He ended the call as Gower returned; she was carrying a laptop. ‘My daughter. She’s a criminal prosecutor: you should be thankful you’re not in Scotland.’

  ‘I hope never to go there again,’ she assured him. ‘Too cold.’ She opened the laptop and chose a file, from which she extracted an image, then turned the screen towards him. ‘David Allen,’ she said.

  Skinner gazed at the full-face photo. ‘Known in Scotland as Gavin Ayre,’ he murmured, ‘current residence cold storage in the mortuary in Edinburgh, where he’s been for just over a week. My wife did the autopsy and removed a sniper bullet from his skull. From what I know of the scene and the circumstances, even Lee Harvey Oswald would have struggled to make that shot. Merle, are you sure you’re in full possession of all the facts here?’

  She stared at him. Alarm registered as she considered his question. ‘Are you suggesting that I’ve been sent here to pick up the pieces?’ she asked.

  ‘That is what you’re doing. The question is, who’s been leaving those pieces behind? Is it an agent of your state, or is it someone else?’

  ‘Is that a question that I should even ask?’ she wondered. ‘If it was you, Bob, in my shoes, what would you do?’

  He closed the laptop and gazed out of the window, as if he was deep in thought. Finally he looked back at her and responded. ‘In my long career, I have learned two things about our nations, yours and mine. One is that there really is a dark side in each of them. The other is, don’t fuck with it unless you’re prepared to go all the way. You’re not, Merle; you don’t have it. Potentially you’re expendable. You’re here, playing secret games in a friendly country where you have absolutely no locus, and you are out of your fucking depth. Should you ask that question? Absolutely not. You should pack up and sneak off home.’

  ‘But can I do that, Bob?’ Gower countered. ‘I’m here with presidential authority and with the approval of the Spanish state. I don’t think I can tell the White House, “Sorry, I’m out of here.” ’

  ‘You’re here with the knowledge of the Spanish state, but that doesn’t mean its approval. Someone here might have given the nod, but you are still utterly deniable. My friend, I could put one in your head right now and walk out of here. Inside two hours I would be in my house in L’Escala having lunch with my daughter. What would happen? Nothing. Eventually the mess would be cleared up by the same people who sterilised the masia, and nothing would ever have happened. They wouldn’t even fly you to Dover; you would just go up a chimney somewhere. The ground’s too hard here in August to dig a grave; that’s why the Spanish mostly bury their dead in catacombs.’

  Then he smiled. ‘It’s just as well we’re friends, isn’t it?’

  ‘Will that do me any good if it was my side that took out Silver and Allen? If it’s so, you’ll leave here and I’ll be someone who knows too much.’

  The smile became a laugh. ‘In that event, it’s just as well you kidnapped a fucking media magnate, isn’t it?’

  ‘Won’t they go after you too? The dark side?’

  ‘Me?’ Skinner exclaimed. ‘A public figure in a European nation? A NATO member state? I don’t think so.’ He topped up their coffee from the jug, ‘However,’ he continued, ‘on the basis of what I know, I don’t actually believe that your side did it. There’s somebody else involved, another player in the game, one that the Catalan and Scottish police need to talk to. Does the name Geraldine Black mean anything to you?’

  Gower frowned. ‘Geraldine Black?’ she repeated. ‘No, should it?’

  ‘If your people were any good at their jobs it might. Not to blow my own trumpet but I found her with one casual enquiry . . . and I’m only a humble journalist these days. However,’ he continued, ‘let’s cover all possibilities, and keep you safe. To do that, I need to speak to the man who can do that.’

  He picked up his phone from the table and called Manuel Mateu.

  Seventy-Two

  ‘I know already what I will do, Bob,’ Manuel Mateu said. ‘I will communicate directly with the Presidente del Gobierno, the Prime Minister, and I will tell him that my department has discovered that US Secret Service agents have been operating illegally in Catalunya, without my knowledge but with the approval of the Security Minister in Madrid. I will tell him of my outrage that an important business figure was forcibly abducted by these people and detained. I know how he will react: with horror, because this is not something he would ever have tolerated. The security minister will be fired today. I won’t even have to murmur the threat to withdraw the support of Catalan members in the Cortes for this to happen, but I will insist that the three people who took you are expelled from Spain immediately and returned to the USA under police guard.’

  ‘That’s fine, but what about Merle Gower?’ Skinner asked. ‘Are you going to throw her to the wolves too? I have to tell you that I wouldn’t like that. If you need to, you can tell the Presidente that her safety is the price of my silence.’

  ‘I won’t need to. I’ll protect your Ms Gower in another way. Bring her to the Mossos headquarters; that’s where I am now. We’ll be photographed together at the entrance to the building, and I’ll issue a bullshit press release about her being on an official visit, at my invitation, to demonstrate the commitment of the Catalan Government to maintaining the security of American visitors to Barcelona, their number-one tourist destination. I’ll even back it up by ordering the Mossos to crack down on the pick-pockets on Las Ramblas. You’ll carry that on InterMedia’s channels, yes?’

  Skinner had made the call in speaker mode. He saw Gower’s eyes widen; she nodded vigorously. ‘I’ll ensure it,’ he promised, ‘and I’ll feed it into our US outlet too. What about the late Gilbert Land?’

  ‘We’ve never heard of him. His name will be wiped from the records of the Mossos; he’ll continue to exist as the owner of the Riudaura property. We’ll work out what to do with it later.’

  ‘What about Geraldine Black?’ he wondered. ‘DCI Mann and her colleagues in Scotland have an interest in her; she might connect to the Gavin Ayre, scratch that, David Allen inquiry.’

  ‘There,’ Mateu replied, ‘we may have movement. I will fill you in on that when you get here.’

  ‘Rupia to Sabadell, give it two hours and Ms Gower and I will be there. There’s a stop I must make before I go south, although Ms Gower will have to stay in the car.’

  Seventy-Three

  ‘What happened? You have to tell us,’ Alex demanded.

  ‘I can’t do that,’ her father said, pulling on the jacket that he had collected from his wardrobe after he had showered and changed into fresh clothes, ‘not now and maybe not ever. I’m here to prove to you that I’m alive and well, and not one of those holograms that Markie keeps going on about. Look, I have to be somewhere else very soon. You two still have time to catch that evening flight, and I want you to do that, so that you can put Sarah’s mind at rest. I’ve spoken to her and I will be with her as soon as I can, but it won’t be today. Do it for me, please.’

  She nodded. ‘If you insist. Can you run us to the airport?’

  ‘Sorry, no, I don’t have time for that either. Send our friend Stan a text; he’ll get you there if he can. If not, he’ll know someone.’

  He turned to Jackson, who was standing by the window. ‘Dominick,’ he said, ‘look after her, and Sarah too.’

  He nodded. ‘I will, Bob.’ He nodded towards the street. ‘What’s that you’re driving?’ he asked.

  ‘A Cadillac,’ Skinner replied. ‘The guys who snatched me were driving it, but they don’t need it any longer.’

  ‘What happened to them?’

  ‘Bad things.’ He smiled. ‘They probably thought the worst was over, but they’re going to find out quite soon that there’s more to come.’

  Seventy-Four

  ‘David Allen,’ Haddock repeated.

  ‘That’s what the Gaffer said,’ Mann assured him.

  ‘Where did he get that?’

  ‘It was the security minister who passed the message on. He didn’t say, but I assume it was from the Americans.’

  ‘The same Americans who . . .’

  ‘No, from their chief, from what Senor Mateu said. I don’t think those ones are saying much of anything just now.’

  ‘What do we know about him? Allen?’

  ‘He’s Canadian, born somewhere in Ontario that I confess I can’t pronounce, aged thirty-four. That’s all I’ve been told.’

  ‘Could that be yet another false identity?’

  ‘It could, I suppose.’

  ‘I’ll look for it anyway,’ Haddock said, ‘although it’ll probably be Monday before anything can be done. What about Gilbert Land? Was anything said about him?’

  ‘By the minister to me, no. By the Gaffer to the minister, I have no idea. They’re playing secret fucking squirrels, Sauce. All I can do is act on what I’m told. At the moment we have one live lead, and that’s the Geraldine Black woman.’

  ‘That’s if she is,’ Haddock observed grimly. ‘Alive, that is. I’ve got Jackie Wright looking for her here to see if she’s left any traces since that sighting in the hotel. So far she’s had no luck.’

  ‘She’s been invisible in Spain for a few days, but there may be progress on that. A car belonging to Gilbert Land’s been sighted in a town up in the mountains. Comissari Roza and I are going there once we’ve seen the Gaffer. He’s on his way here now.’

  Seventy-Five

  When Bob Skinner walked through the door, Lottie Mann experienced a wholly unprofessional urge to hug him. She dismissed it, instead rising from her seat and calling out across the room, ‘Gaffer, you took your time getting here.’

  He grinned. ‘Sorry about that, DCI Mann; I had to call in at L’Escala to pick up another jacket.’

  ‘You’re good though?’ she asked.

  His smile widened. ‘I haven’t felt better in a long time, truth be told. A night’s sleep and a strenuous work-out; that always does you good.’ A quick frown showed on the face of the white-curled woman who had entered with him.

  In fact, the attack of the night before had taken its toll on him. The drugged sleep had not been restful, there was an ache in his neck and he had pain in his back where the twin barbs of the taser had pierced his flesh. He wanted nothing more than to get back to Girona, to the paracetamol in his bathroom cabinet washed down by a couple of beers and some proper recuperation, before he saw Sarah.

  ‘Comissari,’ he said, turning his gaze towards Roza, ‘this is Ms Gower, an old friend from the US who’s paying a flying visit to Spain. I believe that Senor Mateu is expecting her.’

  ‘Yes, Sir Robert, he is,’ she replied. ‘He is in the major’s office with a member of our media team.’

  ‘He said he’d brief me on a Geraldine Black development,’ Skinner said.

  ‘Lottie will do that. Ms Gower, if you will come with me. The minister has limited time. Sir Robert, there’s a car outside and a driver; he’ll take you back to Girona.’

  ‘Thanks, that’s appreciated. Hasta la vista, Merle,’ he called out as they headed for the door. ‘You’re always welcome, but I’d rather be forewarned next time.’

  She glanced back towards him with the hint of a smile.

  ‘So, Lottie,’ he began as they left, ‘what have you got for me?’

  ‘For openers,’ she replied, ‘I’ve got your other jacket and your wallet.’ She reached back and took the garment from a hook on the wall. ‘The people that took you,’ she asked as she handed it over, ‘what about them?’

  ‘One needs a new nose, another won’t pick his for a few months, and the third might think twice before shooting anyone else in the back with a stun gun, now she’s had the experience herself. But that’s between you and me; the whole thing never happened. They’ll be on their way back home before the day’s out.’

  Mann jerked a thumb towards the door. ‘You seem on good terms with her, all things considered.’

  ‘Merle and I go way back. She assured me that her people exceeded their authority.’

  ‘Do you believe her?’

  ‘I choose to,’ he said. ‘She owes me and she knows that at some time in the future I’ll collect the debt. Now, what about Black?’

  ‘Land’s car’s been found in a place called Ribes de Freser. Lita and I are going there as soon as we can. It may be that she and Land are together, but . . .’

  ‘They’re not.’

  ‘How do you know that, Gaffer?’ she asked.

  ‘Don’t ask me, just believe it. Gilbert Land doesn’t exist . . . and as for Black, well, the name meant nothing to the Americans. If she’s in Ribes, then I’m pretty sure I know where she’s headed and what she’s planning to do, and I have no doubt that the comissari will figure it out too. Do me a favour; keep me in touch when you get there.’

  ‘Aren’t you going back to Scotland?’

  ‘The plan is I go back soon. But there’s another possibility I’m considering. And Lottie,’ he added, smiling as he headed for the door and his waiting driver, ‘I hope you enjoy the train journey.’

  Seventy-Six

  ‘We have a Geraldine Black listed on our service from Barcelona to Edinburgh, on Thursday the week before last,’ the Irish voice told Jackie Wright. ‘We had two flights on that day. She was on the first; it landed early afternoon. It was a last-minute booking, purchased online the evening before the flight was due to depart.’

  ‘What about the return leg?’ the DS asked.

  ‘There wasn’t one,’ she answered. ‘It was a one-way booking.’

  ‘Did Black actually catch the flight? Was she actually on it?’

  ‘Yes, she travelled. And before you ask, it would have been her; our Barcelona agents are scrupulous about ID checks.’

  ‘How did she pay for it?’

  ‘The only way possible, with a card; this one was linked to a PayPal account. If you want to trace it, that won’t be easy.’

  ‘She must have logged passport details, Donna, yes?’

  ‘Yes, she did. She’s a Singaporean national.’

  ‘Singapore?’

  ‘Yes. And she’s thirty-one years old. I can text you the passport number, Sergeant, if that’ll help.’

  ‘Yes, do that please,’ Wright confirmed. ‘Thanks.’

  She ended the call and crossed the squad room to DI Singh’s work station. ‘This Black person,’ she began. ‘I have her arriving here on a flight from Barcelona on the day before the man we now know as David Allen was murdered. That’s a new twist, Tarvil.’

  His eyes widened with surprise. ‘Too right,’ he agreed. ‘But,’ he cautioned, ‘if we’re thinking of her as a suspect, that only puts her at Edinburgh Airport. We need to establish a presence at or around the scene. How would she get from one to the other?’

  Wright frowned. ‘Any number of ways,’ she conceded. ‘She could have got on the airport bus, even the tram, and gone on from there, by bus or train to North Berwick. Or she could have taken an airport taxi.’

  ‘Or she could have pre-booked,’ Singh added, then paused. ‘I seem to remember reading one of the early statements where there was a taxi firm mentioned, picking up the victim and his girlfriend from a restaurant.’

  ‘That’s right: AJ Private Hire, the owner told Inspector Hill. It’s by no means a certainty but if he used them and there’s a connection, maybe so did she. It’s a medium-to-long shot, but it’s worth taking before we start on scattergun calls.’

  ‘Okay,’ the DI said. ‘You do that and I’ll brief Sauce.’

  Seventy-Seven

  ‘We’re changing cars,’ Roza told Mann as they emerged from the Mossos headquarters. ‘Where we’re going, it’ll be better to have an all-wheel drive vehicle.’

  ‘We’re going off-road?’ the Scot asked.

  ‘Probably not, but it will be a climb and towards Ribes de Freser the road isn’t exactly straight.’

  ‘How high is it above sea level?’

  ‘Not far short of a thousand metres; three thousand feet in your measurements.’

  ‘Bloody hell,’ Mann gasped. ‘That’s the height of a Munro.’

  Roza stared at her. ‘What’s a Munro?’

  ‘It’s our name in Scotland for a mountain peak over three thousand feet high. We’ve got two hundred and eighty-two of them and they’re my eccentric partner’s new craze. He wants to climb the lot. That said, “climb” is an exaggeration. We’re not talking crampons and ice axes here; you can walk up most of them.’

  ‘How many has he done?’

  ‘Since he got the bug, we,’ she said with emphasis, ‘have done forty-seven; he keeps a ledger. I must admit, I enjoy it. It’s worth it when you get up there; there are some beautiful views . . . that’s when you can see anything. Dan doesn’t wait for sunshine; if it isn’t snowing and the temperature’s not too far below zero, we’re off. Jakey’s old enough to come with us; he loves it.’

  ‘And you?’

  She smiled. ‘I’d never admit this to Dan, but so do I. There’s a sense of achievement when you get to the top and see another one scored off in the book. This place we’re going to . . . Ribes de Freezer . . . what is it?’

  ‘It’s a tourist spot. More a base for hikers than a resort. Small but pretty, surrounded by the mountains.’

  ‘What does the name mean in English?’

  ‘Nothing that makes any sense: I can’t translate it from either Catalan or Castellano. Ah, here’s our vehicle.’

  At the forefront of a rank of cars and people-movers all bearing Mossos insignia, a Mercedes G Class, was parked. Two officers stood alongside, a sergeant and a constable; they saluted as Roza and Mann approached, a gesture acknowledged by the former.

  ‘We’re not driving?’

  The comissari smiled and touched her epaulettes. ‘Lottie,’ she said, ‘if Major Teijero was incapacitated, or even fired, I’d be in command of this force. I only drive when I want to.’