Macbeth

‘You need a bodyguard,’ Seyton said.

‘Do I? And what kind of bodyguard do I need?’

‘One who can fight evil with evil. Duncan had two, and after this business with Banquo, God bless his soul, there’s every reason to assume they’re after you as well, Chief Commissioner.’

‘Who are they ?’

Seyton looked at Macbeth with puzzlement in his eyes before answering. ‘The Norse Riders. My understanding is that they’re behind this execution.’

Macbeth nodded. ‘Witnesses in District 2 say they saw bikers, some of them wearing Norse Rider jackets, shooting at a Volvo outside a jewellery shop the car had driven into. We presume it was Banquo’s car.’

‘If Malcolm was involved, the threat to the chief commissioner may come from inside the force. I don’t trust all our so-called leaders. In my opinion, Duff is someone who lacks spine and morality. Of the threats outside the force there’s obviously Hecate.’

‘Hecate’s a businessman. Being suspected of murder is rarely good for business. Sweno, on the other hand, has a motive which trumps business sense.’

‘Revenge.’

‘Good old-fashioned revenge, yes. Some of our economists seem to undervalue the human tendency to follow our basest instincts instead of the bank book. When the black widow’s lover is lying on her back, sated and exhausted by love-making, he knows he’ll soon be eaten. Yet he would never be able to make any other choice. And there you have Sweno.’

‘So you’re less afraid of Hecate?’

‘I’ve told you today that resources should be distributed more sensibly, the witch-hunt aimed at Hecate has to be scaled down so that we can sort out other more pressing problems for the town.’

‘Such as?’

‘Such as honest, hard-working people being openly cheated and robbed of their savings by one of our more dubious casinos. But back to the point. Former chief commissioners have had bad experiences with bodyguards, but I haven’t forgotten how effective and brave you were when I was attacked by that dog at Cawdor’s. So let me sleep on this, Seyton. Actually, I’d been thinking of giving you a different post, one which is not so different from the one you were requesting, actually.’

‘Oh?’

‘Now I’m chief commissioner and Banquo’s gone, SWAT doesn’t have a head. You, Seyton, are the oldest officer with the most experience.’

‘Thank you, Chief Commissioner. That is really an unexpected honour and statement of trust. The problem is that I don’t know if I’m worthy of the trust. I’m not a politician, nor a leader of men.’

‘No, I know the type. You’re a watchdog who needs a master and a mistress, Seyton. But SWAT is a kind of watchdog. You’d be surprised at the detail of the instructions you get. I barely needed to think about how to apprehend the bad guys. And given the murders over the last two days it’s clear that the threat to someone sitting in my chair is such that SWAT will have to be used to actively protect the head of police HQ.’

‘Are you saying that SWAT will become the chief commissioner’s personal bodyguard?’

‘I can’t imagine that an arrangement of that kind would meet any resistance that can’t be quelled. In which case, we would be killing two birds with one stone. Your wishes and mine would be met. What do you say, Seyton?’

The sun was going down, and perhaps it was the sudden darkness falling in the room that made Seyton lower his voice so it sounded like a conspiratorial whisper: ‘As long as my orders come directly and in detail from you personally, Chief Commissioner.’

Macbeth studied the man in front of him. God bless his soul, Seyton had said about Banquo. Macbeth wondered what kind of blessing it had been.

‘My orders, loyal Seyton, will be unambiguous. As far as quelling protests is concerned, I’ve just ordered two of these Gatling guns.’ He passed Seyton the drawing. ‘Express delivery. Bit more expensive, but we’ll get them in two days. What do you think?’

Seyton ran his eye over the drawing, nodding slowly. ‘Tasty,’ he said. ‘Beautiful in fact.’

Duff yawned as he drove from a clear sky to dark clouds.

Ewan had woken him when he jumped up into the guest bed, with his sister hard on his heels.

‘Daddy, you’re home!’

They’d had breakfast in the kitchen with the morning sun low over the lake. Meredith had told the children to stop fighting to sit on Daddy’s lap and eat; they had to go to school. She hadn’t managed to put on the strict voice Duff knew she wanted to, and he had seen the smile in her eyes.