With My Little Eye (16 page)

Douglas had belonged to a stalking family. ‘Point two two three? Very high velocity,' he said. ‘Flat trajectory. Pinpoint accuracy.'

‘You do, then. That rifle was collected. Mr Eastwick's van was found in the car park at Perth railway station. He could be anywhere by now. If he has stolen a replacement vehicle we may find him through that; if he has purchased one it may be much more difficult and, if he's using public transport, even if there weren't enough men carrying bagged rifles for the stalking he would only need a large golf bag. Any man carrying a gun case or a golf bag is being stopped, but so far without result.'

Douglas gripped Tash's hand more tightly. He could feel her trembling. ‘So where do we go from here?' he asked.

‘That,' said Honeypot, ‘is exactly what I was going to ask you. You get married in about ten days, I believe?'

‘True,' said Douglas. Tash just smiled.

‘I suppose it's too much to hope that you're going for a long honeymoon somewhere a long way away?'

‘We intend to visit my mother,' Douglas said. ‘That seems to be inescapable. She's in sheltered housing near Aberdeen. She has the early stages of Alzheimer's. We've considered bringing her down here but she won't move. That's quite understandable. All her friends are up there. After that, we plan to tour – in Britain, if the fine weather lasts. Tash feels that she's never seen much of her own country.'

‘I couldn't persuade you to defer the visit to your mother, could I?'

‘I'm afraid not.'

‘I've never met Douglas's mother,' Tash explained. ‘She doesn't travel but she's always wanted to see Douglas married. All our other friends and relations are around here. The best compromise seemed to be to make an immediate visit, tell her all about it and give her a copy of the video.'

‘I can see where this is leading,' said Douglas. ‘I was sure that George came from up that way. My father's last posting was in Aberdeen so I spent some years there and I was certain that I recognized the accent.' He was tempted to give a little lecture on the origins of the Doric language. Tash was always avid for fresh knowledge. But this was not the time. ‘He would find it easiest to melt into the background where his accent was the norm.'

Honeypot was leaning back in her chair. She was obviously deep in thought although her smooth brow remained unfurrowed. ‘There have been sightings of him reported from Aberdeenshire, but no more than for anywhere else. That's what you always get with such an uncertain description and a rotten photograph. I hope that we've stopped any more leakage of information but I can't be sure – we have less control over civilian employees in headquarters than over serving officers. On such vague grounds I'd hardly feel justified in asking you to change the date of your wedding or your planned visit to your mother. And I'm sure you'll appreciate that we do not have the resources to provide you with a bodyguard; and if you could afford three people full time – because that's what it takes – you wouldn't be working so hard in a small way of business. But there is the possibility that he might become aware of your presence in Aberdeenshire and follow you up. Could I suggest that you make your visit a quick one and then hop on a cruise ship for the rest of your honeymoon?'

Tash and Douglas conferred by a quick glance. ‘If we could get a late booking, without having to take a whole suite on a Cunarder, we could go along with that,' Douglas said.

‘I'll find out about bookings and get back to you. Meanwhile, stay away from lit windows, keep your car closer to the front door and if somebody produces police identification and says to come quickly, don't argue about it, just come. Have a good look first at the identification and don't hesitate to phone me if you have any doubts.'

Honeypot got up and smoothed her skirt over her perfect hips. ‘One more thing. You have a certificate with two shotguns on it. You are legally entitled to hold those guns. You may legally carry them, within certain restrictions that I'm sure you know about. If you point them at anybody you will be taking a serious risk of being in the wrong or, indeed, of giving him a legal right to shoot you. Think about that. If you shoot somebody in self-defence you will initially be in the wrong, the burden of proof will be on you and it will be my regrettable duty to arrest you. You may or may not be acquitted. The law may say that you should have waited for a properly authorized officer to rescue you. And the law is the law, whether I agree with it or not.'

When the Range Rover had pulled away with a deceptive smoothness that spoke of a considerable expenditure above the usual purchase price, Douglas led Tash back to his sitting room. Without releasing her fingers he sank into one of the deep chairs and pulled her down onto his knee.

‘This calls for a little discussion,' he said.

Tash wriggled into a more comfortable and affectionate position. ‘No, it doesn't.'

‘Tash, sweetheart, I can't bear to put you in any danger. We could postpone our wedding until they've caught him.'

‘No,' said Tash. ‘No. I don't want that.'

It cut Douglas to the heart to see her distress but he continued, ‘Tash, I can't take chances with our happiness. I think we're both happier now than we've ever been.'

She struggled up to her feet. ‘I was. But now I think you're afraid of committing yourself. Is that it? Have you got cold feet?' She fought to speak calmly but there was a sob in her voice. ‘Or have you gone off me already? Is the honeymoon over before it's even started?'

She had the look of a troubled child and he was reminded how young she was. He knew that this could be serious and yet he wanted to laugh.

He jumped up, grabbed her by the elbows, dragged her into his arms and spoke urgently. ‘Silly sausage! There's nothing in the world that I want more than to be married to you. But that bad bastard is threatening you. I shan't sleep easily while he's on the prowl. I think we're safe here if we take a little care, but as soon as we start travelling around we could be easy meat. My mother's in the phone book, for God's sake! Did you arrange for the wedding to be videoed?'

She nodded. ‘But it's a very short ceremony.'

‘That doesn't matter. Perhaps we could get away for the moment with putting a greeting message from each of us onto the same DVD and sending it to her with a promise to visit later.' There were tears on her cheeks and, well aware that he was living a cliché, he began kissing them away.

She seemed comforted but still adamant. ‘No,' she said. ‘That wouldn't do. You'd have to give her a jolly good excuse and I can't think of a better one than the truth; but she'd be worried sick if you told her that there was somebody after us with a rifle. I'm just trying to imagine myself as an old woman with Alzheimer's disease, not understanding why my son won't bring his bride for me to meet.'

Douglas was about to suggest that they could plead some non-life-threatening illness for one of them when the buzzer of the entryphone sounded. Still wound together they walked to answer it.

A voice said, ‘Mr Young? I'm from Lothian and Borders Police, Technical Division. Superintendent Laird instructed that I sweep your flat for bugs.'

Douglas said, ‘Bring your identification up with you,' as Tash pressed the button.

‘There you are,' Tash said. ‘Honeypot doesn't mean to let anything happen to us.'

The man, when he had brought his boxes of tricks upstairs, was small and pop-eyed. He found nothing but he said, ‘I'll be back. I don't necessarily find them if they're not switched on at the time, and there can be new ones put in later. But you're clean for now.'

His identification was indisputable. Earlier, it had been his job to report on the video set-up between the bedrooms and the basement flat which, he said, had been ingenious and almost up to professional standard. Tash and Douglas felt that his admiration was misplaced.

D
uring the run-up to the wedding, Douglas refused to be seen taking more than the most obvious and basic precautions against making life easy for a sniper. He knew that Honeypot was taking what precautions limited manpower would allow but he preferred not to remind Tash of the threats. Unknown to her he was slipping out of the house around dawn and dusk, carrying one of his shotguns loaded with heavy shot, to slip quietly through the woodland strips surrounding the house and gardens. Several times from the cover of a favourite clump of rhododendrons he saw an unmarked police car cruise slowly past and twice an officer got out and circled the house. Such visits might not prove very efficacious but they might well add up to a deterrent.

When Tash remarked that he did not seem to be taking the threat too seriously he retorted that she never stood still for long enough to give a sniper a chance. There was some truth in this. She was labouring to ensure that Douglas's paperwork for his clients would be wholly up to date. At the same time, while Tash's mother was satisfied that she herself was performing all the duties proper to the mother of the bride, every decision and the resulting action was referred to Tash.

The father of the bride had returned from the Middle East but was little help. His contribution seemed mainly to consist of remembering ever remoter relatives who simply had to be invited. A high proportion of these accepted and when the hotel's bedrooms were fully booked it was left to Tash to find accommodation for them elsewhere. A halt was called only when it was clear that the hotel's dining room could not possibly accept even one more diner.

All in all, it was a relief when the great day dawned. Autumn in Scotland can be fine, warm and colourful, and this was just so. Rowan was bestowed in kennels but was not more than mildly disappointed, having been there before. Winnie, Stan Eastwick's bulldog, had been left behind when George made his getaway and was handed over to Douglas, who had become mildly fond of the bitch, for safe-keeping. She also went into the kennels but seemed comforted by Rowan's company. Douglas's BMW, with empty suitcases on display, stood outside the hotel, ready to be decorated by his friends. Behind the hotel and screened by wheelie bins was a fast but inconspicuous grey Ford hired in strict confidence from Seymour McLeish, who had the keys and would take the BMW into his care as soon as the couple had made their escape. Unfortunately, in his haste, Douglas had chosen a car unseen from the list of vehicles traded in and now available for sale, only satisfying himself that the car had a valid current MOT certificate. Nobody mentioned that it had little chance of getting another one.

A civil ceremony can be very short. There was only the briefest music to accompany the bride's entrance to the ballroom and the couple's exit. There was much kissing and handshaking. The dining room was lavishly decorated with tasteful floral arrangements. It was filled with guests. The meal was excellent although the soup could perhaps have done with a touch more paprika. The speeches went well in an atmosphere of great jollity but were interrupted when the younger bridesmaid was smacked for flicking pats of butter across the room. The bride's father told a story about a couple on the verge of their golden wedding who announced that they were to be divorced. There was horror in the family and an outburst of phone-calls. ‘Well, it worked,' said the husband. ‘They're all coming to persuade us to stay together, for the sake of the grandchildren.
And this time they're paying their own fares!
'

When it was understood that the couple were about to leave the company assembled on the tarmac around the much decorated BMW, nobody paid any attention to the grey Ford that skirted the side of the hotel and took to the back drive.

They had left in good time, but Douglas had not been able to avoid a few drinks and so Tash, who had only recently passed her test, was driving. In an unfamiliar and more powerful car she was not the most confident of drivers and she did not have the experience to explain that the car handled very badly. They were in no great hurry; nor were they hungry.

‘Is it just my inexperience talking or is this a damned awful car?' Tash asked.

‘It is damned awful, as you say. Seymour was busy so he just handed me a list and said, “Tell Charlie which one you want.” I don't think Charlie realized at the time that anybody was proposing to drive the thing and I just checked that it had an MOT certificate and was taxed and insured.'

‘Well, Charlie should be ashamed of himself.' Tash was silent while she slowed to let a tanker overtake. Then she said, ‘Isn't Charlie the one that George Eastwick was buddies with?'

‘I think you're right.'

‘Well, that's just dandy. So George probably knows exactly what car we're in as well as where we're going.'

They came off the motorway and stopped for a snack at Kinross. They spent the night in Perth and then took what had once been the main road, slightly encumbered by small towns and restricted to sixty miles per hour, but shorter and safer than the notorious dual carriageway to Aberdeen which they rejoined for a few miles before cutting off in order to climb over the Cairn o' Mount. Before that climb, however, Tash noticed one of the yellow, short-term signposts that are used for passing events such as game fairs and pop concerts.

‘What's happening at Straloch Moor?' she asked.

Douglas had been preoccupied after observing a brown van that had been two, three or four vehicles behind them for some miles, visible in the door mirror on his side of the car, but he realized suddenly that he was being offered an opportunity. ‘Turn off. We can go that way. There was something about it in the paper,' he said. ‘There was a very rare blue grouse seen there. That's an American bird. It's not known for its long distance capability so they think it must be a fugitive from a private collection. The twitchers are getting excited about it.'