Murder in the Merchant City by Angus McAllister

Author:Angus McAllister
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Birlinn

23

Next on the List?

‘By the way,’ said Morag, ‘the cops want tae talk to you.’

‘What!’

‘The cops want tae talk to you. You know, the pigs, the filth, the fuzz, whatever you want tae call them. They’ll likely be poppin’ in later.’

‘You can see he’s got a guilty conscience,’ said Les. ‘He nearly jumped ower the counter.’

‘I always thought he had some dark secret. A real mystery man. Now it’s all gonnae come oot.’

‘Dae ye think he’s the murderer?’ said Les. ‘Or is he just another bank robber?’

‘What the hell are you talking about?’ said Jack.

‘Keep yer hair on,’ said Morag. ‘It’s one of your best features. But they really do want to see you. And it is about the murders.’

‘Fucksake,’ said Les.

‘But I don’t think you’re a suspect. Only a witness.’

‘How do you mean? How am I a witness?’

It was Morag’s mid-evening break. She seemed to have forgiven Jack for his flirtation with Alison. Sufficiently, at least, to resume spending her breaks in the Centurion, though she still liked to make him suffer from time to time. At any rate, she didn’t seem to have heard of Annette’s visit to the West End. Not that it mattered. Jack had decided that he wasn’t interested in Morag.

‘Remember that wee guy?’ she said. ‘The one that was followin’ you? The one we thought was a private detective?’ She looked at Les, who still stood beside Jack, taking in every word, and smiled at him sweetly. ‘In Tennent’s we don’t leave customers standin’ at the bar wi’ their tongues hangin’ oot.’

‘What?’ After a moment, Les took the hint and slowly went off to serve the customer.

‘What about him?’ asked Jack.

‘I saw him again. On the night of the murder.’

‘Where? In here? In Tennent’s?’

‘No, in the street. Just up fae the new flats, where that last guy got done in. I live just up the road fae there. He walked past me in the street.’

‘My God! You sure it was the same man? I don’t think I’d know him again.’

‘I’m positive. I got a really good look at him that first time. Better than you did.’

‘Did you see him go into the flats?’

‘No, but he was in the area on the night of the murder. And he was definitely actin’ suspicious that first time we saw him. Anyway, the cops said they wanted any information they could get, no matter how trivial. So I thought I’d better give them a ring, before all the men in the city get bumped aff. I wouldnae want that.’

‘There’s still plenty of us left,’ said Les, now back in place, his ears tuned.

‘I said men, no’ boys.’

‘So when do they want to see me?’ asked Jack.

‘I’ve to go doon tae the station the morra, tae look at some mug shots. They said they’d probably want you as well.’

‘I’ll never recognise him again. I only got a glimpse.’

‘It’s probably nothin’. There’s nae need tae look so worried.’

‘I told you he had a guilty conscience,’ said Les.

Jack shouted at him. ‘Shut the fuck up!’

Les looked startled, and did as he was told.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.