Devil in the Detail (Scott Cullen Mysteries) (43 page)

Cullen held up the report. "I got a trace done, Derek," he said. "Seems like the wee bastard lives in this exact house, not Wester Hailes."

"Aye, very good," said Miller.

"Why were you doing it?"

Miller looked Cullen in the eye. "Who says I've stopped?"

"You've stopped," said Cullen. "There's a bar put on your phone. I can get it lifted if I want."

"Fuck sake, man," said Miller, "I've no had any texts for fuckin' hours 'cos of you!"

"And I had been considering the possibility that a murder suspect on a case I was working on was making those calls," said Cullen. "I spent a lot of public money doing the traces. I didn't consider that it would be you. That is evidence related to the case, that I should really submit. My DI would be interested in having a word about why he's spent a few grand on a phone search."

"Is your DI that Bain prick?" asked Miller.

"Aye."

"Let him come at me," said Miller. "I'll sort him out."

"Quite the hard man, aren't you?"

"Harder than my fuckin' brother."

"Is that what you really think, Derek?" asked Cullen.

Miller looked at the floor for a few seconds. "No, it isn't," he said.

"You were calling me because you are angry at me for his death," said Cullen, "isn't that right?"

Miller rubbed the tears out of his eyes. "It was his fuckin' birthday on Monday," he said. "That's where my parents are. Off to the fuckin' cemetery with a bunch of flowers. We should be going to the fuckin' football tonight, me and Keith. It's Dundee in the League Cup at Easter Road tonight. We should be watchin' the boys turnin' those pricks over but you fuckin' got him killed."

Cullen held his gaze. "Derek, I didn't get your brother killed," he said.

"Aye, you did," he said. "Youse werenae supposed to be in that flat."

"Keith died apprehending a suspect who was later convicted of four murders," said Cullen. "And he had the bravery to hold that suspect on his own while I liberated a hostage."

"You're all the fuckin' same," said Miller, his voice raised. "Total pricks."

"That's as maybe," said Cullen. "It's a risky business being in the police. Keith knew that risk, accepted that risk. You know, I once had a conversation with Keith about why we joined the police. We had both worked for insurance companies in jobs we hated. Being a police officer is about doing something more than serving yourself."

"Is this my fuckin' brother you're talking about?" asked Miller, his face screwed up.
 

"Keith wanted to do the right thing," said Cullen. "He could be quite wild and it didn't always seem like he was committed, but he was desperately trying to get made a full-time DC when he died. It's a tough job. There are easier jobs in the police force - he could have become a desk sergeant in a quiet place in the country, for instance. But he tried to do the hardest thing."

"Aye, good on him," said Miller.

"Derek, I've had a lot of counselling to try and get over his," said Cullen. "I might not always have seen eye-to-eye with your brother on every aspect of every case but I got on reasonably well with him. As you say, I was responsible for his death. It was me that led us both in there. We should have waited for back-up but we didn't. I have to live with that every day." He paused for a few moments, letting the words sink in. "I have a new Acting DC working with me every day. She's very good and everything, but every time I see her, I'm reminded of Keith Miller and the fact that she's there because Keith isn't."

"So what are you sayin' then?" asked Miller.

"Derek, I can press charges against you," said Cullen, "you'll get a fine and maybe a court order. They might be harder than that."

Miller laughed at Cullen. "They're not going to chuck me in jail 'cos I made some calls."

"They might," said Cullen. "They're against a police officer. They might want to make an example of you."

"I'm shakin' here, eh?" said Miller. "You're really frightening me, man."

"Derek, I'm serious," said Cullen. "I'm offering you a way out of it."

"What?"

"I think we could both do with someone to speak to about your brother and what happened," said Cullen. "You look like you're still hurt. I can help. And I need help, too. I need to feel forgiveness. I need to come to terms with what happened."

"And what do you want from me?"

"I want you to listen," said Cullen. "On the 25th of every month, we will meet up somewhere and talk. If there's a Hibs match on then we'll go and see it."

"Is that it?" asked Miller. "You're not a poof, are you?"

Cullen laughed. "No, I'm not," he said. "I just think you need help."

Miller sat in silence for a few minutes. Cullen let him think. "Fine," said Miller, eventually.

"Thanks," said Cullen.
 

"So how will this work then?" asked Miller.

"I'll call you," said Cullen. "I've got your number."

SCOTT CULLEN WILL RETURN IN
 

"FIRE IN THE BLOOD"

OUT NOW

Dunpender Distillery in East Lothian is steeped in the traditions of whisky-making. Approaching the distillery's centenary, a special edition is being readied for blending when something unexpected is found - one of the two barrels contains a male human body, battered and unrecognisable.

Detective Constable Scott Cullen, caught up in the maelstrom of managerial positioning surrounding the impending merger of Lothian & Borders into the Scottish Police Service, is sent out east again. Cullen is soon delving into the ancient history of the Crombie family, owners of the distillery, and investigating the disappearances of the owner's son, Iain Crombie, and an employee, Paddy Kavanagh, who both went missing around the time the whisky was distilled. Cullen is soon contending with the skeletons in the closets at the Distillery, DI Bain's desire for a quick collar and too many suspects with plausible motives, and finds himself hunting for a killer with fire in the blood.

Amazon UK
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Other territories and formats are available.

OTHER BOOKS BY ED JAMES

THE SCOTT CULLEN SERIES

1
GHOST IN THE MACHINE

2
DEVIL IN THE DETAIL

3
FIRE IN THE BLOOD

4
DYED IN THE WOOL

5
BOTTLENECK (coming 2014)

SUPERNATURE SERIES -

1
SHOT THROUGH THE HEART

2
CRASH INTO MY ARMS (coming 2014)

eBOOKS AVAILABLE NOW FROM AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, KOBO, iBOOKS, SONY eREADER AND OTHERS.

PAPERBACKS AVAILABLE NOW FROM AMAZON.

"FIRE IN THE BLOOD"

Excerpt -
 

Doug Strachan stood by a sherry oak barrel mounted on a rack in the damp, cold basement storage room of Dunpender Distillery. He checked the date on the bottom, and lost himself in reminiscence to eighteen years previously when the barrel had been filled with immature whisky.

Eventually, he set to work and tapped the bung - the stout wooden stopper that kept the barrel whisky-tight - with a large mallet and eased it out slowly, placing it in the pocket of his overcoat for safe-keeping. He then lowered the dog - a long copper cylinder on a chain - deep into the barrel and allowed it to fill. Retrieving the dog, he poured the contents into a clear glass bottle and spent a few minutes swirling the bottle and examining the golden liquid. It looked nice and clean to him, with no noticeable impurities. It had taken on the lighter colour of the sherry oak cask it had sat in for the last eighteen years and was a worthy candidate for the blend of the centenary edition. Ready to drink, if anything, thought Strachan. He took a sniff of it and drank in the aroma of the unblended spirit for perhaps a bit too long.

Replacing the bung, he moved over to the second barrel of the pair – this one a darker bourbon cask to compliment the softer sherry oak of its sibling when they were blended together. He tried to remove its bung but it was stuck fast. A good few hits with the mallet and it finally slackened off. He wiped his forehead with a handkerchief - he shouldn't be sweating in the room given how cold it was, but he hadn't expect any form of exertion and he was dressed in a few layers. He dipped a second dog into the barrel.

It hit something hard.

Frowning, he retrieved the dog - it had only filled a fraction. It danced about on the chain and spilled its contents onto the cracked flagstones of the floor. He picked the torch up and shone it into the barrel, angling the light to cut through the liquid.

The torch shone on an object which he struggled to make out. He shifted the torch's light about, trying to get a better view of it.

Eventually, he identified a human ear.

Afterword

Many, many thanks for buying and reading this book. I hope you enjoyed it.

This is my second book and I've been lucky and not had "second album blues" - it's probably something to do with the fact that I'd originally written this in October 2010. It was a brave decision, I think to take a 20,000 word novella and turn it into a full novel, but I think it has worked and I hope you agree. That's not to say that it has been easy - it was a lot easier than GHOST IN THE MACHINE - but it's taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears as I've pounded away on a dying netbook on the train every morning and evening.

Scott Cullen will be back. There will be a sequel novel called DYED IN THE WOOL, of which I've written no words as it stands but I'm confident it will be out early summer next year. There will also be two novellas bridging the gap - WHISKY IN THE JAR followed by ALL IN A NAME. Keep an eye on my blog or subscribe to my newsletter to keep up-to-date.

As with GHOST, many of the settings in this book are entirely fictional. There is no Garleton except in my imagination (and hopefully yours now) - it's a lovely range of hills between Drem and Haddington, and you can go for a lovely walk along the ridge if you turn off the A199 at Barney Mains. The Pheasant pub in Haddington is currently boarded up and being turned into a style bar but it has a history in keeping with Jamie Cook and his mates. The band Expect Delays doesn't exist. Don't go shopping for Likely Laddie or Dunpender Distillery whisky. Finally, the town of Ravencraig in West Lothian is a fictional creation that may appear in DYED IN THE WOOL.
 

Things that are real, though, include Balgone Ponds which is a really nice place for a walk, just hope you don't find a body in amongst the bushes or in the shack. The Burns poem is true (http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/robertburns/works/comin_thro_the_rye_alternate_version/) though Tommy Smith shares some of my theories which are just theories. The Clash song 'Police On My Back' is mentioned, a cover of an Eddie Grant track off their much-maligned 'Sandanista' album, though I prefer the live version on the late Joe Strummer's 'Acton Town Hall' bootleg, soon to be officially released.

Thanks again go to C for the 'devil' artwork (which I love) and being the most critical of alpha readers possible - if only I could dedicate every book to her.
 

A huge thanks to Pat for beta reading and proofing - it really got me through the hard final straight of the editing process!

Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed GHOST on Amazon - it really shouldn't, but seeing so many positive reactions to my debut got me through this.
 

This book is dedicated to my parents - I really appreciate their support over the years, especially through my wild years.

This book was greatly helped by the Thom Yorke solo album 'Eraser', the Global Communication ambient techno album, Biosphere's early work and, through the editing phase, the new Mumford and Sons album. Check them out!

One final thing, if you liked this, then please leave a review on the site you bought it from (most likely Amazon) - it really helps aspiring indie authors like me.

Thanks for reading it.

Ed James,
 

East Lothian, October 2012