The Last Great Detective (DI Buchan Book 6) by Douglas Lindsay

Author:Douglas Lindsay [Lindsay, Douglas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Long Midnight Publishing
Published: 2024-04-29T00:00:00+00:00

33

Buchan, Kane, Liddell in the canteen. Cups of tea, a sandwich each. He had sent Cherry and Dawkins home. It was the weekend, after all, and what were any of them doing now? They had objected, they had said there were still things they could be doing, but he’d made the point that none of them knew what would happen the next day, and how long they might have to work, and they would definitely be back and on duty by Monday. Take the break, he’d said, the sergeant and I won’t be far behind.

‘She didn’t say when this fictional Alec character told her to expect arrest, did she?’ asked Liddell, after a long silence, that had seen them eat and drink, wallowing in their defeat.

‘No,’ said Buchan. ‘I thought of asking, then chose not to. She’d only have been honest if it had suited them, not us, and we wouldn’t have known if she was being honest in any case.’

He took another bite of BLT. The sandwich was, at least, unexpectedly fresh.

‘And she told you Agnes had been arrested?’

‘Yes. But we don’t know that’s the case yet, do we?’

Liddell shook her head.

‘I haven’t heard anything. DCI Gilmour’s interviewing her at Dalmarnock. So, either Miss Cunningham knows something we don’t, or else she was just using arrest as a general term for being under suspicion. Either way, she knows far more than we’d like her to, but then, that is no surprise.’

Liddell held them both with a purposeful gaze, and added, ‘We are being given a royal, two-fisted, arse handing.’

She lifted her tea, took a drink, set the cup back down on the table.

Buchan leant forward. Hands together, chin resting in his hands. Terrible posture. From somewhere, though, an ounce of determination. It was the talk of Agnes, perhaps. Because, however this played out for him, and for anyone else, he couldn’t have Agnes getting targeted because he’d allowed her to get close to him.

‘Whatever happened today,’ he said, not moving his chin from his hands, ‘whatever it was that meant they could toy with us like that, it doesn’t start with Baltazar, and it doesn’t start with Lansdowne. It starts with whoever passed on the information. How many people did you call?’ he asked, lifting his head to Liddell.

‘Five,’ she said, ‘but the number doesn’t matter. I said something different to all five, and Lansdowne was never mentioned. I’m not sure how any one of those people would’ve been able to deduce what was going on from my calls.’

‘Not unless all five of them are on the payroll,’ said Kane, and Liddell immediately shook her head, and waved it away.

‘No, I just can’t... we just can’t go there. The people I called, I trust as much as I trust both of you. One bad apple, possibly. I guess it must be the case somewhere. But not the entire barrel.’

‘Isn’t that the point of one bad apple?’ said Buchan, and Liddell squinted ruefully at him.

‘We kept the door of the

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