Nightingale was on the phone, so McKay tapped gently on the glass to announce his presence. Nightingale gestured furiously towards the phone as if McKay might not have previously noticed it.
He continued to smile and raised his hand to his mouth to mime asking Nightingale if he’d like a coffee. Nightingale ignored him, but McKay made his way along to the kitchenette. It was clearly going to be one of those days when he found himself repeatedly preparing coffee to help lubricate the wheels of his conversations.
He made two more coffees, deciding that Nightingale was probably the type who took both milk and sugar, and carried them back to Nightingale’s office. Nightingale had finished his call, though his expression suggested he was no keener to see McKay. McKay raised the two mugs so Nightingale could see what he’d brought, and then, without waiting for Nightingale to respond, pushed open the door of the office.
‘I told you to come at ten,’ Nightingale said bluntly.
‘So you did. And it’s firmly in the diary. I thought you might like a coffee.’ McKay placed the mug gently on Nightingale’s desk.
‘What do you want?’
‘I don’t want anything. On the contrary, I come bearing good news.’
‘Is that so? What sort of good news?’
‘Our first break on the Gillan case.’
Nightingale looked more surprised by the news than McKay had expected. ‘What sort of break?’
McKay outlined, as simply and clearly as he could, the gist of what Wally Kincraig had told him. ‘So it looks as if the Gillans were involved in something shady.’
‘Kincraig is sure about this, is he?’
‘Seemed pretty sure. Obviously, it’s early days and he hasn’t started delving into the detail of the various accounts yet.’
‘I don’t want to go jumping the gun on this. Not until we’re sure of our ground. The Gillans were solid middle-class types. We need to be confident we’re right before we start accusing them of wrongdoing.’
‘Kincraig seemed confident of the wrongdoing. It the scale and nature of it he’s still following up. The same with Paul Dawson.’
‘From what you’ve said, we’ve even less to go on in Dawson’s case. We don’t even have the detail of the accounts yet. Admittedly, there’s not likely to be much public sympathy in his case, but even so…’
‘I’m not suggesting we present any of this publicly yet, but it gives us a line to work on. Kincraig says they really need more resources over there so they can get things moving faster.’
‘I bet he does. I was already wondering whether we really needed their support on this. The likes of Wally Kincraig don’t come cheap.’
McKay took a breath. ‘The point is that we have good evidence the Gillans were engaged in dubious practices. It looks as if Dawson might have been involved in something similar. If nothing else, that gives us the possibility of a link between them. It also provides a potential motive for murder.’
‘It doesn’t explain why Dawson decided to kill the rest of his family, though.’
McKay hadn’t expected Nightingale to be effusive about the news, but he had at least expected the development to be received with a degree of warmth. ‘No, it doesn’t explain that. But it casts a different light on the case. Maybe we’re looking at something closer to organised crime than we’d assumed.’
‘I hope not. As soon as they start hearing phrases like “money laundering” and “organised crime” we’ll have the National Crime Agency on our backs. There’ll be the whole of Gartcosh up here grabbing the glory before we can turn round.’
Nightingale did have a point there, McKay supposed. He wasn’t personally too troubled about the NCA grabbing the glory, but he’d never found them the easiest to work with. They’d been involved in the Archie Donaldson case, and while they hadn’t been an active hindrance McKay had never been entirely sure what value they’d added. ‘Fair point. So for the moment we don’t make a big stooshie about it. But it’s an avenue I’d like to pursue. That’s why I’ve come to talk to you about it.’
Nightingale took a mouthful of the coffee McKay had brought and grimaced. ‘There’s sugar in this.’
‘I thought you took sugar.’
‘Look, McKay, I might as well be blunt with you. I’m not sure I want you pursuing any avenues on this case. I’m not sure I want you on this case at all.’
McKay donned the blankest of his expressions. ‘And I’m not sure I understand.’
‘There’s nothing to understand. I’m considering moving you off the investigation.’
‘On to what?’
‘It’s a question of making the best use of all our available resources. I was thinking of having a word with Charlie Farrow, see what he’s got on at the moment. He might need extra support.’
This largely confirmed that, for the moment at least, Nightingale was bluffing. McKay had transferred into Farrow’s team on a previous occasion and it hadn’t gone well. Farrow was now well and truly winding down to retirement and all he wanted was a quiet life. The last thing he’d be looking for was an opportunity to manage Alec McKay. ‘I’m still not clear why you’d want to do this, Brian.’
‘Because, Alec, you’re a fucking pain in the fucking arse. I hope that’s clear enough for you.’
‘It’s clear enough. But it’s not really grounds for taking me off the inquiry. I’ve done a decent job.’ McKay smiled genially. ‘For example, covering your fucking arse when you decided to go AWOL to get pissed and try to grope Ginny.’
Nightingale blinked. ‘What did you say?’
‘Didn’t I make myself clear enough to you? I thought I was speaking your language.’
‘Is this intended as some kind of threat, McKay?’
‘Threat? Heaven forbid. I don’t make threats; promises, sometimes. But never threats.’
‘If you want to get into some sort of fight with me, McKay, my promise is you’ll lose. And lose badly.’
‘I don’t know what you mean. I was simply justifying why I should stay on the case. You’d already have been screwed without me. We both know that.’ McKay’s smile was unwavering. ‘By the way, how’s the phone signal today?’
Nightingale’s mouth moved but no words emerged. Finally, he said, ‘You’ve gone too far, McKay. As far as I’m concerned, you’re history.’
‘What’s that thing they say? About history being written by the victors? But then there don’t need to be any winners or losers, as long as we can just all get along. Isn’t that right?’
‘I can have you disciplined. You know that, don’t you?’
‘I imagine you can.’ McKay leaned forward and the smile disappeared. ‘I don’t generally play dirty, Brian. Not if I can avoid it. It makes me feel… sullied. But when I do play dirty, I’m good at it. I’ve been having a few chats with mutual acquaintances down south. It sounds to me like you’ve got a problem. Maybe not a serious problem, just yet. But heading that way. Your behaviour with Ginny the other night was symptomatic of that.’
‘You don’t–’
‘Oh I do. When I was trying to track you down the following morning, I ended up making a call to the hotel. I ended up talking to the manager who confirmed to me that a couple of the waiters had reported trouble with an inebriated guest the previous evening. He’d been surprised because the guest’s booking had been made in the name of Police Scotland. I apologised on behalf of the force and said we’d look into it.’
‘That’s bollocks.’
McKay raised an eyebrow. ‘Is it? I’m afraid I inadvertently recorded the call.’
‘You’re bluffing.’
‘I’m not here to judge you, Brian. I reckon you’ve a problem and you need to get some help with it. It’s not my place to compel you to do that. I know you’ve already caused some embarrassment back on your own patch, and it looks like you’ve been protected so far. I’m not sure why, though I have my suspicions. But I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s why you’ve been shipped up here. Get you out of their hair before you cause them further problems.’
‘You don’t know anything.’
‘I don’t know everything. Not yet. But I know enough.’
‘What is it you want?’
‘Me? I don’t want anything. I just want to be allowed to get on with my job. Properly and unhindered. And I want Ginny to be allowed to do the same. I’m not interested in your squabbles, Brian. I’m not interested in you screwing over others to cover your own arse. I’m not even interested in helping you to deal with whatever demons you seem to be fighting. That’s your business. I just want to do my job. Is that clear?’
‘You’ll come to regret this, McKay.’
‘Maybe. But then I can just add it to the pile of other regrets I’ve accumulated in my life. In the meantime, just let me get on.’
‘And what does that mean?’
‘It means I stay on the investigation.’ McKay paused, watching Nightingale’s eyes. ‘And it means I want to talk to Archie Donaldson.’