Part 31 (1/2)

The owner told McCoy that they were appetisers, choux buns made with olives. They were still warm, having just been taken from the oven. I bit into the light pastry and from the initial mouthful I prayed that they would disagree with McCoy's delicate digestion. No such luck. The greedy old b.u.g.g.e.r had downed his share and mine before I had chewed my first bite.

'Steady on, old chap, a girl's got to watch her figure,' Malcolm admonished kindly.

'It's all right for you I don't have a virile young lover to keep in shape for.'

'Not even in prison?' Malcolm asked, astonished.

I quickly turned my head and stared out of the sparkling windows, grateful that our diligent hostess soon arrived and showed us to our lunch table. The dining room had French windows that overlooked the pond and the swimming swans. Naturally, McCoy had taken the best seat, and consequently, if I wanted to see the swans, I had to crane my neck.

I had ordered the rough country pate for a starter, whilst Malcolm and McCoy had asked for soup. When the dishes arrived, McCoy decided my starter looked more delicious and promptly took it. Yet again, I blurted out exactly what was on my mind.

'I hear from Robert Girvan that you two got on famously; even now he doesn't have a bad word to say about you.'

The thin blue lips stopped chewing. His rheumy eyes stared at me across the table. In an unguarded moment I saw a flash of pure dislike.

'It was Robert Girvan I wanted to speak to you about.'

His voice was hushed and he leaned across the table in an intimate manner. I could see the broken veins in his nose, and the quarter-inch of grey roots showing through in his obviously darkened hair.

'The favour I owe you? You want me to do something for Robert Girvan? I'm not sure he needs it he's on the up and I'm certainly not.' Or I won't be after this meal, I thought. McCoy had already ordered another bottle of French wine, which our hostess was decanting. We were alone in the dining room apart from her. McCoy gave me a look and I knew that he wanted me to be silent. All graciousness and smiles, he dismissed our hostess from the room. He checked over his shoulder once more before he spoke.

'I don't want you to do that little f.u.c.ker any favours whatsoever. It's completely his fault I'm in prison to begin with.'

This was news to me. 'Robert spoke very highly of you, and, since your little foray into fraud resulted in him losing his practising certificate and being made bankrupt, I thought it was rather big of him.'

Malcolm's kick to my leg came too late.

McCoy's face turned puce as Malcolm rummaged in his pocket and produced a vial of tablets.

'I knew, I just knew, that I'd be needing these. You silly old fool; you promised me that you wouldn't get yourself excited going over these matters. Slip this under your tongue it's hawthorn and it'll lower your blood pressure. I mean it, you're not getting to talk again until you've followed my orders.'

McCoy meekly obeyed.

'That's better,' approved Malcolm. 'Now just wait a minute for it to take effect.' His voice was low and caressing. I knew that tone well, healing and soothing; it wasn't the one he used on me now.

'You, missy, you know better. Or you should do.'

'But I don't know anything about this matter,' I said, leaning over and whispering in Malcolm's ear for fear of causing the stroke that seemed to be hanging over McCoy.

'We have reason to suspect that Robert Girvan ...' began McCoy in a slow and measured voice, 'reason to suspect ... Oh, we b.l.o.o.d.y well know that Robert Girvan told Bridget Nicholson about my ... dealings. Shall we say their plan was for me to end up in here and for Robert to become senior partner of the firm I spent the best part of forty years building up. They were too thick to work out the actual consequences of their actions. It wasn't part of their plan that Robert would be made bankrupt, but he had no idea of the true scale of my ...' he coughed to clear his throat, before concluding, 'transactions.'

'Okay, I get what you're saying about Robert, but what was in it for Bridget?' I asked.

'Their intention was to amalgamate the two firms: Bridget intended to be the managing partner of the new one.'

'And Alex Cattanach was the spanner in the works, because she was so thorough that, once alerted, she found every scam you had run over the last forty years?'

'Exactly.'

There was a strange kind of pride in his voice, almost as if he admired himself and Alex for their attention to detail. He bore her no ill will that was obvious so I could cross his name off the list of likely attackers, plus the fact that he was in prison at the time. Indeed, he didn't even seem that hostile towards me.

'I've already exacted my revenge on Bridget Nicholson,' he told me calmly.

I thought about it for a moment. G.o.d, it was all so obvious now.

'You were the one who brought the video back in to play?' I said.

McCoy nodded smugly. His face may still have been puce but it was s.h.i.+ning now with malevolent pride as he picked up the story.

'Tanya Hayder. I met her when she first started on the streets a bonny, intelligent girl, excellent for ”entertaining” my business clients. Until, of course, she fell too far down the slippery pole. I looked out for her handed her a bob or two now and again, that sort of thing. I always knew about the video, but it was none of my business until that b.i.t.c.h overstepped the mark and made it so.'

'How did you get a copy?' I asked him. 'Even if Tanya had one to start with, I can't imagine that her erratic lifestyle would have allowed her to keep it.'

'Tanya found out that Bridget had kept a copy in her desk drawer. A punter who she serviced through that b.l.o.o.d.y awful website told her that he'd seen a p.o.r.no movie of her younger sister and asked if he could get her next time.

'She was furious. She blamed her ruin on Bridget Nicholson. I don't honestly think even she believed that, but she did say that Bridget caused the death of the young la.s.sie who was in the video with her. Apparently she was new to the game, and only fifteen.'

'But a video like that,' I queried, 'surely Bridget had it under lock and key? In fact, I'm surprised she even kept it.'

'I've found that people always carry the seeds of their own destruction with them,' Malcolm p.r.o.nounced.

'That's certainly too true in my case, old chap,' agreed McCoy. 'In March, I got two lads from the prison to break in and steal it.'

'I never heard that her office had been broken into,' I said, puzzled. News of a theft from a solicitor's office would have spread like wildfire round the agents' room at the Sheriff Court.

'I gave strict instructions that nothing was to be taken or disturbed other than the video. I made two copies I gave one to Tanya and told her to keep it safe. The other I sent to Alex Cattanach, and I have the original.'

'A sound plan,' I agreed. 'But something went wrong. If the video was taken in March then her career should have been over. Instead, she's been offered a seat in the College of Justice.'

'I know. Alex Cattanach was supposed to use the video to expose her. You can't have a judge sitting on the bench with explosive material like this lying around.' I wondered about McCoy's naivete there had certainly been enough going around about my father over the years, but it hadn't stopped people turning a blind eye and deaf ear to it. Or prevented him from getting to the top of the judicial tree.

'At the very least I thought Alex would have a quiet word and Bridget would withdraw,' said McCoy. 'Alex did blackmail someone, which is why I think she was attacked but I have no idea who it is and I want you to find out.'

'Is that all?' I didn't try to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

'No Robert Girvan is involved with someone else in something very shady. I've been hearing rumours I don't like him in the slightest but even I'm surprised how far he has sunk. Have you heard of a company called Tymar Productions?' I leaned across and kissed him.

'Maybe we can work together after all. What do you know about Tymar?'

'Your boss, Roddie Buchanan, set it up. He's placed your name on all the company registration doc.u.ments and bank accounts. Tymar Productions is the reason Alex Cattanach was after you. Roddie has set you up nicely to be the fall guy whilst he, Robert Girvan and whoever else is involved in this reap the benefits. I've spoken to your secretary, Lavender, a lovely girl, and I've given her instructions on how to entice Roddie back to your office for a meeting. In fact, he should be leaving Geneva in a couple of hours.'

McCoy and Malcolm barely had time for a bite out of their handmade pet.i.t fours and a swig of coffee before I had bundled them back into the car and we were headed home.

I'd got more than I had dared to hope for. Suddenly, the bill didn't seem too extravagant after all.

Chapter Forty-Three.