Summoning the Dead (DI Bob Valentine #3)(14)

8

DI Valentine’s office looked on to the main incident room. It was little more than a glassed-off corner of the bigger area, and he often referred to it as the conservatory in mocking terms. He did, however, have the consolation of the large windows that overlooked the car park and the broader sweep of King Street towards the roundabout. The office’s positioning also afforded the DI the ability to keep track of his team, who seemed to be returning to the station in greater numbers now.

As Valentine stood in the corner of the window he eyed the goings of the car park. DS McCormack had taken Garry Keirns to the front desk herself but was returning as Valentine pointed out Keirns leaving the building.

‘One of the funeral goers dropped off his car and left the keys with Jim. Not a bad car – a BMW,’ said McCormack.

‘Five series too; the three series obviously wasn’t flash enough for him.’

‘Not bad at all.’

‘Especially for a man who has never held a proper job these last thirty-odd years.’ The silver saloon pulled on to the roundabout and took the second exit. ‘Where does he stay?’

McCormack turned the pages of her spiral-bound notebook. ‘Inkerman Court. Do you know it?’

‘Yeah. It’s part of the yuppie development down the harbour.’

‘He didn’t say it was a flat, there’s no floor number indicated.’

‘No, Inkerman’s the town houses. Nice too, over three levels.’

‘Well, Garry Keirns hasn’t done too badly for a boy from the wrong side of the tracks.’ She put down her notebook and pressed her shoulder against the wall. ‘What did you make of him?’

‘I thought he protested too much.’

‘I thought so too. For a man who didn’t like our questions, his answers were very fulsome. You realise we’ve nothing to go on. I mean, he gave us nothing.’

Valentine turned away from the window and eased himself on to the ledge. ‘This case goes back years. We’ve just started. If Keirns is hiding something it might take us a while to flush it out.’

‘His police record doesn’t indicate any high-end crime. There’s a few cannabis possessions from years back but the biggest seizure was about ￡150.’

‘Makes you wonder why the local bobby even bothered at all.’

‘Maybe they thought Keirns deserved it, y’know, like he was known to them and they wanted to push it through the courts to teach him a lesson.’

‘Sounds plausible. Actually, when I think about the uniforms down there, it sounds more than bloody likely. Here’s a name for your notebook – Davie Purves. He was the beat bobby in Cumnock for donkey’s years, retired now, but he still stays out that way. Give him a yell and see if he has any inside info on Garry Keirns.’

‘Will do, sir. I take it you’re looking for more than gossip then?’

‘I’ll take what’s going, but if Davie knows there’s more to Keirns than the record shows then check it out too. They look after their own down there, the cops, but Davie’s a pretty straight shooter. He wouldn’t stiff you with any nonsense.’

‘OK, I’ll give him a knock. I’ll also pull Keirns’s social-security stamps. He hasn’t been surviving on thin air or a carer’s handout all this time,’ said McCormack.

‘Good idea. And get on to the Columba House folk – see what files they have on him. Might be nothing, might turn out to be juicy if we’re lucky.’

‘OK. That’s all noted, sir.’

‘Oh, and Blairgowan too.’

‘The construction firm?’

‘Yes. See who approached whom. Something tells me Keirns is not revealing the bigger picture there. Cumnock’s hardly the bloody Gold Coast, I don’t see developers falling over each other to snap up available land.’

‘Yes, boss.’ McCormack had been writing it down in her notebook; when she closed it over she spotted DS Donnelly. ‘Looks like Phil’s back, sir.’

‘Right, let’s get the squad together round the board. See what we’ve got so far.’

Valentine was first through the door, moving to the centre of the room and clapping his hands together. A diffuse collection of bodies took note, putting down folders and telephone receivers and gravitating to the detective inspector. The volume levels dropped to the point where the hum of the photocopier and the squeal of chair castors was all that could be heard.

‘OK, everyone, I’d like your attention please,’ said Valentine. ‘Phil, Ally, can we get you both round the board. Bring me what you have. It’s time we were all on the same page.’

‘Sir.’

Ally approached the board, shuffling glossy paper in his hands. He removed something small and metallic that he was holding in his teeth and started to pin photographs on the board. ‘Got some pictures from the photog, sir.’

‘This is before we moved the first body, right?’ said Valentine.

‘There’s more to come; this was all that was sitting in the printer when I was passing.’

DS Donnelly stepped in, leaning round Ally and addressing the DI. ‘Pathology has the first body, sir. Wrighty’s waiting for the SOCOs to finish up before moving the second.’

‘You mean it’s not out the barrel yet?’