them. She recognised the first three as all-too-familiar bills, but she stopped in her tracks when she saw the fourth letter was a white envelope, addressed to “Jamie Paterson”. Both his name and their address had been typed. Puzzled, she ripped open the envelope.
Charlie’s phone rang and he picked up.
‘He knows where I live, Dad?’ Charlie could hear the panic in Sue’s strangulated voice.
‘What happened?’
‘A letter arrived at the house this morning, addressed to Jamie.’
‘What was in it?’
‘Just a playing card.’ Charlie’s grip tightened on the receiver. ‘It was the eight of diamonds, with a smiley attached, Dad – and it had a hand-written message on it.’
‘What did it say?’
‘It said: “Be very, very careful – because the next time, it’ll be the nine”.’
‘Christ!’
‘What should I do?’
‘You can’t stay there, Sue. It’s not safe. Where’s Jamie?’
‘He’s getting dressed.’
‘I want both of you to get out of the house as quickly as possible.’
‘Where will we go?’
‘How about Sarah’s place? Do you think she’d put you up for a while?’
‘I’m sure she would. But what reason can I give her for wanting to stay?’
‘Tell her the truth. Phone her and let her know what’s happened. You’d better not drive in case you’re followed. I’ll come across right now and drop you off at Sarah’s. Lock the front and back doors and don’t let anyone in until I get there.’
‘What should I tell Jamie?’
‘You mustn’t scare him. You’ll have to make up an excuse for going to Sarah’s.’
‘I’m frightened, Dad.’ Sue’s voice was trembling.
‘I realise that, love. But do your best to stay calm – for Jamie’s sake. Everything’s going to be all right. I’ll be there as soon as I can.’
Sue snibbed the Yale lock in the front door and checked to make sure the back door was locked before clicking onto Sarah’s number. As soon as she’d finished her call, Sue filled a bucket with water from the tap and slopped it all over the kitchen floor, then she turned the water supply off at the stop cock in the utility room before going upstairs to Jamie’s bedroom.
‘We’ve got a bit of a problem, Jamie.’
‘What is it?’
‘It looks like we’ve got a burst pipe. The kitchen floor’s flooded. I had to turn the water off at the main. I called the plumber and he’s going to come round this afternoon to have a look at it. We won’t be able to stay in the house until it’s fixed, so I phoned Sarah and she’s going to put us up for a few days. Grandad’s on his way across and he’ll drop us off there. I’ll leave a set of keys with Nancy next door so she can let the plumber in.’
Sue packed clothes for both of them before stacking some of Jamie’s favourite toys and games into a cardboard box. Standing by the lounge window, she peered anxiously round the curtain until she saw Charlie’s car turn the corner at the end of the street.
‘Okay, Jamie. Grandad’s here. Let’s go.’
Hurriedly putting her suitcase and the box of toys into the boot of Charlie’s car, Sue got into the passenger seat while Jamie clambered into the back.
Charlie checked his rear view mirror continually as they were driving away from the house. The traffic was light. A black Audi 4x4, two cars behind, followed him when he made a right-hand turn, and again when he turned left. When he pulled up at a set of traffic lights he saw it was still there, three cars back. Accelerating hard when the lights turned to green, Charlie pulled up sharply at the kerb in front of a row of shops.
‘What are you doing, Grandad?’ Jamie asked.
The 4x4 drove on past, but Charlie couldn’t make out who was driving through the tinted windows. ‘I was going to take the main road, son, but I forgot about the road works. We’ll be quicker going the back way.’ Waiting until the Audi was out of sight Charlie made a tight U-turn and snaked his way through the side streets.
‘How long are we going to be staying here?’ Jamie asked as they pulled up outside Sarah’s house.
‘It all depends,’ Sue said. ‘As far as I could make out, the leak seemed to be coming from somewhere behind the tiles in the kitchen. We won’t know how long it will take to fix it until the plumber finds out where the problem is.’
‘I hope it takes him ages!’ Jamie said.
Sue smiled. ‘I brought across some of your things for you to play with.’
‘Did you bring my new jigsaw?’
‘Yes.’
‘Sean’s brilliant at jigsaws. He can help me with it,’ Jamie said, as he scrambled out of the car and ran off up the path.
Charlie got out of the car and opened up the boot. ‘A leak in the kitchen?’ he queried.
Sue pulled a face. ‘It was the best I could come up with at short notice. Thanks, Dad,’ she added as she lifted out her case and the box of toys.
‘Can I give you a hand with those?’ Charlie asked.
‘No, I’m fine.’
‘I’m going across to your Aunt Grace’s now to see how Mum’s getting on. Give her a call and let her know what happened. And try not to worry too much, love,’ Charlie added, giving Sue a hug. ‘We will get him.’
‘I know you will, Dad.’ Sue gave Charlie a quick peck on the cheek before hurrying up the path.
‘Tea or coffee?’ Sarah asked, watching through the kitchen window as the boys thumped a football around in the back garden.
‘Coffee sounds good.’
‘What’s this all about?’
‘You heard about the recent spate of murders where the victims’ hands were cut off?’
‘Yes. It gave me the shivers.’
‘The murderer sent the amputated hands to my Mum and Dad.’
‘Christ!’
‘And now he’s threatening me and Jamie.’
Sarah could see the anxiety in Sue’s eyes. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m coping all right. It’s Jamie I’m worried about – and I’m even more concerned about my father. He’s the one who’s in the firing line. I can tell the pressure’s getting to him.’
‘Well you know you’re welcome to stay here for as long as you want. No one’s planning to use our spare room until Joe’s Mum comes to visit us in the middle of July. Come to think of it, you’d be doing me a big favour if you could stay till the end of July.’
Sue managed a wan smile. ‘This is really good of you, Sarah. I do appreciate it. Are you sure Joe won’t mind us being here?’
‘Depending how long you stay, he might not even know about it. I told you he was off on a work’s jolly in Winchester?’
‘Yes.’
‘They call it a management development course. More like an “improve your golf” course, if you ask me. He won’t be back before Thursday at the earliest.’
Charlie Anderson drove across town as fast as the traffic would permit, constantly checking in his rear view mirror to make sure no one was trying to follow him. He joined the M8 and drove past the exit for Glasgow airport before taking the slip road for Linwood and heading out towards Elderslie.
Grace came to the front door when Charlie rang the bell. ‘Thank goodness you’re here, Charlie,’ she said, looking furtively up and down the street. ‘Kay’s in the front room. Go on through.’
‘Thanks, Grace.’
‘Would you like a cup of tea?’
‘That would be great.’
Charlie walked along the narrow corridor to the lounge as Grace bustled to the kitchen to put on the kettle.
Kay sprang to her feet when she saw Charlie. ‘Sue phoned me,’ she blurted out. ‘She told me about the letter. What’s going on, Charlie?’
‘The bastard is just trying to scare us.’
‘Well he’s doing a bloody good job!’
‘I know this isn’t easy for you, Kay.’
‘It’s Sue and Jamie I’m worried about.’
‘They’re safe where they are. There’s no way he can know where Sarah lives.’
‘How can you be sure of that? He managed to find me in Sainsbury’s, didn’t he? And he managed to find out Sue’s address.’ Charlie took Kay in his arms. ‘I hate this bastard, Charlie.’ Kay choked back her tears. ‘Who the hell is he? And why is he terrorising our family?’
Charlie held Kay tightly as she started sobbing.
*
Sue was stacking the lunchtime dishes in Sarah’s dishwasher when she heard the familiar ring tone of her mobile phone coming from inside her handbag. She pulled out her phone and looked to see who was calling: Number Withheld. She swept her hair away from her face and put the phone to her ear.
‘Is that Sue?’ The voice was unfamiliar.
‘Who is this?’
‘Does Jamie like card tricks, Sue?’
‘Who is this? What are you talking about?’
‘Pick a card, any card. But if Jamie knows what’s good for him, he must never pick the nine of diamonds.’ Sue felt her whole body start to tremble. She gripped the back of a kitchen chair for support. ‘How is Jamie this morning?’ he asked.
‘Who the hell are you?’
A chuckle came down the line. ‘Someone who’s watching you, Sue. Watching your every move.’
‘Stop this – right now, you bastard!’ she yelled.
‘I have to go now, Sue. I’ve got a busy day ahead of me. But I’ll be back in touch with you later on to see how you and Jamie – especially Jamie – are getting on. You must never let Jamie out of your sight. You know how easy it is for little boys to get lost.’
‘Who the hell are you and why the fuck are you doing this?’
‘Why don’t you ask your old man? He’s the great detective, isn’t he? By the way, there’s no point in getting him to trace this call. I’ve got more mobile phones than you’ve had hot dinners and this one will be at the bottom of the Clyde before you even have time to let him know I called. You wouldn’t want to waste valuable police time chasing shadows, would you?’ A raucous chuckle, then the line went dead.