TWENTY-FOUR

Kylie Sinclair told Harry before he left the police station that she was confident of securing Chipchase's release on the same terms as his. 'Assuming,' she added, with a narrowing of her gaze, 'he tells the same story.'

'It's the only story either of us can tell, Miss Sinclair. It's the truth.'

'Good. Let me know where you'll be staying, won't you? And make an appointment for you both to come in and see me. As soon as possible. We need to talk about next week.'

'OK. How long before they let Barry go, do you reckon?'

'If the questioning proceeds much as yours did… an hour or so.'

'Can you tell him I'll wait for him in the Prince of Wales?'

She smiled. 'Feeling in need of a drink, Mr Barnett?'

'Yes. And if I know Barry…'

'He will be too.' She nodded. 'I'll tell him.'

—«»—«»—«»—

Sergeant McBride also expressed an interest in Harry's future whereabouts when he saw him on his way.

'We'll need to have an address for you by the end of the day, sir.'

'You'll know as soon as I know.'

'Fine. But you do appreciate you can't return to Sweet Gale Lodge, don't you? It's sealed off as a crime scene and it'll stay that way for quite a while.'

'What about my belongings?'

'We let Mrs McMullen pack a few things for you. They'll be with her. Bar what we retained as evidence, of course.'

'Such as?'

'A disposable camera found in your room. I'll give you a receipt for it.'

'Half a dozen snaps of the gathering at Kilveen Castle. You call that evidence?'

'Maybe.'

'Of what, exactly?'

'Ah well…' McBride smiled. 'That remains to be seen, doesn't it?'

—«»—«»—«»—

A cold, grey morning greeted Harry on his exit from the station. Tired, hungry and unshaven, his thoughts manoeuvring ineffectually around the many problems he was beset by, he focused as best he could on the one thing he had to do without delay. He bought a high-value phone card at the first newsagent's he came to and rang Donna from the nearest call-box.

—«»—«»—«»—

It was the middle of the night in Vancouver, but Harry knew Donna would be worried by the lack of a call the previous evening. She answered with the speed of someone who had not been sleeping soundly and was certain who the caller would be. Initially, she was simply relieved to hear his voice. But her relief did not last long.

'Johnny Dangerfield's dead?'

'The police are treating it as murder.'

'My God, Harry, this is serious. There really is a murderer on the loose?'

'Looks like it.'

'I want you on the next plane home.'

'I want that too. But the police have other ideas. They've confiscated my passport.'

'What?'

'There's nothing I can do, Donna. I have to stay here until they've ruled out Barry and me as suspects.'

'Suspects? They can't be serious.'

'I only wish they weren't.'

'Right. If you can't come to me, I'll come to you. There's nothing else for it.'

'Don't do that. Please. It'd put you in hot water at the University and—'

'You think I value my job above your welfare?'

'Of course not. But it's unnecessary. They will rule us out. It's just a question of time.'

'How much time?'

'A week or so.'

'During which I'll be worried sick about you and unable to do a single damn thing to help.'

'You couldn't do anything even if you were here, Donna.'

'That's not the point.'

'It is. Because if you came I'd be worried about you. And Daisy would be worried about both of us. Whereas this way she needn't know there's any cause for concern. Not that there is, of course. Not really.'

'Oh yeah?'

'Listen. I can't leave the country. But I don't have to stay in Aberdeen. I'll go back to Swindon. Probably tomorrow. Clear the house out, as planned. I'll take Barry with me. We can watch out for each other. Next week, we'll come back up here and sort everything out.'

'You hope.'

'The solicitor's adamant they'll… eliminate us from their enquiries.'

'You've hired a solicitor?'

'Reckoned I needed to.'

'And what about Barry? He's not exactly a trustworthy guy, hon, is he? Are you sure he's… on the level?'

'He's never been “on the level” in his life. But he's as much in the dark about all this as I am. Until next week we're going to have to stick together. It's the only way.'

—«»—«»—«»—

The only way amounted to rather more than Harry was letting on. He had no intention of passing his week on police bail clearing out his mother's house, with or without Chipchase's assistance. But what he meant to do instead was not for Donna's ears.

—«»—«»—«»—

He phoned Shona next, intending to ask if he could come and pick up his bag before booking into a hotel. But she had other ideas.

'You can stay here, Harry. Then you and Barry can tell me what in God's name is going on. Who'd want to kill Mr Dangerfield? He was such a kind and gentle man. How did you work out Barry was staying with me? And what are the two of you going to do now?'

She had, it soon became apparent, many more questions than Harry had answers. He accepted her invitation and said he and Chipchase would see her later.

—«»—«»—«»—

Several brief calls followed: to the police, leaving a message for McBride to the effect that he could be found at the McMullen house, at least for a day or so; to Legg, Stevenson, MacLean, making an appointment with Kylie Sinclair for five o'clock that afternoon; and to the hospital, confirming that, as expected, Wiseman had been discharged.

Anxious to assure Wiseman of his and Chipchase's innocence, Harry then tried the mobile number listed for him in Dangerfield's letter about the reunion. But he was soon to regret doing so.

'Hello?'

'Magister, this is Harry… Ossie. I—'

'What do you mean by phoning me? Are you no longer in custody?'

'No. But listen. Barry and—'

'They've told me Danger was murdered. And that you and Fission are under suspicion. For that and sabotaging my car. I've no idea what the hell's going on or—'

'Neither have we.'

'Or what you've been up to. But in the circumstances I'm amazed — horrified — that you should try to harass me in this way.'

'I'm not harassing you. I'm just—'

'Phone me again and I'll report it to the police.' Wiseman ended the call there and then. And Harry did not redial.

Instead, he made one further call with what little credit remained on his card: to Erica Rawson. But she was not answering. He could do no more than record a message.

'You said I should get in touch if I needed help. Well, I do. Badly. I expect you've heard about Johnny Dangerfield. There's something I'm hoping you can tell me. It's important. Could we meet up? Soon? I'll call again later. 'Bye.'

That done, he headed for the Prince of Wales.