Macbeth

Their eyes met for a brief instant before both of them looked away.

Part Two

10

The morning Chief Commissioner Duncan was found dead in bed at Inverness Casino was the second time in its history that Lady had immediately ordered the building to be cleared of customers and a CLOSED sign to be hung up outside.

Caithness arrived with everyone she could muster from Forensics and they closed the whole of the first floor.

The other officers who had stayed the night gathered around the roulette table in the empty gaming room.

Duff looked at Deputy Chief Commissioner Malcolm sitting at the end of the makeshift conference table. He had taken off his glasses, perhaps to clean them, at least that was what he was doing as he stared fixedly at the green felt, as though answers to all the questions lay there. Malcolm was the highest-ranking officer present, and Duff had occasionally wondered whether the reason he walked with such a stoop was that Malcolm, a bureaucrat surrounded by people with practical police experience, felt he was on such thin ice that he automatically leaned forward to catch any advice, any whispered hints. And perhaps Malcolm’s wan complexion was not down to the previous night’s drinking but the fact that he had suddenly become acting chief commissioner.

Malcolm breathed on his glasses and kept cleaning them. He didn’t look up. As though he didn’t dare meet the gazes directed at him, colleagues waiting for him to speak.

Duff was perhaps too harsh. Everyone knew that in chiselling out Duncan’s programme Malcolm had been both the chisel and the hammer. But could he lead them? The others had years of experience leading their respective units, while Malcolm had spent days running two stooped paces behind Duncan like a kind of overpaid assistant.

‘Gentlemen,’ Malcolm said, staring at the green felt. ‘A great man has left us. And at this juncture that’s all I intend to say about Duncan.’ He put on his glasses, raised his head and studied those around the table. ‘As chief commissioner he would not have allowed us to sink into sentimentality and despair at such a pass, he would have demanded that we did what we’re employed to do: find the guilty party, or parties, and put them under lock and key. Tears and commemorative words will have to come afterwards. At this meeting let’s plan and coordinate what to do first. The next meeting will be at HQ at six this evening. I suggest the first thing you do after this meeting is to ring your wives and so on—’

Malcolm’s gaze landed on Duff, but Duff couldn’t work out if there was any intentional subtext.

‘—and say you’re unlikely to be home for a while.’ He paused for a moment. ‘Because first of all you’re going to arrest the person who took Chief Commissioner Duncan from us.’ Long pause. ‘Duff, you’ve got the Homicide Unit. I want an interim report for the meeting in an hour, including whatever Caithness and her team have or haven’t found at the crime scene.’

‘Right.’

‘Lennox, I want a full background check on the bodyguards and details of their movements before the murder. Where they were, who they spoke to, what they bought, any changes in their bank accounts, some tough questioning of family and friends. Requisition any resources you need.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

‘Macbeth, you’ve already contributed a lot to this case, but I need more. See if Organised Crime can link this with the big players, those who would profit most from getting rid of Duncan.’

‘Isn’t it pretty obvious?’ Macbeth said. ‘We’ve dumped Sweno’s dope in the river, killed two and arrested half the Norse Riders. This is Sweno’s revenge, and—’

‘It’s not obvious,’ Malcolm said.

The others stared at the deputy chief commissioner in surprise.

‘Sweno has everything to gain by Duncan continuing his project.’ Malcolm tapped on some gambling chips that had been left on the cloth after the hasty evacuation. ‘What was Duncan’s first promise to this town? He was going to arrest Hecate. And now, with the Norse Riders down for the count, Duncan would have focused all the police resources on precisely that. And if Duncan had succeeded what would he have done?’

‘He would have cleaned up the market for Sweno so that he could make a comeback,’ Lennox said.

‘Quite honestly,’ Macbeth said, ‘do you really think a vindictive Sweno would think that rationally?’ Malcolm raised an eyebrow a fraction. ‘A man from the working classes, with no education or any other help, who has run one of the most profitable businesses in this town for more than thirty years. Could he be financially rational? Is he capable of putting aside a thirst for revenge when he can see what’s good for business?’

‘OK,’ Duff said. ‘Hecate’s the one with the most to gain from Duncan’s removal, so you assume he’s behind this.’ He was looking at Malcolm.

‘I’m not assuming anything, but Duncan’s extreme prioritisation of the hunt for Hecate has been, as we know, much debated, and from Hecate’s point of view anyone who succeeds Duncan would be preferable.’