Chapter 29

To the other three, Sarge’s leap of faith seemed incredulous. It certainly was out there. It all hinged on just how close the brothers were and what they would do for each other. There was one person who would know for sure, Sarge told them. Sarah Fields got the shock of her life when the phone rang. She was a very private person and didn’t use the phone unless there was an emergency. Her B&B clients knocked on her door and she assessed them in person before agreeing to share her house with them. There was no on-line booking either. As far as she was concerned, a nice handwritten letter was the only form of communication, apart from face to face, that she would accept. Tentatively she reached for the phone expecting the worst.

“Miss Fields…. Sarah,” the voice began. Sarah Fields was sure she recognised the voice, but wasn’t sure what sort of emergency constituted a phone call and replied, “Is that you Inspector Downs, what is the problem.”

“Surely Sarah, we are on a first name basis and there is no problem I just need a bit of information,” Sarge responded.

“This is most unusual you know Inspect…. er um Bernard.” There was an audible gasp from Liz in the background who had never heard anyone us Sarge’s real first name before, not even Sarah his partner. “Is there someone there with you, Bernard?” Sarah Fields asked.

“Yes, there is. I have organised my phone so that other people in the room can hear you. There’s Liz, Chief Inspector McPherson and Acting Detective Sergeant Campbell. They can all hear you. So, please no swearing.” Sarge chipped back to her.

“As if I would ever do such a thing. That is a very clever thing that you have done with your phone. I assume that you want them to hear what I am saying too,” Sarah Fields said.

“If you don’t mind. We would like to know a little bit more about the McAllister boys and we thought you might be the best one to ask.”

“I’m not into gossip…. but those two scallywags; well, I could tell you a thing or two about them!” she said with contempt in her voice, “But they’re not boys anymore. They are grown up men, who still behave like boys, I guess. I remember that they were always in trouble and at school they got away with things because no-one could tell them apart. They’d take things and both would cover for each other. It was one thing after another, even as they went to high school, not that they lasted long there. First twins expelled at the school. It was wonderful when they were caught by the police and, I shouldn’t be saying this but a cuff behind their ears and a boot up their…. Well, I’m too much of a lady to say where…. did them a world of good or so it seemed. Those ‘little angels’ hadn’t changed one bit from what I’ve heard. They had just got smarter. But through all of this, there was not one fight between the pair. I hear that is most unusual for boys, especially for brothers. At school when one was bullied, you could bet that the other would be there in an instant to help out. Then it would be two against one or two against a gang. They rarely lost. What specifically did you want to know Bernard?”

Sarge looked around the room and the other three were doing their best to keep straight faces. Two things were obvious to everyone. The first being, that the twins were very close and they would do anything to help the other out. The second thing was, that Sarge turned bright red when he was called Bernard.

“I think that you have already told us what we needed to know. You have been most helpful. Look I was pretty sure that we were going to be coming back to stay with you at Inverness before we left for Australia, but that may not happen now. I want you to know how grateful Liz and I are for your kindness and hospitality and sharing parts of your own life with us….” Sarge began.

“… and the jam too,” Liz interrupted.

“We would like you to come out to visit us in Australia and stay as long as you like. My own Sarah would love to meet you and I would love you to see my children too,” Sarge offered.

“I don’t think I could do that, Bernard. I have never left Inverness before, let alone ridden on a plane,” Sarah Fields voice dropped in volume as she all but apologised.

“You are such a strong young woman. You can do it; and it might do some passengers some good to see the proper way a lady behaves.”

“I don’t know….”

“Well, if you are unable to come over, would you mind terribly if I brought, Sarah, Katie and Eloise over to see you,” Sarge suggested.

“I think I’d love that,” Sarah Fields said sounding a bit more upbeat.

“I might come back too with Michelle….” Liz again yelled.

“Who was that?” Miss Fields asked.

“That was Liz and she wants to bring her … er... um... sister back with her,” Sarge stumbled over his reply.

“Oh, that’s strange. Liz having a sister and a lover both called Michelle. Tell her that they both are welcome,” Sarah Fields said leaving Sarge totally flummoxed. He regathered himself and said goodbye before hanging up.

Shaking his head still in disbelief, he asked the three in the room, “What do you think?”

“About what? How a lovely old lady is more perceptive than you? Or about your theory about Ewan McAllister heading to Cairns to rescue his brother?” Amelia queried with a grin.

Donald McPherson cut in, “I think that you are on to something, but in order to convince the powers that be, I suggest that we check video footage of people flying out of Glasgow airport. We know his rough height and build. You can guarantee he knows where the cameras are, so we probably won’t see his face. Sadly, the passport check isn’t fully automated at the smaller airports in the UK and it will be just an official visually checking the passport photo with the person in front of them; and you can lay odds on them being less vigilant for those leaving than those arriving. The video footage might be enough to sway my boss to let us have an all expenses paid trip to your home town. Things move slow, but I think we have enough brownie points in the bank to get us across the line.”

Donald McPherson came back a while later, a frustrated man. Time was of the essence and the team had spent much of it going through the video footage and the image that they had come across resembled Ewan McAllister, but as McPherson had predicted, there were no full facial shots and the hat McAllister wore meant that his hair was also obscured. That was not the frustrating bit however. His request had been kicked upstairs and that meant the bean counters would have their say. Initially the response had been that it was really an issue for the Australian police to deal with and all the files could be sent over. McPherson had stood his ground and said that through the team’s efforts they had managed to have the main supplier caught; they had managed to have a whole lot of users and pushers arrested too; but what they hadn’t been able to do was to catch the middle man in all of this. He was needed to bust the whole network wide open. He told them that he knew it would cost money to send the team over to finish the case off, but the Australians were paying their own way despite them being critical to the solving of the British side of the case. That didn’t expedite the matter however and it wasn’t until two hours later that approval was given for two economy class seats. There was no mention of accommodation though. McPherson was livid and felt like telling them where they could find the ticket stubs when he was finished with them.

Sarge took him by the arm and sat him down and said that it was no time for politics and that they should take the tickets. He added, “The one thing about being independently wealthy, thanks to an old opal mine and a huge inheritance, is that you can spend it on what you like. We are all buggered, but we are going together. I am booking four business class seats on Emirates to Brisbane, two of which will be return flights as well. It will be my treat. I will submit the costs to my boss who will pass it on to Brisbane. They will argue the toss with your lot over here and a compromise will be worked out between them. We won’t lose out. As far as accommodation goes, there are no Sarah Fields over there. She is one of a kind, but both of you are more than welcome to stay with me at my shack on the beach.”

Liz guffawed for she knew full well that Sarge’s “shack” cost nearly a million dollars to build. She was also a little bit in awe as her boss hadn’t even shown any signs of discomfort about the long trip back. This was true, simply because Sarge’s mind was on other things. It would probably hit him when he arrived at the airport.

Sarge quickly made the bookings on the phone for the flights, rather than online as he couldn’t get an answer when he asked the computer a question. He was a bit disappointed that the earliest and most direct flight out was six hours away and had a nine-hour stopover in Dubai. That left them just over a day before the ransom was due. He rang Nat to keep him up to date on the happenings in Scotland and to watch for the possible appearance of Ewan McAllister on the scene. Finally, he rang Sarah to say that he and Liz were on the way home and asked if she wouldn’t mind hosting a couple of Scottish friends for a couple of days. Sarah was so overjoyed that Sarge was heading home that she didn’t really take on board that others were coming with him.

Ewan McAllister was already in Singapore. Had he known the events of the day back in Glasgow, he might have cut short his stay there. Most of the time he had gained would be lost by the overnight stay. His plane would touch down in Cairns just three and a half hours ahead of his pursuers.

Just as the team was leaving Glasgow police station for the last time, Donald suggested a drink. Sarge immediately thought it was a good idea but as they were flying business class, they could get it in the Emirates lounge.

“Do they serve scotch there, Sarge?” Donald asked with a cheeky grin. “I think it is time that you had a proper lesson on how to drink it.”

Sarge had a bleak smile on his now pale face when he looked across at Donald. It had just dawned on him that there was thirty hours of flying less the nine to be spent in Dubai. Perhaps a scotch was what he needed right now.