The Dead of Oban: An Inspector Angus Blue mystery by Martin Allan

Author:Martin, Allan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ThunderPoint Publishing Ltd.
Published: 2024-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

19

Monday 5th December

They were up early, as Blue needed to be in his office by eight for his meeting with Komissar Kõnekas. Alison was happy to be off early too, as she wanted to get back to her flat to change before going to work. She promised to be back on Thursday, and as usual Corrie went with her.

At eight, the Estonian officer was in the Zoom waiting room, and Blue let him into the meeting. Now he saw, on the screen, Komissar Kõnekas for the first time. He was not quite what Blue had expected. From the voice he had somehow expected a big man; but Kõnekas, or at least the head and shoulders that he could see, was thin, and did not look particularly tall. And he was smiling. “Tere, Komissar Blue! It’s good to see you at last.”

“And you, inspector. Tere! Did you receive the materials I sent last week?”

“Thank you, I did. Some very interesting items there. One I can help you with immediately. The body you found in the apartment above the book-store. I can identify him for you.”

“Great! Fire away, please.” Blue grabbed a pen and flipped open a notepad.

“His name is Boris Drekhkov. An Estonian resident of Russian origin. Lives in Tallinn, not far from the harbour. Criminal record for minor offences, mainly smuggling. I’m interested that you found him in Scotland.”

“Is he some sort of courier?’

“Yes, that’s the word. A courier. His role in the criminal universe is to take things from A to B. His main routes are in and out of Russia. As a Russian in Estonia, he may have both Russian and Estonian passports. The Estonian would be the hardest to get: he’d have to be able to speak Estonian. But that would enable him to travel in and out of Russia without any visa requirements, and also to anywhere in the EU, and plenty other places, without any trouble.”

“What sort of stuff are we talking about?”

“Could be anything, though we don’t think he carries drugs. A car stolen in Germany, given a makeover in Poland, then driven into Russia for sale. Or some electrical component that the Americans won’t sell to the Russians; label the crates as cuckoo clocks and he’ll drive a van load into Russia. And so on. The other way, it’s often stuff stolen from state institutions, including museums. Or stuff that’s come into Russia from Central Asia, and is heading west, to Europe or the US. The US especially – that’s where the private collectors with the most money are. But Boris Drekhkov wouldn’t go that far. Not usually even as far as Scotland. I can only guess that it was a valuable object or an important message he was carrying.”

“How could we find out what he was carrying, or who employed him?”

“We will make enquiries here, and get back to you.”

“That would be useful. By the way, can you tell me anything about Aino Lind’s death?”

“We are still investigating. It seems she was last seen on Sunday 13th November, when she left her parents’ house in Tartu that morning.

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