Fic: Picking Up the Pieces (Taggart) 4/6
Part Three
Monday
They were both too tired to say much as they grabbed a quick breakfast in the morning, using the last of her teabags and usable bread. She dropped him off at his flat to get changed, the car ride quiet as they listened to the early morning news reports.
She stopped by the hospital instead of phoning after a quick check revealed the warrant still wasn't in yet. The nurses were good enough to let her sneak in despite the fact it wasn't quite visiting hours yet.
"He's been stable overnight now, and there are a few muscles movements. All good signs but we need to wait until he wakes up to get the full picture."
At least they were using when and their tone was rather more hopeful. Just five minutes, she was told, the doctor will be around shortly and he'll need peace to examine him.
She nodded gratefully and slid into his room. It was hard to avoid seeing his injuries, even with the sheet pulled up to keep him warm. It was the first time she had seen him since the attack and she had to stop and cover her mouth, both to stop the sob that threatened and to stop the bile rising. Even now, with the edges of the bruises starting to turn a ghastly yellow, he looked atrocious and it seemed a miracle that one body could survive all that.
She managed to take a deep breath without gagging or choking on a sob and she took a step forward, the next step easier and she sat down on the chair beside the bed. She licked her lips, not quite sure what to say.
She gently held his hand between hers, more in reassurance than anything else. "You're going to have to get better soon. Me and Robbie are going to need a kick up the backside if you'll be lying here much longer." She blinked away the tears that had started and plastered on a smile. "Besides, you'll need to get up so you can have a go at the bastard who put you here." She didn't say the implied 'if we catch him'.
She let go of his hand after another awkward pat, they weren't very tactile with each other at the best of times and touching him just seemed to add another layer of how wrong this all was. "Anyway, I," she cleared her throat. "I can't sit about here all day. I need to go make sure Robbie hasn't killed the fiscal yet." She managed a proper smile. "Wouldn't want you accusing me of sitting on my arse all day either."
She took a deep breath and stood. She nodded to the nurse on the way out and she felt a little unsettled as she walked out the ward, not entirely sure if she felt better after the visit. She was a little buoyed by the fact he was still hanging in there and the fact the nurses were certainly more optimistic sounding than they had been. Still, he looked appalling and he still wasn't showing signs of consciousness yet. She paused on the way back to the car and leaned against the wall, the pebble dash digging into her back through her blazer.
She felt the urge to curl up and just hope it was all a bad dream creep up on her again and she had to close her eyes and focus on her breathing for a minute to head it off.
She reminded herself that generally speaking, the nurses in intensive care had good instincts about these things, and that combined with the fact that they were definitely onto something with Lewis, made the feeling fade into the background again. She pushed off the wall and by the time she made it into the office, she was almost calm, baring the usual parking related stress.
She didn't see Robbie when she glanced around the office, just the usual hubbub and messiness that accompanied the fact that the room was occupied twenty four seven. She pulled her chair out and started to take her blazer off, the office humid and not nearly as ventilated as it could be. She was about to sit when she saw the flimsy carrier bag sitting on the floor underneath her desk. Slightly bemused, she gingerly opened it.
She broke into a grin when she saw a small box of Scottish Blend pyramid tea bags and a white loaf. Her favourite type of Warburton's to be precise. Evidently Robbie had had a rummage in her cupboards while she had been getting dressed this morning.
That was assuming it was Robbie but she couldn't think of anyone else who would act the part of the tea fairy for her. She shoved the bag to the back of her desk with a foot and sat down. Robbie appeared with a cup of coffee in his hand as her monitor sprung to life.
He nodded in greeting.
"Thanks," she jerked her head in the direction of the floor and he shrugged it off.
"How is he?"
"Surprisingly okay." She shrugged. "Well, the nurses seem to think so, even if he does look like he's gone ten rounds with a lorry."
She obviously failed at keeping the note of fear from her voice and Robbie grimaced. The small semblance of a good mood she had managed to acquire evaporated and Robbie picked up on it.
"Spoke to the Fiscal," she managed to restrain herself from making a remark and he shot her a look that wasn't best pleased. "The warrant is finally on its way and should be here any minute now." He hit a button on his keyboard and frowned.
Obviously not in yet.
"Anderson just told me all the door to doors are back in now. Still nothing useful, apart from the wee old woman who thought she heard a car door slam at about the right time." Frustration coloured his tone and she agreed with him. That was about as much good as a chocolate teapot.
She let out a slow breath; it would do no good to get so frustrated this early in the day. She didn't have time to ponder on that anymore as Robbie's face broke out into a grin.
"Warrant's here."
She brought up Lewis's bank details, and Robbie phoned the main London branch he was registered with.
She sent off a copy to the credit card company, always easier to deal with than the banks, and the records were all ready sitting in her inbox by the time Robbie got off the phone. He muttered under his breath.
He shook his head. "Just dragging their feet. Should be here in the next hour once the manager has time to look out the files."
Fairly standard but as annoying as ever.
She motioned him around to check the screen with her and she opened the file.
She tried not to be too disappointed when the credit card record showed only a few internet purchases. They would check out each of the merchants of course but a quick look at the names included big online shops and various gaming sites. She tried not to sigh at the prospect of more dead ends.
She heard Robbie's huff of annoyance and she didn't look at him so she could stay calm.
"We've still got his bank details to check out,"
"And if he paid cash, or drove up?"
"Then we'll have him on camera somewhere." She tried to make herself believe it would be that easy. "Go and phone Duncan, see what else has come back."
He grumbled to himself again as he pulled his mobile from his pocket and headed over to the window. She watched him stare out the window, and glanced away when she saw him start to talk.
She slouched slightly.
"Don't tell me it's that bad already?" Mita appeared beside her.
She gave a small humourless chuckle. "No, no. Just Robbie and I squabbling again."
Mita raised an eyebrow.
She forgot sometimes that Mita hadn't been in CID all that long.
"Nothing new, par for the course at this stage really. Just Burke's not here to knock our heads together."
Mita nodded and smiled a little. "Alastair said you went to see him this morning?"
She nodded and reflected that the office was worse than a hairdressers for gossip.
"Nurses seem optimistic."
There was that word again. She was getting sick of it. She sat up straighter and noticed Mita was in the smartest outfit she seen her yet, which considering how new to CID and plainclothes she was, was saying something.
"How are you feeling?"
Mita sighed. "Nervous, which is daft because I've been in court before," Mita bit her lip and looked a little embarrassed at the admission.
"Well, it's your first time as one of the lead officers and you were with the whole case this time, rather than just part of it."
Mita considered that. "I suppose," Mita frowned. "I don't think it helps that I would be better off here."
Jackie shook her head. "No, you wouldn't and Burke would be the first to tell you that. You're close to putting him away, and that's worth more than missing a body for a few hours on a case of this size." She gave a lopsided smile. "Much as some of us would like to think that way, none of us are indispensable."
Mita smiled at that and Jackie could feel herself relax a little. "Have you had something to eat?"
Mita nodded. "Yeah, I was just going to finish my tea before I checked on the CCTV."
Jackie rolled her eyes. "Leave the CCTV and have a biscuit. Getting frustrated over this case is not going to help." Mita looked unsure. "I can make that an order if it helps." Her tone was dry and that was what Mita needed.
"Okay." She nodded and determinedly headed in the direction of the kitchen.
Jackie sighed. The first court case in CID was always tough and she wasn't sure she had helped Mita much.
"She all right?" Robbie asked as he sat back down at his desk. He nodded in the direction Mita had went.
"Just a touch of nerves. Remember those days?"
Robbie snorted. "Nah, not me."
"Oh aye, I forgot you were born cocky."
He pouted and she couldn't help but chuckle.
Robbie ignored it. "Duncan didn't have anything useful. No further on the blood and it turns out the fibres they collected are all generic black acrylic that can't be narrowed down."
No wonder he sounded cheesed off. He went back to reading something on his computer and she left him to it. She started reading over Turner's report about yesterday's interview. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Mita sit down again, cup of tea with her this time, and pour over some stills. She sighed. Well, if that was what got her to relax then so be it.
She heard the exclamations a minute later and looked at Mita properly. That had been the harshest language she had heard her use in the six months she'd been hear. Mita stood up and Jackie could see it was because she had spilled her tea down her front.
Still nervous then. Mita looked like she was on the verge of cracking up so Jackie stood and walked over to her desk.
"Did you burn yourself?" She asked as she saw the tea dripping off the desk.
Mita shook her head. "It just caught my shirt." She was holding it away from her skin as she mopped up the tea with a couple of tissues. She threw them in the bucket before she looked down at the damp patch.
Jackie could see her deflate and caught her elbow. "C'mon, loos." She gently turned her around and dropped her elbow. "Bring your jacket as well." Mita did as she asked and then followed her out.
Mita looked rather panic stricken by the time they made it to the mostly empty ladies. "Take your shirt off, we'll see what the damage is." Jackie said with a soft smile.
Mita went into a cubicle and emerged a minute later wearing her blazer and her shirt in hand. Jackie took it from her.
The damp patch was a long line down beside the button holes. She squeezed the excess out and rinsed with a little tap water. "It's a dark shirt so the tea shouldn't show so much." Mita leaned against the sink.
"Just as well it wasn't coffee then." Mita managed a weak smile. "I can't believe I did that."
Jackie could tell the embarrassment was kicking in now. She squeezed the wet area again. "Here, hold it underneath the dryer, but not too close."
Mita looked at her and she shrugged. "Done this a few times myself," she admitted with a smile.
Mita managed a nervous laugh, and her embarrassment seemed to fade. The loos emptied out and it was just her leaning against a sink as Mita dried her shirt.
Mita bit her lip again. "I'm really sorry, Jackie, I know you've got better things to do."
Jackie shrugged it off. "Needed a bit of a distraction."
Mita pulled her shirt away and checked the damp patch. She stuck it back under the drier. "I'm just terrified I'm going to mess the case up." She spoke louder to be heard over the noise of the hand dryer and Jackie moved to the wall beside her so she wouldn't be overhead as a PC came in.
"The evidence is solid and you've done nothing wrong. Yeah, they'll try and twist your words, they always do but you've been on court plenty of times before. Apart from what you are wearing, the process is exactly the same."
Mita looked thoughtful and aside from the hand dryer and the toilet flushing, it was quiet.
"I think it's dry enough now." Jackie looked down as well and nodded.
"Put it back on, we'll see if it's noticeable." She gave a small smile and Mita dashed off into a cubicle.
The PC emerged and smiled a greeting at Jackie as she washed her hands, even managed not to look curious at what was going on.
Mita came out as the main door swung shut. She was looking down at herself. Jackie squinted. "It's not obvious at all. If you keep your jacket buttoned, it'll be no problem at all."
Mita smiled in relief but double checked in the mirrors anyway. Jackie watch as Mita squared her shoulders. "I just need to talk a deep breath and remind myself I've done this before."
Jackie moved off the wall. "Are you sure there is nothing else? I've never seen you this rattled before." She hadn't. Ever since she had joined them, Mita had been calm, in control and completely unafraid to stand up to even Burke.
Mita shook her head. "I guess Burke being in hospital and investigating his attack has just thrown me a little."
"It's easier to butt heads with him than worry about giving evidence."
Mita laughed then ducked her head. When she straightened she turned to look at Jackie. "I don't know how you're managing to cope."
Jackie snorted. "Barely." She tilted her head. "It helps I've got Robbie to vent at." It was helping, though they would be lucky if they didn't cause severe damage before the case was over.
Mita laughed. "We'll keep an eye out for any bloodshed."
"That and caffeine overdose." She tried to go for humour.
Mita smiled again, and seemed more relaxed as she moved towards Jackie. She tentatively reached out and squeezed her arm lightly. "I've got a stash of dark chocolate if you need some."
Jackie managed a weak smile and Mita seemed to realise she couldn't talk about it much more.
"I'd better be off. I'll check in when I can and I'll just pretend they're in their underwear."
Jackie gave a soft huff of laughter. "Yeah. Good luck."
Mita nodded and walked out the loos, looking calmer than she had done earlier.
Jackie sagged back against the sinks. She felt drained and she rubbed her face tiredly. After a couple of deep breaths she turned around and faced herself in the mirror. She looked as bad as she felt, pale and completely washed out. Another deep breath and she stuck her hands under the cool tap, and let the water refresh her slightly. She leaned against the wall as she dried them. What she had said to Mita had been the truth. She and Robbie were venting at each other far too much and if she thought about it, she wasn't coping brilliantly.
She missed Stuart. He hadn't just buffered her and Robbie, the whole dynamic was different without him and given Robbie's near misses lately, and the break up with Chris, she was starting to feel a little adrift without Stuart.
At the very least, he would have brought a couple of bottles around and they could commiserate without worrying about hurting Robbie.
As soon as she thought that, she hated herself for it. Robbie was just as much her best friend and she knew how much he was struggling with the gambling and his debts. She leaned her head against the tiled wall, and it was lovely and cool.
She took a couple of deep breaths and there was nothing else for it but to stand back up and head back into the office.
--
Robbie gave her a concerned look when she walked back in but she smiled and stood beside him.
"Just giving Mita a few tips."
He looked at her a beat longer then nodded. "Bank details are just in but I've not had a chance to look at them yet."
She leaned down, resting her palms on her desk to get a better look as he opened the file. The second to last charge, made this morning, was a train ticket. Robbie picked up the phone and called National Rail. As he tried to find out the train the ticket was for, she looked over the rest of the transactions. No big withdrawals or deposits, mainly small withdrawals every week or so.
It didn't look as if he had regular work, at least nothing that paid by bank transfer, and he didn't have a lot of money in his accounts. She frowned as she recalled that most of the money had been recovered from the robberies but it was entirely possible that not everything had been. She left Robbie on the phone and double checked the file from London.
Burke's notes said all the money from the previous robberies had been found plus more, but they hadn't been able to confirm the exact amount from the disastrous one. It was more than likely they had managed to stash some away before they had been caught. No amount of digging had turned anything else up, but they had stopped searching after the case went to court. Waste of resources to search for an unidentified amount, so it seemed anyway. There had been no relatives left to keep the pressure up.
It was a sad thought but she had no time to dwell as Robbie was grinning as he put the phone down.
"Turns out the ticket's for the train to Glasgow. Should get into Central in about forty five minutes."
His grin was contagious. "C'mon, I'll buy you lunch."
--
Lunch, it turned out, was a roll from the Greggs opposite the main entrance to the station. They ate in the buzz of the train station, which was still calm compared to when they had tried to get parked outside. Their Police badges had certainly come in handy there.
They had to time to admire the building, and people watch and enjoy the relatively rare sunshine before the train drew in.
She held the picture in her hand and passed a copy to Robbie as they both scanned the crowds. It looked as if the train had been mobbed and she had to focus to make sure she didn't miss him.
It was Robbie that caught him first. They moved towards Lewis and he seemed to be expecting them.
"Officers. What can I do for you?"
"We'd just like a wee word down the station." Jackie plastered a polite smile on her face.
"I'll take a wild guess that this is about Burke."
Robbie nodded. "Aye. Any particular reason you decided to come for a visit?"
"I was just going to give his family my condolences." Lewis grinned cockily. "Pay my respects like. He does have a family doesn't he, or did he just turn up fully formed in uniform one day?"
Jackie raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think condolences are needed?"
There was a flicker of shock on Lewis' face and his grin almost slipped but he recovered quickly.
"Oh you know what the grapevine is like." He shrugged and Jackie would feel the urge to slap him forming, especially when he added, "Well, I suppose Burke always did have a hard head,"
She stepped forward, cutting off Robbie from doing something stupid and disguised the motion as guiding Lewis out the right exit.
She slammed the car door shut behind Lewis and slid into the passenger seat since it wasn't an actual arrest yet. Fortunately, Lewis stayed put on the drivers side in the back meaning she could catch glimpses of him in the rear-view mirror.
Given the way Robbie was gripping the wheel, it was probably best for everyone involved that he had to focus on driving.
It took them a couple of minutes to get out the parking space they had managed and then it was into the stop start traffic that happened so often in the city centre.
She closed her eyes briefly, in desperation not to roll them, when she realised Robbie was driving them the long road back to the station.
When she opened them, Lewis was smirking. He quickly wiped the expression of his face when he realised she was looking, only to replace it with a cocky grin again. She wasn't sure what was worse.
"I hope this wee conversation isn't about how I did it."
"Did you?" She asked pointedly.
Lewis' grin widened, "How could I? You've just picked me up off the train?" He tried to look angelic, but it wasn't a good look for him.
She avoided glancing at Robbie. They'd been fooled by that assumption in the past and she was determined not to again. She would need to see about getting a couple more officers to trawl through the CCTV records for both Central and Queen Street Stations, the bus station as well. Campbell was not going to be happy with that.
Lewis seemed to take their silence as a point in his favour, and seemed to decide to needle them further.
"Do you have any reasonable suspects yet?" He paused slightly, as if to let them answer, "Oh wait, you can't since you've resorted to picking me up off the train. Obviously Glasgow isn't producing the same kind of coppers as it used to."
"Listen, mate," She could see Robbie losing his cool, and if he hadn't been driving, he would have been right up in Lewis' face.
"Well there is that old adage of police work, the most obvious suspect is usually the right one." She plastered on a fake smile. "Can't say we've had any problems with that, have we?"
Clearly, winding up Lewis was an acceptable substitute whilst driving. "No, specially when they've got form."
Lewis looked as if he was up for the challenge. "Now, I've done my time,"
"No thanks to Matt Burke."
Lewis gave a flash of anger but controlled himself quickly. Clearly prison had done wonders for his temper. She resisted the urge to sigh. Great.
"Well I'm sure you can tell him that in person when he wakes up."
"You sure he's going to wake up? What if his attacker comes back to finish the job?"
"Is that a threat? Robbie growled but Lewis just laughed it off.
"No, no, just worried for his safety."
"If you were so worried you could always tell us the last time you spoke to Burke."
"Ages ago, probably at my sentencing." He waved it off.
"You sure about that?"
She shifted in the chair slightly, not liking Robbie's tone.
"Yeah. Next you'll be asking for my alibi."
"What is your alibi?"
She tensed further, only years of practise stopping her from showing it. She settled for putting the window down a crack and forcing Robbie to look at her.
"Stuffy in here."
She made a cutting gesture with her hand, hidden from view from the back seat. Robbie was veering far too close to interrogation, especially when he hadn't been read his rights yet, or wasn't even on tape.
Lewis laughed, and he looked as if he had picked up on the tension. He held up his hands. "You've caught me. I've no iron clad alibi because it was me that did it." He still had the cocky grin plastered on his face and she saw Robbie tense up again.
"Am I going to need a lawyer?"
She was ready to smack Lewis herself by this point, and he obviously knew at as he let out another laugh. She managed to grit her teeth.
"Probably best. We wouldn't want you to get done for something you didn't do." He tone was tighter than she would have liked but the smile that accompanied it was better.
Robbie glanced over at her but he focused on turning into the street and getting parked again.
Lewis stopped looking quite so smug as they took him into the station but he gave them a glimpse of it when they left him alone in the interview room to wait for his lawyer.
They stopped off to make the requests for the CCTV footage, and to second another couple of PC's. Campbell wasn't going to be happy about the resources being used, but most of the office was putting in unpaid overtime anyway.
They headed for the kitchen next, and they needed to plan their approach. There was a part of her that screamed at her that this was their guy, that he had been entirely serious when he had confessed in the car.
The more realistic part of her knew he was going to be tricky, and what they had so far was flimsy at best. Gut instinct didn’t count for anything.
She just wanted to get in there and demolish him regardless.
Robbie clearly felt the same and he wouldn't stand still.
"Robbie," It came out sharp and he turned on her.
"What the hell were you agreeing to a lawyer like that?" He stood close to her and tried to intimidate her. She'd known him far too long and closely for that to work though. She placed her mug down, getting angry back would just cause things to deteriorate.
"Because he's a cocky bastard and I don't want this to go wrong." That didn't stop her from practically growling the words and Robbie knew her well enough that that brought him up short and forced him to think. "You know as well as I do that he feels utterly right, but we have absolutely nothing to prove it yet."
He sagged against the units. "Fine." By his tone though, he clearly wasn't completely fine with it yet.
She picked up her tea again. "Oh don't sulk, we've both been in CID long enough to know better."
"Aye? Well I don't see you jumping for joy either."
She bit her lip to avoid replying and her grip increased on her cup. It would blow over, it always did. She had to take a deep breath though. "I don't want him to walk either." She rinsed her cup out and they stood quietly for a minute.
"That's the lawyer here." Becky, one of the support staff stuck her head round the edge of the door.
"Did you put him in with him?" Robbie asked.
Becky nodded. "Just the now." She vanished with a small reassuring smile.
They stood quietly for a minute, giving Lewis time to chat.
"C'mon, we'd better get started. I'd best go first."
He didn't look entirely pleased with that but he saw the reasoning behind it and nodded.
--
She could tell by the way Lewis put on his best terrified reaction when they walked in the door that this wasn't going to go quickly. Even worse, she recognised the lawyer. Ben Silvers, just as cocky as his client, and very expensive. She buried her shock and smiled.
Robbie sat beside her after he started the tape.
Silvers jumped in first. "I have to strongly protest my client being questioned like this, especially after he has just finished a long train journey."
Jackie started, keeping her tone even and pleasant. "We made it clear that we just wanted to have a chat with Mr Lewis."
"And intimidating him is the best way to go about that?" Silvers looked stern and appalled.
She smiled sweetly. "We were just answering his enquiries about Chief Inspector Burke."
Robbie spoke up for the first time. "We barely spoke before he confessed. Definitely a sign of a guilty conscience." He smiled at Silvers and she couldn't help but wish Robbie hadn't said anything just yet as Lewis flashed a smug grin before he ducked his head and talked to Silvers.
On the other hand, it seemed the fact they did visual recording these days as well hadn't quite sunk in yet.
She glanced towards Robbie and he gave the smallest of shrugs. He appeared to be bemused as well.
"A coerced confession, if there even was one at all. Mr Lewis tells me he felt intimated, that both of you created a hostile environment in the vehicle. I can't say I blame him. Two Inspectors coming for a recently released model prisoner? Interrogating him in a car without proper monitoring?" Silvers scoffed. "You've practically written our defence for us, assuming of course, that such stupidity even gets that far."
As much as she had been expecting it, to hear it laid out exactly how Lewis was trying to play them was still a blow, especially since it seemed she'd got her hopes up higher than she had realised. She didn't have time to think it over though, Robbie had leaned forward and looked as if he was about to let his anger free.
She kicked him under the table instead.
He managed to hide it well, and he avoided glaring at her for the moment. They pulled full attention to Silvers instead, who was looking incredibly pleased with himself.
She plastered on a smile instead. "Our actions were hardly designed to intimidate, we brought Mr Lewis to the station as quickly as traffic would allow, we even had the radio on. Quite frankly it's odd to see someone with whom we just wanted a quick chat to go on the offensive so quickly."
She deliberately looked more bemused than she already was.
"Well, as we have already stated, my client has not long been released from prison and uneasy around police officers. It's hard to blame him."
"Most ex-prisoners don't go around hiring expensive lawyers."
"My client felt that there was the distinct possibility of being fitted up for a crime he didn't commit. He wanted to make sure he was protected."
"All right, we'll give him that but we would like to ask a few questions all the same." She smiled politely again.
"We'll go gentle on him." Robbie added.
Silvers looked at Lewis then back to them. "My client is willing to answer a few questions for the sake of cooperation. However I don't want this turning into a witch hunt because you are too inept to find a proper suspect."
Well, that was them told wasn't it? Clearly he was trying to rile them into making a muck up but she would be damned if she let that happen.
"Where were you on Friday?" Robbie started with the actual questions.
"At home, enjoying a relatively quiet night in with a few pals." Lewis spoke now and Silvers sat quietly for once.
"And they'll all verify that will they?" Robbie's tone was still even.
Lewis smirked. "Of course."
"And you wouldn't be found to be coercing an alibi for yourself would you?"
"Inspector Reid, I expected better of you."
"We've got to ask. We'll need the details of these friends." She slid a notepad and pen across to Lewis.
Lewis glanced at Silvers briefly, then it was silent as he wrote.
Silvers spoke again. "I would like to know the reasoning behind questioning my client. Surely there are suspects who were in the city at the time?"
"None with the same form and motive."
"Motive? If you are looking into everyone Matt Burke put away, then you will be here to next Christmas."
"Yes, but you see," Jackie took the notepad back again. "None of them have such a strong motive as their brother dying inside."
"All right, I'm calling a halt to this. Both of you are clearly antagonistic towards my clients and unless you have reason to arrest my client, we will be leaving." Silvers stood and looked at them expectantly.
She looked at Robbie and her heart sunk. They certainly didn't have enough to arrest Lewis, and worse, they hadn't even finished the interview. Clearly they weren't going to and Lewis stood.
Robbie shook his head. "We'll need to talk to your client," Robbie put the emphasis on that as he looked at Silvers, "again, so don't leave Glasgow." Silvers raised an eyebrow at Robbie's tone. "I'm sure you have plenty of ideas on who would like to hurt Burke." He managed to make it sound pleasant and she was impressed with the effort it took.
Robbie switched the tape off and Silvers guided Lewis out the room.
Lewis glanced over his shoulder at them and smirked. "If I can be of any help…" The smirk stayed as he turned back and left.
She had to ball her fist to avoid hitting something. The gall, after he'd played them like that. She forced herself to take a deep breath, managed to hold it together enough to hear Robbie do the same.
She stormed out the interview room, not caring if the door slammed. She was furious with herself. They had barely spoken to him and now they were a couple of steps backwards. All because they were too frustrated to see the fact he'd seen them coming and planned better than they had.
It confirmed in her gut that he was the right one but it didn't help her anger at their stupidity. She yanked open her desk drawer and pulled out a packet of chewing gm. She slammed the drawer shut and sat down, chomping rather viciously on the gum to avoid hitting something.
She tried not to curse when she bit down in the inside of her cheek and her eyes watered.
She widened her eyes, willing desperately not to let a tear escape because it would lead to a bout of crying. That wouldn't go down well in the office or with Campbell once she got wind of it. Not that she needed much provocation to take them off the case, after that disaster, she was surprised she hadn't shown up in the office already.
She tried not to think about that, no point in chancing the devil. She took a sip of the cold coffee sitting in her desk and tried to calm down. Anger wasn't going to help now.
It took at least five minutes to feel steady enough to open the notebook, even that was rushed as she felt the glances at her by some of the others, whispering starting.
She typed the first name into the database, seeing what background they had. She had just managed to calm herself into letting the background fade away and focusing solely on the screen when Robbie thumped down into his seat and slammed his drawer. She jumped slightly and she looked up at him.
His expression was fairly neutral but his body language was pissed as hell. She could see the effort he was making to ensure it didn't spill over.
His pen fell victim to it first.
"Checking his alibi?" He managed.
"Just started."
He nodded. "I'll check on the CCTV."
They hadn't been as stilted with each other in a long while, usually they would let rip at each other, but he seemed as frightened as her as to what would happen if they did let loose.
She could feel his eyes on her as she stared at her computer screen and it took a colossal effort not to stare back and let loose on the argument that would inevitably follow. As much as Robbie was practically daring her to make the first move, and how much ranting and railing would make her feel better, that wasn't really her and she wasn't going to give in to it now.
He backed off and she was dimly aware of him leaving as she typed more details into the database, her fingers hitting the keys with a lot more force than was necessary.
She managed to lose track of time as she kept a lid on things and focused so intently on the job in front of her that she jumped when the phone rang.
Campbell wanted a word with both of them. Be in her office in ten minutes.
She swallowed and felt drained. She knew it had been coming and now it was here she just wanted to cry a little. Probably a better reaction than the anger that covered. She took one more deep breath then spat out her chewing gum into a tissue. She took another swig of cold coffee and squared her shoulders. She needed to find Robbie.
She found him hovering over one of the PC's checking the footage. Normally she would have found the PC's expression of annoyance amusing but she didn't have any energy for that today.
"Campbell," was all she said and she walked back out, and didn't check to see if he was following.
He caught up with her at the stairs and they made their way to Campbell's office in tense silence.
--
Campbell clearly wasn't happy when they stepped into her office. She didn't say anything straight away, letting her disapproval be been as she sat and didn't gesture for them to join her.
"Tell me exactly what happened." Campbell looked expectantly at them.
Jackie swallowed and tried not to glance at Robbie. The tension between them must have been obvious.
"We picked up our main person of interest off the London train." Robbie clearly wasn't going to say anything, not when she could feel the tension radiating off him.
"The suspect you we're talking about with the similar marks?"
Jackie nodded. "He made a confession in the car, somewhat jokingly so we didn't pin our hopes on it. He asked for his lawyer, who turns out to be Ben Silvers."
Campbell raised an eyebrow at that. "Go on,"
"We didn't get very far into questioning as Lewis and Silvers claimed we had intimidated Lewis and since they were merely here as a courtesy they were leaving unless he was arrested."
"And there isn't anything to arrest him with." It wasn't a question.
They both nodded anyway.
"So what exactly did you get from this, other than the possibility of a complaint against both of you and mucking up the chances of a prosecution?"
She swallowed and she could feel Robbie getting angrier beside her. She didn't reach out to him this time though, but took a step forward herself.
"Ma'am,"
"I expected more from you, Jackie," Campbell stood, finger tips lightly resting on the desk. "Tell me why I shouldn't take the pair of you off the case and get Professional Standards in pre-emptively."
She had to take a deep breath. "Because he played us, Ma'am,"
"That's supposed to be an argument in your favour?" Campbell looked incredulous.
"The point is, this wasn't just some random act he decided on when we picked him up. He had one of the best defence lawyers in the city ready to accompany him and he knew exactly what would frustrate us the most."
"And there is nothing in his records or notes that describe him as that well organised." Robbie added.
"All of which make his seem even more likely. It's awfly expensive to go to all this bother if he is just wanting to wind us up, especially for someone with no fixed income." She could see Campbell was considering it and didn't say anything else.
There was silence for a minute while Campbell looked them over. Jackie tried to relax, perhaps in vain to show things weren't taking quite the toll they were.
She thought for a minute that Campbell was going to take them off the case, possibly make them take a day's leave but Campbell sighed instead and sat down again.
"All right, this is what we'll do. I want a full report of what happened today, a blow by blow description," She aimed this part specifically at Robbie, "so we can be ready if,"
"Lewis,"
"Lewis or Silvers make a complaint. I want it on my desk before you leave tonight. Once that is done, you are both going to spend some time on your other cases, then you are both going to leave relatively early and work out your frustration. I don't care how, as long as Burke wouldn't reprimand either of you for it, so long as that when you come in first thing tomorrow you are both level headed and ready to do your best." She paused to look sternly at them. "This is your last chance, I will assign another team if either of you make the slightest mistake. That means no more playing into his hands, regardless of how much of a smug wee bastard he is. Understood?" Campbell stared expectantly.
Jackie nodded, a little disbelievingly, both at Campbell's language and the fact they were still on the case. "Yes, Ma'am."
Robbie managed the words at the same time.
"Good, now get me those reports." Campbell pulled a folder closer to her and started reading it, a clear dismissal. Robbie left first and she closed the door behind her.
She managed to let out a sigh of relief when they walked out into the corridor. That had been a lot better than expected, and Campbell had their back, even if it was dependant on them not making any more mistakes. She almost felt as if she had a second chance and that let the anger and frustration settle slightly.
Robbie clearly didn't feel the same, letting the fire doors swing with more force than was necessary. "I can't believe we managed to get fucking played like that."
She let him rant on, knowing if she interrupted him now it would be directed at her instead.
"Bloody Professional Standards."
She tried not to let the anger beat out everything else again, and Robbie caught her grimace.
"What?"
She shook her head. "Just trying not to get too pissed again."
He snorted. "Well it's all right for you, it'll be me Standards will be after."
She bit back the reply as they stood outside the office doors and Wilkinson walked out.
Wilkinson smiled at them both. "Survived your trip then?" His smile dropped as he caught the tension.
She covered it with a polite smile. "Was better than we expected. Just might be having a visit from Professional Standards."
"Ahh." Wilkinson nodded. "Sorry to be the bearer of more bad news, but yous have missed dinner. And Mita phoned, her court case has some delays and she's not going to be in tomorrow." He shrugged and carried on past them.
She had to bite back a scream of frustration and neither of them said anything as they barged into the office, both of them swinging the door with more force this time.
She sat down at her desk, glancing at an update that wasn't very helpful from CCTV, mainly eliminations of those cars in the area they'd found.
She took another deep breath and opened a blank incident report on her computer. She jotted down an outline of events in her notepad and seeing it written down so starkly made the anger rise again.
How could they have been so stupid? All their years of dealing with crap like this and they just fell apart?
She threw her pen down. She knew really that it was because they were so close to the case, but that wasn't any consolation.
She closed her eyes briefly, just listening to the bustle of the room and the sound of the rain against the window, and she managed to settle enough to open her eyes and start typing.
As long as she pretended that it was just a normal report that she was neutral in then it wasn't quite as difficult. It was somewhat spoiled when she could hear Robbie sighed and cursing to himself, and she had to read parts several times over as she kept making typos.
She had to clench and loosen a fist as the anger started to build again, building off Robbie's mood as she read over her finished report and the run ins started playing over in her head again.
She had nearly finished when Robbie picked up the phone. She listened into the conversation when she heard him ask for Burke's ward.
His body language didn't improve and he slammed the phone down. He caught her watching. "No improvement." He sounded gruff and walked to the printer.
"You finished yet?"
She shook her head. He grabbed his print out and hit the stapler so the sound resonated.
He winced at the noise, shaking his hand a little. The paper crinkled slightly in his other hand. He looked furious, as if he wanted a fight.
"Nearly ready? And I'll take it with mine?"
She shook her head again, she needed to calm down enough to check it over with a cold eye.
"Fine," He ground the word out, "if you don't want me to see it,"
"It's not finished yet," She had to grit her teeth as well, and if she spoke again she knew it would be to pick a fight.
He seemed to know this as well. He leaned forward and grabbed his car keys and stormed out, the doors banging after him again. The office quietened and heads turned to look at her. She tried not to let the anger and upset show, staring at her computer screen and pulling her keyboard closer towards her. She needed a break from the report so she randomly selected a window and ended up on her email.
Seven new since she had last checked, which seemed like an age ago. She tried to let the anger fade away, and as the noise built up again around her, it was easier to pretend nothing had happened.
There were a couple of office circulars, neither of which held anything important, a couple of enquires about Burke's health and one from the head office marked important. She skimmed the rest of the subject headings, updates on some of her other cases that she should check.
She read through them, a few new images on CCTV, a possible lead that she assigned to be followed up on but nothing earth shattering. She clicked onto the one from head office, more to see what new hoops they were going to make them jump through now.
She wasn't far off, an update on the timeline and handbook for the new Police Service for Scotland. She closed it as soon as she realised. She really wasn't up to thinking about all that would entail just now.
She opened the report again. The sooner she finished, the sooner she could put it behind her and try and calm down.
Without Robbie there to add to her tension it seemed to go faster, or maybe it was just there wasn't that much left to do. She hit print and leaned back in her chair.
She tried to get back into working some of her other cases but she just couldn't. She grabbed her jacket and handbag instead and left, only stopping long enough to put her report on Alise's desk on her way out.
She got into her car and she realised she was shaking with, frustration, anger, she wasn't entirely sure. She rested her head against the steering wheel and took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm down. She heard her phone beep its alert for low battery and she rummaged in her bag to get it. She plugged it into the cigarette lighter and watched as the screen brightened. She started at the battery symbol for a moment and contemplated phoning Stuart.
As much as she needed to hear his reassurances and his likely voice of reason, she knew how busy he was and the guilt for making him feel worse about not being here would cancel out any benefit she would get from it. She put the phone down even as she knew he would hate it for not phoning when she needed to.
Her hands were still shaking though and for all she was tired, there was no way she was going to get to sleep soon. She glanced at the clock. Too late to hit the supermarket for wine, and she was in no mood to find a pub. She sat gripping the wheel, not entirely sure what she should do. Then she remembered she'd put her clean gym kit in the boot in the vain hope it would convince her to go more often. She sat upright. The gym at the station, as dismal as it was, especially at this time of night, would still be open. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. In a rush of activity, she disconnected her phone, grabbed her bag out the boot and locked the car behind her.
The corridor down to the gym was fairly quiet, just a few nods in greetings from uniforms on backshift. The changing room was empty and cool. She had to flick the light switch on before she hurriedly changed into her workout clothes.
The gym was just as empty and she took advantage and flicked the radio on, twisting it from its preset Clyde 1 to Clyde 2. She started running, building the speed up until she had to focus intently on keeping up.
Not having to think was bliss and she kept on running.
--
She had to stop eventually, a stitch forming in her side, and she leaned against the wall next to the treadmill, gasping for breath. She had to force herself off the wall and it took all her willpower to get into the shower and change again. She could feel her muscles protest as she walked back to her car and she had to focus intently on driving safely home. It took the last of her energy to plug her phone onto charge and then set her alarm.
She gave up at that point and fell face first into bed. She fell asleep like that, too exhausted to move to a more comfortable position.
Part Five
Monday
They were both too tired to say much as they grabbed a quick breakfast in the morning, using the last of her teabags and usable bread. She dropped him off at his flat to get changed, the car ride quiet as they listened to the early morning news reports.
She stopped by the hospital instead of phoning after a quick check revealed the warrant still wasn't in yet. The nurses were good enough to let her sneak in despite the fact it wasn't quite visiting hours yet.
"He's been stable overnight now, and there are a few muscles movements. All good signs but we need to wait until he wakes up to get the full picture."
At least they were using when and their tone was rather more hopeful. Just five minutes, she was told, the doctor will be around shortly and he'll need peace to examine him.
She nodded gratefully and slid into his room. It was hard to avoid seeing his injuries, even with the sheet pulled up to keep him warm. It was the first time she had seen him since the attack and she had to stop and cover her mouth, both to stop the sob that threatened and to stop the bile rising. Even now, with the edges of the bruises starting to turn a ghastly yellow, he looked atrocious and it seemed a miracle that one body could survive all that.
She managed to take a deep breath without gagging or choking on a sob and she took a step forward, the next step easier and she sat down on the chair beside the bed. She licked her lips, not quite sure what to say.
She gently held his hand between hers, more in reassurance than anything else. "You're going to have to get better soon. Me and Robbie are going to need a kick up the backside if you'll be lying here much longer." She blinked away the tears that had started and plastered on a smile. "Besides, you'll need to get up so you can have a go at the bastard who put you here." She didn't say the implied 'if we catch him'.
She let go of his hand after another awkward pat, they weren't very tactile with each other at the best of times and touching him just seemed to add another layer of how wrong this all was. "Anyway, I," she cleared her throat. "I can't sit about here all day. I need to go make sure Robbie hasn't killed the fiscal yet." She managed a proper smile. "Wouldn't want you accusing me of sitting on my arse all day either."
She took a deep breath and stood. She nodded to the nurse on the way out and she felt a little unsettled as she walked out the ward, not entirely sure if she felt better after the visit. She was a little buoyed by the fact he was still hanging in there and the fact the nurses were certainly more optimistic sounding than they had been. Still, he looked appalling and he still wasn't showing signs of consciousness yet. She paused on the way back to the car and leaned against the wall, the pebble dash digging into her back through her blazer.
She felt the urge to curl up and just hope it was all a bad dream creep up on her again and she had to close her eyes and focus on her breathing for a minute to head it off.
She reminded herself that generally speaking, the nurses in intensive care had good instincts about these things, and that combined with the fact that they were definitely onto something with Lewis, made the feeling fade into the background again. She pushed off the wall and by the time she made it into the office, she was almost calm, baring the usual parking related stress.
She didn't see Robbie when she glanced around the office, just the usual hubbub and messiness that accompanied the fact that the room was occupied twenty four seven. She pulled her chair out and started to take her blazer off, the office humid and not nearly as ventilated as it could be. She was about to sit when she saw the flimsy carrier bag sitting on the floor underneath her desk. Slightly bemused, she gingerly opened it.
She broke into a grin when she saw a small box of Scottish Blend pyramid tea bags and a white loaf. Her favourite type of Warburton's to be precise. Evidently Robbie had had a rummage in her cupboards while she had been getting dressed this morning.
That was assuming it was Robbie but she couldn't think of anyone else who would act the part of the tea fairy for her. She shoved the bag to the back of her desk with a foot and sat down. Robbie appeared with a cup of coffee in his hand as her monitor sprung to life.
He nodded in greeting.
"Thanks," she jerked her head in the direction of the floor and he shrugged it off.
"How is he?"
"Surprisingly okay." She shrugged. "Well, the nurses seem to think so, even if he does look like he's gone ten rounds with a lorry."
She obviously failed at keeping the note of fear from her voice and Robbie grimaced. The small semblance of a good mood she had managed to acquire evaporated and Robbie picked up on it.
"Spoke to the Fiscal," she managed to restrain herself from making a remark and he shot her a look that wasn't best pleased. "The warrant is finally on its way and should be here any minute now." He hit a button on his keyboard and frowned.
Obviously not in yet.
"Anderson just told me all the door to doors are back in now. Still nothing useful, apart from the wee old woman who thought she heard a car door slam at about the right time." Frustration coloured his tone and she agreed with him. That was about as much good as a chocolate teapot.
She let out a slow breath; it would do no good to get so frustrated this early in the day. She didn't have time to ponder on that anymore as Robbie's face broke out into a grin.
"Warrant's here."
She brought up Lewis's bank details, and Robbie phoned the main London branch he was registered with.
She sent off a copy to the credit card company, always easier to deal with than the banks, and the records were all ready sitting in her inbox by the time Robbie got off the phone. He muttered under his breath.
He shook his head. "Just dragging their feet. Should be here in the next hour once the manager has time to look out the files."
Fairly standard but as annoying as ever.
She motioned him around to check the screen with her and she opened the file.
She tried not to be too disappointed when the credit card record showed only a few internet purchases. They would check out each of the merchants of course but a quick look at the names included big online shops and various gaming sites. She tried not to sigh at the prospect of more dead ends.
She heard Robbie's huff of annoyance and she didn't look at him so she could stay calm.
"We've still got his bank details to check out,"
"And if he paid cash, or drove up?"
"Then we'll have him on camera somewhere." She tried to make herself believe it would be that easy. "Go and phone Duncan, see what else has come back."
He grumbled to himself again as he pulled his mobile from his pocket and headed over to the window. She watched him stare out the window, and glanced away when she saw him start to talk.
She slouched slightly.
"Don't tell me it's that bad already?" Mita appeared beside her.
She gave a small humourless chuckle. "No, no. Just Robbie and I squabbling again."
Mita raised an eyebrow.
She forgot sometimes that Mita hadn't been in CID all that long.
"Nothing new, par for the course at this stage really. Just Burke's not here to knock our heads together."
Mita nodded and smiled a little. "Alastair said you went to see him this morning?"
She nodded and reflected that the office was worse than a hairdressers for gossip.
"Nurses seem optimistic."
There was that word again. She was getting sick of it. She sat up straighter and noticed Mita was in the smartest outfit she seen her yet, which considering how new to CID and plainclothes she was, was saying something.
"How are you feeling?"
Mita sighed. "Nervous, which is daft because I've been in court before," Mita bit her lip and looked a little embarrassed at the admission.
"Well, it's your first time as one of the lead officers and you were with the whole case this time, rather than just part of it."
Mita considered that. "I suppose," Mita frowned. "I don't think it helps that I would be better off here."
Jackie shook her head. "No, you wouldn't and Burke would be the first to tell you that. You're close to putting him away, and that's worth more than missing a body for a few hours on a case of this size." She gave a lopsided smile. "Much as some of us would like to think that way, none of us are indispensable."
Mita smiled at that and Jackie could feel herself relax a little. "Have you had something to eat?"
Mita nodded. "Yeah, I was just going to finish my tea before I checked on the CCTV."
Jackie rolled her eyes. "Leave the CCTV and have a biscuit. Getting frustrated over this case is not going to help." Mita looked unsure. "I can make that an order if it helps." Her tone was dry and that was what Mita needed.
"Okay." She nodded and determinedly headed in the direction of the kitchen.
Jackie sighed. The first court case in CID was always tough and she wasn't sure she had helped Mita much.
"She all right?" Robbie asked as he sat back down at his desk. He nodded in the direction Mita had went.
"Just a touch of nerves. Remember those days?"
Robbie snorted. "Nah, not me."
"Oh aye, I forgot you were born cocky."
He pouted and she couldn't help but chuckle.
Robbie ignored it. "Duncan didn't have anything useful. No further on the blood and it turns out the fibres they collected are all generic black acrylic that can't be narrowed down."
No wonder he sounded cheesed off. He went back to reading something on his computer and she left him to it. She started reading over Turner's report about yesterday's interview. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Mita sit down again, cup of tea with her this time, and pour over some stills. She sighed. Well, if that was what got her to relax then so be it.
She heard the exclamations a minute later and looked at Mita properly. That had been the harshest language she had heard her use in the six months she'd been hear. Mita stood up and Jackie could see it was because she had spilled her tea down her front.
Still nervous then. Mita looked like she was on the verge of cracking up so Jackie stood and walked over to her desk.
"Did you burn yourself?" She asked as she saw the tea dripping off the desk.
Mita shook her head. "It just caught my shirt." She was holding it away from her skin as she mopped up the tea with a couple of tissues. She threw them in the bucket before she looked down at the damp patch.
Jackie could see her deflate and caught her elbow. "C'mon, loos." She gently turned her around and dropped her elbow. "Bring your jacket as well." Mita did as she asked and then followed her out.
Mita looked rather panic stricken by the time they made it to the mostly empty ladies. "Take your shirt off, we'll see what the damage is." Jackie said with a soft smile.
Mita went into a cubicle and emerged a minute later wearing her blazer and her shirt in hand. Jackie took it from her.
The damp patch was a long line down beside the button holes. She squeezed the excess out and rinsed with a little tap water. "It's a dark shirt so the tea shouldn't show so much." Mita leaned against the sink.
"Just as well it wasn't coffee then." Mita managed a weak smile. "I can't believe I did that."
Jackie could tell the embarrassment was kicking in now. She squeezed the wet area again. "Here, hold it underneath the dryer, but not too close."
Mita looked at her and she shrugged. "Done this a few times myself," she admitted with a smile.
Mita managed a nervous laugh, and her embarrassment seemed to fade. The loos emptied out and it was just her leaning against a sink as Mita dried her shirt.
Mita bit her lip again. "I'm really sorry, Jackie, I know you've got better things to do."
Jackie shrugged it off. "Needed a bit of a distraction."
Mita pulled her shirt away and checked the damp patch. She stuck it back under the drier. "I'm just terrified I'm going to mess the case up." She spoke louder to be heard over the noise of the hand dryer and Jackie moved to the wall beside her so she wouldn't be overhead as a PC came in.
"The evidence is solid and you've done nothing wrong. Yeah, they'll try and twist your words, they always do but you've been on court plenty of times before. Apart from what you are wearing, the process is exactly the same."
Mita looked thoughtful and aside from the hand dryer and the toilet flushing, it was quiet.
"I think it's dry enough now." Jackie looked down as well and nodded.
"Put it back on, we'll see if it's noticeable." She gave a small smile and Mita dashed off into a cubicle.
The PC emerged and smiled a greeting at Jackie as she washed her hands, even managed not to look curious at what was going on.
Mita came out as the main door swung shut. She was looking down at herself. Jackie squinted. "It's not obvious at all. If you keep your jacket buttoned, it'll be no problem at all."
Mita smiled in relief but double checked in the mirrors anyway. Jackie watch as Mita squared her shoulders. "I just need to talk a deep breath and remind myself I've done this before."
Jackie moved off the wall. "Are you sure there is nothing else? I've never seen you this rattled before." She hadn't. Ever since she had joined them, Mita had been calm, in control and completely unafraid to stand up to even Burke.
Mita shook her head. "I guess Burke being in hospital and investigating his attack has just thrown me a little."
"It's easier to butt heads with him than worry about giving evidence."
Mita laughed then ducked her head. When she straightened she turned to look at Jackie. "I don't know how you're managing to cope."
Jackie snorted. "Barely." She tilted her head. "It helps I've got Robbie to vent at." It was helping, though they would be lucky if they didn't cause severe damage before the case was over.
Mita laughed. "We'll keep an eye out for any bloodshed."
"That and caffeine overdose." She tried to go for humour.
Mita smiled again, and seemed more relaxed as she moved towards Jackie. She tentatively reached out and squeezed her arm lightly. "I've got a stash of dark chocolate if you need some."
Jackie managed a weak smile and Mita seemed to realise she couldn't talk about it much more.
"I'd better be off. I'll check in when I can and I'll just pretend they're in their underwear."
Jackie gave a soft huff of laughter. "Yeah. Good luck."
Mita nodded and walked out the loos, looking calmer than she had done earlier.
Jackie sagged back against the sinks. She felt drained and she rubbed her face tiredly. After a couple of deep breaths she turned around and faced herself in the mirror. She looked as bad as she felt, pale and completely washed out. Another deep breath and she stuck her hands under the cool tap, and let the water refresh her slightly. She leaned against the wall as she dried them. What she had said to Mita had been the truth. She and Robbie were venting at each other far too much and if she thought about it, she wasn't coping brilliantly.
She missed Stuart. He hadn't just buffered her and Robbie, the whole dynamic was different without him and given Robbie's near misses lately, and the break up with Chris, she was starting to feel a little adrift without Stuart.
At the very least, he would have brought a couple of bottles around and they could commiserate without worrying about hurting Robbie.
As soon as she thought that, she hated herself for it. Robbie was just as much her best friend and she knew how much he was struggling with the gambling and his debts. She leaned her head against the tiled wall, and it was lovely and cool.
She took a couple of deep breaths and there was nothing else for it but to stand back up and head back into the office.
--
Robbie gave her a concerned look when she walked back in but she smiled and stood beside him.
"Just giving Mita a few tips."
He looked at her a beat longer then nodded. "Bank details are just in but I've not had a chance to look at them yet."
She leaned down, resting her palms on her desk to get a better look as he opened the file. The second to last charge, made this morning, was a train ticket. Robbie picked up the phone and called National Rail. As he tried to find out the train the ticket was for, she looked over the rest of the transactions. No big withdrawals or deposits, mainly small withdrawals every week or so.
It didn't look as if he had regular work, at least nothing that paid by bank transfer, and he didn't have a lot of money in his accounts. She frowned as she recalled that most of the money had been recovered from the robberies but it was entirely possible that not everything had been. She left Robbie on the phone and double checked the file from London.
Burke's notes said all the money from the previous robberies had been found plus more, but they hadn't been able to confirm the exact amount from the disastrous one. It was more than likely they had managed to stash some away before they had been caught. No amount of digging had turned anything else up, but they had stopped searching after the case went to court. Waste of resources to search for an unidentified amount, so it seemed anyway. There had been no relatives left to keep the pressure up.
It was a sad thought but she had no time to dwell as Robbie was grinning as he put the phone down.
"Turns out the ticket's for the train to Glasgow. Should get into Central in about forty five minutes."
His grin was contagious. "C'mon, I'll buy you lunch."
--
Lunch, it turned out, was a roll from the Greggs opposite the main entrance to the station. They ate in the buzz of the train station, which was still calm compared to when they had tried to get parked outside. Their Police badges had certainly come in handy there.
They had to time to admire the building, and people watch and enjoy the relatively rare sunshine before the train drew in.
She held the picture in her hand and passed a copy to Robbie as they both scanned the crowds. It looked as if the train had been mobbed and she had to focus to make sure she didn't miss him.
It was Robbie that caught him first. They moved towards Lewis and he seemed to be expecting them.
"Officers. What can I do for you?"
"We'd just like a wee word down the station." Jackie plastered a polite smile on her face.
"I'll take a wild guess that this is about Burke."
Robbie nodded. "Aye. Any particular reason you decided to come for a visit?"
"I was just going to give his family my condolences." Lewis grinned cockily. "Pay my respects like. He does have a family doesn't he, or did he just turn up fully formed in uniform one day?"
Jackie raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think condolences are needed?"
There was a flicker of shock on Lewis' face and his grin almost slipped but he recovered quickly.
"Oh you know what the grapevine is like." He shrugged and Jackie would feel the urge to slap him forming, especially when he added, "Well, I suppose Burke always did have a hard head,"
She stepped forward, cutting off Robbie from doing something stupid and disguised the motion as guiding Lewis out the right exit.
She slammed the car door shut behind Lewis and slid into the passenger seat since it wasn't an actual arrest yet. Fortunately, Lewis stayed put on the drivers side in the back meaning she could catch glimpses of him in the rear-view mirror.
Given the way Robbie was gripping the wheel, it was probably best for everyone involved that he had to focus on driving.
It took them a couple of minutes to get out the parking space they had managed and then it was into the stop start traffic that happened so often in the city centre.
She closed her eyes briefly, in desperation not to roll them, when she realised Robbie was driving them the long road back to the station.
When she opened them, Lewis was smirking. He quickly wiped the expression of his face when he realised she was looking, only to replace it with a cocky grin again. She wasn't sure what was worse.
"I hope this wee conversation isn't about how I did it."
"Did you?" She asked pointedly.
Lewis' grin widened, "How could I? You've just picked me up off the train?" He tried to look angelic, but it wasn't a good look for him.
She avoided glancing at Robbie. They'd been fooled by that assumption in the past and she was determined not to again. She would need to see about getting a couple more officers to trawl through the CCTV records for both Central and Queen Street Stations, the bus station as well. Campbell was not going to be happy with that.
Lewis seemed to take their silence as a point in his favour, and seemed to decide to needle them further.
"Do you have any reasonable suspects yet?" He paused slightly, as if to let them answer, "Oh wait, you can't since you've resorted to picking me up off the train. Obviously Glasgow isn't producing the same kind of coppers as it used to."
"Listen, mate," She could see Robbie losing his cool, and if he hadn't been driving, he would have been right up in Lewis' face.
"Well there is that old adage of police work, the most obvious suspect is usually the right one." She plastered on a fake smile. "Can't say we've had any problems with that, have we?"
Clearly, winding up Lewis was an acceptable substitute whilst driving. "No, specially when they've got form."
Lewis looked as if he was up for the challenge. "Now, I've done my time,"
"No thanks to Matt Burke."
Lewis gave a flash of anger but controlled himself quickly. Clearly prison had done wonders for his temper. She resisted the urge to sigh. Great.
"Well I'm sure you can tell him that in person when he wakes up."
"You sure he's going to wake up? What if his attacker comes back to finish the job?"
"Is that a threat? Robbie growled but Lewis just laughed it off.
"No, no, just worried for his safety."
"If you were so worried you could always tell us the last time you spoke to Burke."
"Ages ago, probably at my sentencing." He waved it off.
"You sure about that?"
She shifted in the chair slightly, not liking Robbie's tone.
"Yeah. Next you'll be asking for my alibi."
"What is your alibi?"
She tensed further, only years of practise stopping her from showing it. She settled for putting the window down a crack and forcing Robbie to look at her.
"Stuffy in here."
She made a cutting gesture with her hand, hidden from view from the back seat. Robbie was veering far too close to interrogation, especially when he hadn't been read his rights yet, or wasn't even on tape.
Lewis laughed, and he looked as if he had picked up on the tension. He held up his hands. "You've caught me. I've no iron clad alibi because it was me that did it." He still had the cocky grin plastered on his face and she saw Robbie tense up again.
"Am I going to need a lawyer?"
She was ready to smack Lewis herself by this point, and he obviously knew at as he let out another laugh. She managed to grit her teeth.
"Probably best. We wouldn't want you to get done for something you didn't do." He tone was tighter than she would have liked but the smile that accompanied it was better.
Robbie glanced over at her but he focused on turning into the street and getting parked again.
Lewis stopped looking quite so smug as they took him into the station but he gave them a glimpse of it when they left him alone in the interview room to wait for his lawyer.
They stopped off to make the requests for the CCTV footage, and to second another couple of PC's. Campbell wasn't going to be happy about the resources being used, but most of the office was putting in unpaid overtime anyway.
They headed for the kitchen next, and they needed to plan their approach. There was a part of her that screamed at her that this was their guy, that he had been entirely serious when he had confessed in the car.
The more realistic part of her knew he was going to be tricky, and what they had so far was flimsy at best. Gut instinct didn’t count for anything.
She just wanted to get in there and demolish him regardless.
Robbie clearly felt the same and he wouldn't stand still.
"Robbie," It came out sharp and he turned on her.
"What the hell were you agreeing to a lawyer like that?" He stood close to her and tried to intimidate her. She'd known him far too long and closely for that to work though. She placed her mug down, getting angry back would just cause things to deteriorate.
"Because he's a cocky bastard and I don't want this to go wrong." That didn't stop her from practically growling the words and Robbie knew her well enough that that brought him up short and forced him to think. "You know as well as I do that he feels utterly right, but we have absolutely nothing to prove it yet."
He sagged against the units. "Fine." By his tone though, he clearly wasn't completely fine with it yet.
She picked up her tea again. "Oh don't sulk, we've both been in CID long enough to know better."
"Aye? Well I don't see you jumping for joy either."
She bit her lip to avoid replying and her grip increased on her cup. It would blow over, it always did. She had to take a deep breath though. "I don't want him to walk either." She rinsed her cup out and they stood quietly for a minute.
"That's the lawyer here." Becky, one of the support staff stuck her head round the edge of the door.
"Did you put him in with him?" Robbie asked.
Becky nodded. "Just the now." She vanished with a small reassuring smile.
They stood quietly for a minute, giving Lewis time to chat.
"C'mon, we'd better get started. I'd best go first."
He didn't look entirely pleased with that but he saw the reasoning behind it and nodded.
--
She could tell by the way Lewis put on his best terrified reaction when they walked in the door that this wasn't going to go quickly. Even worse, she recognised the lawyer. Ben Silvers, just as cocky as his client, and very expensive. She buried her shock and smiled.
Robbie sat beside her after he started the tape.
Silvers jumped in first. "I have to strongly protest my client being questioned like this, especially after he has just finished a long train journey."
Jackie started, keeping her tone even and pleasant. "We made it clear that we just wanted to have a chat with Mr Lewis."
"And intimidating him is the best way to go about that?" Silvers looked stern and appalled.
She smiled sweetly. "We were just answering his enquiries about Chief Inspector Burke."
Robbie spoke up for the first time. "We barely spoke before he confessed. Definitely a sign of a guilty conscience." He smiled at Silvers and she couldn't help but wish Robbie hadn't said anything just yet as Lewis flashed a smug grin before he ducked his head and talked to Silvers.
On the other hand, it seemed the fact they did visual recording these days as well hadn't quite sunk in yet.
She glanced towards Robbie and he gave the smallest of shrugs. He appeared to be bemused as well.
"A coerced confession, if there even was one at all. Mr Lewis tells me he felt intimated, that both of you created a hostile environment in the vehicle. I can't say I blame him. Two Inspectors coming for a recently released model prisoner? Interrogating him in a car without proper monitoring?" Silvers scoffed. "You've practically written our defence for us, assuming of course, that such stupidity even gets that far."
As much as she had been expecting it, to hear it laid out exactly how Lewis was trying to play them was still a blow, especially since it seemed she'd got her hopes up higher than she had realised. She didn't have time to think it over though, Robbie had leaned forward and looked as if he was about to let his anger free.
She kicked him under the table instead.
He managed to hide it well, and he avoided glaring at her for the moment. They pulled full attention to Silvers instead, who was looking incredibly pleased with himself.
She plastered on a smile instead. "Our actions were hardly designed to intimidate, we brought Mr Lewis to the station as quickly as traffic would allow, we even had the radio on. Quite frankly it's odd to see someone with whom we just wanted a quick chat to go on the offensive so quickly."
She deliberately looked more bemused than she already was.
"Well, as we have already stated, my client has not long been released from prison and uneasy around police officers. It's hard to blame him."
"Most ex-prisoners don't go around hiring expensive lawyers."
"My client felt that there was the distinct possibility of being fitted up for a crime he didn't commit. He wanted to make sure he was protected."
"All right, we'll give him that but we would like to ask a few questions all the same." She smiled politely again.
"We'll go gentle on him." Robbie added.
Silvers looked at Lewis then back to them. "My client is willing to answer a few questions for the sake of cooperation. However I don't want this turning into a witch hunt because you are too inept to find a proper suspect."
Well, that was them told wasn't it? Clearly he was trying to rile them into making a muck up but she would be damned if she let that happen.
"Where were you on Friday?" Robbie started with the actual questions.
"At home, enjoying a relatively quiet night in with a few pals." Lewis spoke now and Silvers sat quietly for once.
"And they'll all verify that will they?" Robbie's tone was still even.
Lewis smirked. "Of course."
"And you wouldn't be found to be coercing an alibi for yourself would you?"
"Inspector Reid, I expected better of you."
"We've got to ask. We'll need the details of these friends." She slid a notepad and pen across to Lewis.
Lewis glanced at Silvers briefly, then it was silent as he wrote.
Silvers spoke again. "I would like to know the reasoning behind questioning my client. Surely there are suspects who were in the city at the time?"
"None with the same form and motive."
"Motive? If you are looking into everyone Matt Burke put away, then you will be here to next Christmas."
"Yes, but you see," Jackie took the notepad back again. "None of them have such a strong motive as their brother dying inside."
"All right, I'm calling a halt to this. Both of you are clearly antagonistic towards my clients and unless you have reason to arrest my client, we will be leaving." Silvers stood and looked at them expectantly.
She looked at Robbie and her heart sunk. They certainly didn't have enough to arrest Lewis, and worse, they hadn't even finished the interview. Clearly they weren't going to and Lewis stood.
Robbie shook his head. "We'll need to talk to your client," Robbie put the emphasis on that as he looked at Silvers, "again, so don't leave Glasgow." Silvers raised an eyebrow at Robbie's tone. "I'm sure you have plenty of ideas on who would like to hurt Burke." He managed to make it sound pleasant and she was impressed with the effort it took.
Robbie switched the tape off and Silvers guided Lewis out the room.
Lewis glanced over his shoulder at them and smirked. "If I can be of any help…" The smirk stayed as he turned back and left.
She had to ball her fist to avoid hitting something. The gall, after he'd played them like that. She forced herself to take a deep breath, managed to hold it together enough to hear Robbie do the same.
She stormed out the interview room, not caring if the door slammed. She was furious with herself. They had barely spoken to him and now they were a couple of steps backwards. All because they were too frustrated to see the fact he'd seen them coming and planned better than they had.
It confirmed in her gut that he was the right one but it didn't help her anger at their stupidity. She yanked open her desk drawer and pulled out a packet of chewing gm. She slammed the drawer shut and sat down, chomping rather viciously on the gum to avoid hitting something.
She tried not to curse when she bit down in the inside of her cheek and her eyes watered.
She widened her eyes, willing desperately not to let a tear escape because it would lead to a bout of crying. That wouldn't go down well in the office or with Campbell once she got wind of it. Not that she needed much provocation to take them off the case, after that disaster, she was surprised she hadn't shown up in the office already.
She tried not to think about that, no point in chancing the devil. She took a sip of the cold coffee sitting in her desk and tried to calm down. Anger wasn't going to help now.
It took at least five minutes to feel steady enough to open the notebook, even that was rushed as she felt the glances at her by some of the others, whispering starting.
She typed the first name into the database, seeing what background they had. She had just managed to calm herself into letting the background fade away and focusing solely on the screen when Robbie thumped down into his seat and slammed his drawer. She jumped slightly and she looked up at him.
His expression was fairly neutral but his body language was pissed as hell. She could see the effort he was making to ensure it didn't spill over.
His pen fell victim to it first.
"Checking his alibi?" He managed.
"Just started."
He nodded. "I'll check on the CCTV."
They hadn't been as stilted with each other in a long while, usually they would let rip at each other, but he seemed as frightened as her as to what would happen if they did let loose.
She could feel his eyes on her as she stared at her computer screen and it took a colossal effort not to stare back and let loose on the argument that would inevitably follow. As much as Robbie was practically daring her to make the first move, and how much ranting and railing would make her feel better, that wasn't really her and she wasn't going to give in to it now.
He backed off and she was dimly aware of him leaving as she typed more details into the database, her fingers hitting the keys with a lot more force than was necessary.
She managed to lose track of time as she kept a lid on things and focused so intently on the job in front of her that she jumped when the phone rang.
Campbell wanted a word with both of them. Be in her office in ten minutes.
She swallowed and felt drained. She knew it had been coming and now it was here she just wanted to cry a little. Probably a better reaction than the anger that covered. She took one more deep breath then spat out her chewing gum into a tissue. She took another swig of cold coffee and squared her shoulders. She needed to find Robbie.
She found him hovering over one of the PC's checking the footage. Normally she would have found the PC's expression of annoyance amusing but she didn't have any energy for that today.
"Campbell," was all she said and she walked back out, and didn't check to see if he was following.
He caught up with her at the stairs and they made their way to Campbell's office in tense silence.
--
Campbell clearly wasn't happy when they stepped into her office. She didn't say anything straight away, letting her disapproval be been as she sat and didn't gesture for them to join her.
"Tell me exactly what happened." Campbell looked expectantly at them.
Jackie swallowed and tried not to glance at Robbie. The tension between them must have been obvious.
"We picked up our main person of interest off the London train." Robbie clearly wasn't going to say anything, not when she could feel the tension radiating off him.
"The suspect you we're talking about with the similar marks?"
Jackie nodded. "He made a confession in the car, somewhat jokingly so we didn't pin our hopes on it. He asked for his lawyer, who turns out to be Ben Silvers."
Campbell raised an eyebrow at that. "Go on,"
"We didn't get very far into questioning as Lewis and Silvers claimed we had intimidated Lewis and since they were merely here as a courtesy they were leaving unless he was arrested."
"And there isn't anything to arrest him with." It wasn't a question.
They both nodded anyway.
"So what exactly did you get from this, other than the possibility of a complaint against both of you and mucking up the chances of a prosecution?"
She swallowed and she could feel Robbie getting angrier beside her. She didn't reach out to him this time though, but took a step forward herself.
"Ma'am,"
"I expected more from you, Jackie," Campbell stood, finger tips lightly resting on the desk. "Tell me why I shouldn't take the pair of you off the case and get Professional Standards in pre-emptively."
She had to take a deep breath. "Because he played us, Ma'am,"
"That's supposed to be an argument in your favour?" Campbell looked incredulous.
"The point is, this wasn't just some random act he decided on when we picked him up. He had one of the best defence lawyers in the city ready to accompany him and he knew exactly what would frustrate us the most."
"And there is nothing in his records or notes that describe him as that well organised." Robbie added.
"All of which make his seem even more likely. It's awfly expensive to go to all this bother if he is just wanting to wind us up, especially for someone with no fixed income." She could see Campbell was considering it and didn't say anything else.
There was silence for a minute while Campbell looked them over. Jackie tried to relax, perhaps in vain to show things weren't taking quite the toll they were.
She thought for a minute that Campbell was going to take them off the case, possibly make them take a day's leave but Campbell sighed instead and sat down again.
"All right, this is what we'll do. I want a full report of what happened today, a blow by blow description," She aimed this part specifically at Robbie, "so we can be ready if,"
"Lewis,"
"Lewis or Silvers make a complaint. I want it on my desk before you leave tonight. Once that is done, you are both going to spend some time on your other cases, then you are both going to leave relatively early and work out your frustration. I don't care how, as long as Burke wouldn't reprimand either of you for it, so long as that when you come in first thing tomorrow you are both level headed and ready to do your best." She paused to look sternly at them. "This is your last chance, I will assign another team if either of you make the slightest mistake. That means no more playing into his hands, regardless of how much of a smug wee bastard he is. Understood?" Campbell stared expectantly.
Jackie nodded, a little disbelievingly, both at Campbell's language and the fact they were still on the case. "Yes, Ma'am."
Robbie managed the words at the same time.
"Good, now get me those reports." Campbell pulled a folder closer to her and started reading it, a clear dismissal. Robbie left first and she closed the door behind her.
She managed to let out a sigh of relief when they walked out into the corridor. That had been a lot better than expected, and Campbell had their back, even if it was dependant on them not making any more mistakes. She almost felt as if she had a second chance and that let the anger and frustration settle slightly.
Robbie clearly didn't feel the same, letting the fire doors swing with more force than was necessary. "I can't believe we managed to get fucking played like that."
She let him rant on, knowing if she interrupted him now it would be directed at her instead.
"Bloody Professional Standards."
She tried not to let the anger beat out everything else again, and Robbie caught her grimace.
"What?"
She shook her head. "Just trying not to get too pissed again."
He snorted. "Well it's all right for you, it'll be me Standards will be after."
She bit back the reply as they stood outside the office doors and Wilkinson walked out.
Wilkinson smiled at them both. "Survived your trip then?" His smile dropped as he caught the tension.
She covered it with a polite smile. "Was better than we expected. Just might be having a visit from Professional Standards."
"Ahh." Wilkinson nodded. "Sorry to be the bearer of more bad news, but yous have missed dinner. And Mita phoned, her court case has some delays and she's not going to be in tomorrow." He shrugged and carried on past them.
She had to bite back a scream of frustration and neither of them said anything as they barged into the office, both of them swinging the door with more force this time.
She sat down at her desk, glancing at an update that wasn't very helpful from CCTV, mainly eliminations of those cars in the area they'd found.
She took another deep breath and opened a blank incident report on her computer. She jotted down an outline of events in her notepad and seeing it written down so starkly made the anger rise again.
How could they have been so stupid? All their years of dealing with crap like this and they just fell apart?
She threw her pen down. She knew really that it was because they were so close to the case, but that wasn't any consolation.
She closed her eyes briefly, just listening to the bustle of the room and the sound of the rain against the window, and she managed to settle enough to open her eyes and start typing.
As long as she pretended that it was just a normal report that she was neutral in then it wasn't quite as difficult. It was somewhat spoiled when she could hear Robbie sighed and cursing to himself, and she had to read parts several times over as she kept making typos.
She had to clench and loosen a fist as the anger started to build again, building off Robbie's mood as she read over her finished report and the run ins started playing over in her head again.
She had nearly finished when Robbie picked up the phone. She listened into the conversation when she heard him ask for Burke's ward.
His body language didn't improve and he slammed the phone down. He caught her watching. "No improvement." He sounded gruff and walked to the printer.
"You finished yet?"
She shook her head. He grabbed his print out and hit the stapler so the sound resonated.
He winced at the noise, shaking his hand a little. The paper crinkled slightly in his other hand. He looked furious, as if he wanted a fight.
"Nearly ready? And I'll take it with mine?"
She shook her head again, she needed to calm down enough to check it over with a cold eye.
"Fine," He ground the word out, "if you don't want me to see it,"
"It's not finished yet," She had to grit her teeth as well, and if she spoke again she knew it would be to pick a fight.
He seemed to know this as well. He leaned forward and grabbed his car keys and stormed out, the doors banging after him again. The office quietened and heads turned to look at her. She tried not to let the anger and upset show, staring at her computer screen and pulling her keyboard closer towards her. She needed a break from the report so she randomly selected a window and ended up on her email.
Seven new since she had last checked, which seemed like an age ago. She tried to let the anger fade away, and as the noise built up again around her, it was easier to pretend nothing had happened.
There were a couple of office circulars, neither of which held anything important, a couple of enquires about Burke's health and one from the head office marked important. She skimmed the rest of the subject headings, updates on some of her other cases that she should check.
She read through them, a few new images on CCTV, a possible lead that she assigned to be followed up on but nothing earth shattering. She clicked onto the one from head office, more to see what new hoops they were going to make them jump through now.
She wasn't far off, an update on the timeline and handbook for the new Police Service for Scotland. She closed it as soon as she realised. She really wasn't up to thinking about all that would entail just now.
She opened the report again. The sooner she finished, the sooner she could put it behind her and try and calm down.
Without Robbie there to add to her tension it seemed to go faster, or maybe it was just there wasn't that much left to do. She hit print and leaned back in her chair.
She tried to get back into working some of her other cases but she just couldn't. She grabbed her jacket and handbag instead and left, only stopping long enough to put her report on Alise's desk on her way out.
She got into her car and she realised she was shaking with, frustration, anger, she wasn't entirely sure. She rested her head against the steering wheel and took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm down. She heard her phone beep its alert for low battery and she rummaged in her bag to get it. She plugged it into the cigarette lighter and watched as the screen brightened. She started at the battery symbol for a moment and contemplated phoning Stuart.
As much as she needed to hear his reassurances and his likely voice of reason, she knew how busy he was and the guilt for making him feel worse about not being here would cancel out any benefit she would get from it. She put the phone down even as she knew he would hate it for not phoning when she needed to.
Her hands were still shaking though and for all she was tired, there was no way she was going to get to sleep soon. She glanced at the clock. Too late to hit the supermarket for wine, and she was in no mood to find a pub. She sat gripping the wheel, not entirely sure what she should do. Then she remembered she'd put her clean gym kit in the boot in the vain hope it would convince her to go more often. She sat upright. The gym at the station, as dismal as it was, especially at this time of night, would still be open. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. In a rush of activity, she disconnected her phone, grabbed her bag out the boot and locked the car behind her.
The corridor down to the gym was fairly quiet, just a few nods in greetings from uniforms on backshift. The changing room was empty and cool. She had to flick the light switch on before she hurriedly changed into her workout clothes.
The gym was just as empty and she took advantage and flicked the radio on, twisting it from its preset Clyde 1 to Clyde 2. She started running, building the speed up until she had to focus intently on keeping up.
Not having to think was bliss and she kept on running.
--
She had to stop eventually, a stitch forming in her side, and she leaned against the wall next to the treadmill, gasping for breath. She had to force herself off the wall and it took all her willpower to get into the shower and change again. She could feel her muscles protest as she walked back to her car and she had to focus intently on driving safely home. It took the last of her energy to plug her phone onto charge and then set her alarm.
She gave up at that point and fell face first into bed. She fell asleep like that, too exhausted to move to a more comfortable position.
Part Five