The Long Glasgow Kiss

Devereaux held up appeasing palms. ‘Okay, okay … take it easy, colleague. Truth is, I can’t tell you too much about Largo. But you’re right, he’s a big fish. And he’s here, somewhere in Glasgow. I’ve heard all about your Three Kings … some half-assed Jock Cosa Nostra crap. Let me tell you … sorry, I can’t keep calling you Mr Lennox – what’s your Christian name?’

‘Just call me Lennox. Everybody else does.’

‘Let me tell you, Lennox, John Largo could snuff out all Three Kings in the bat of an eye. The difference between Largo and the Three Kings is the difference between shark and pond scum. The shark doesn’t know or care that the pond scum’s there, but he could destroy its universe with a flick of his tail. From what we know about him, John Largo is a step beyond being a criminal. He practically constitutes a threat to the security of the United States. A particularly dangerous, clever and well-resourced threat.’

‘So what is he doing in Glasgow?’

‘He’s spent the last five years setting up an operation that spans the whole damn world. He’s put together different elements in different countries, like links in a chain, until the chain reaches here.’

‘Let me guess … this is only the second last link in the chain? That’s why you’re here.’

Devereaux’s grin widened. He turned to Ferguson. ‘You know, you were right, Jock. He is a smart cookie.’ He turned back to me. ‘Yeah. Your family came from here, right? I mean, you’re of Scottish descent?’

‘That’s right. My folks shipped out from Port Glasgow.’

‘Yeah. Along with hundreds of thousands … millions of others. Russians, Jews, Germans, Poles … they all came through this port, along with the native Scots who immigrated to Canada and the US. This is one of the big departure points, Lennox, like Marseille or Naples or Rotterdam. Not just for people. Largo has something he wants to get to the States and he has people in New York waiting for it to arrive. People who have the infrastructure to make the most of Largo’s commercial opportunity.’

I sipped my whisky and nodded. ‘Let me guess, these people didn’t leave for the US from Glasgow. More like Palermo and Naples.’

‘Like I say, you’re a smart cookie, Lennox. I hope you’re smart enough to see the bigger picture. And it’s a very big picture.’

‘How do I know that you’ve not been sent over here by our spaghetti-eating New Americans?’ I said.

Devereaux gave a laugh that I didn’t like. ‘Detective Ferguson can vouch for me. And if that’s not good enough for you, you can call Superintendent McNab. The City of Glasgow Police are being very supportive.’

‘That’s sure big-hearted of them,’ I said.

There was a pause more pregnant than a Gorbals girl after a weekend in Largs.

‘Okay … Here’s the thing,’ I sighed, and said in my best okay-you-got-me-I’m-going-to-give-you-the-goods tone. ‘My client is a public figure. Like I told Jock, I’m investigating a missing person. And the person who’s gone missing is a relative of my client. A close relative. I went around to his apartment and Paul Costello lets himself in with a key. Costello thinks I’m a cop. When I tell him I’m not he asks me if Largo sent me. We end up having a bit of a heated discussion. I ask him who Largo is and he brushes me off, says Largo’s someone he owes money to. That’s it. All of it. Then a few days later Costello’s pop calls me in and I go through everything I’ve just told you. Then he tells me Paul’s gone missing.’

‘Just like your client’s relative?’ Jock Ferguson took his first sip of whisky.

‘That doesn’t mean it’s connected.’

‘What about this Bobby Kirkcaldy?’ asked Devereaux. ‘Jock here said you’re involved in some kind of case with him and it was when you were asking him about Kirkcaldy that you mentioned Largo.’

I waved my hand vaguely in the air. ‘No … that’s not connected in any way. It was just while I was talking to Jock that I thought I’d ask if he’d heard of this Largo. By the way, I have been asking all over town about Largo. No one has heard of him.’

‘That’s no surprise,’ said Devereaux. ‘Like I told you, Largo works on a different level.’

‘My point is, could we be talking about two different Largos? Like I said, I didn’t even have a first name for him until Jock mentioned it. Maybe it’s not John Largo at all.’

‘It could be,’ said Devereaux. ‘But we know he’s here in Glasgow and your mention of him is the only lead we’ve had in months.’

‘Aw, for God’s sake, Lennox …’ Ferguson suddenly vented his frustration. ‘Just tell us who your client is. All we have to do is go around and talk to Jimmy Costello and he’ll tell us.’

‘Then you’ll have got it from him and not from me. And I wouldn’t be so sure about Costello as a source of information.’ I sighed. ‘Look, I’ve told you all I can, which is about all there is to tell. So why not end the Mexican stand-off and you tell me what you know about Largo and what it is he’s involved in and I tell you if it fits with anything else that’s been happening?’