The Innocent and the Dead by Robert McNeill

Author:Robert McNeill [McNeill, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: THE BOOK FOLKS best-selling Scottish crime fiction publisher
Published: 2019-07-28T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

‘I’ve a feeling Tavener’s not telling us the truth,’ Knox was saying. He and Fulton were on the B1348, driving back through a small village called Dirleton.

‘You think he’s heard from the kidnappers?’ Fulton said.

Knox nodded. ‘Uh-huh. Something about the way he acted when I asked him if he’d been contacted.’

Fulton said, ‘He hesitated, didn’t he? Appeared uncomfortable.’

‘Aye, particularly interested that we’re able to intercept mobile calls,’ Knox said. ‘But it was his reaction to the tracking device that made me guess something’s amiss.’

‘You picked up on that, too?’ Fulton said. ‘He spoke about “The man” at first, then quickly changed it to “These men”.’

Knox nodded.

‘The kidnappers have the girl’s mobile,’ Fulton said. ‘They could have sent him a text.’

‘Or phoned,’ Knox said. ‘Made a specific threat.’

Knox slowed the car to negotiate some roadworks. ‘The tracker,’ he said. ‘He didn’t make an outright refusal, but seemed unhappy about the prospect of our using it.’

‘You think he might withhold permission?’

Knox shook his head. ‘No, I’m thinking of another scenario.’

‘Aye?’

Knox was stopped at a further set of roadworks by a man holding a Stop Go sign with the “Stop” side facing him. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.

‘Let’s suppose the kidnappers have already got to him. Their message? Pay the ransom and leave the police out of it or your daughter dies. They allow him, say, two days to organise the money: Friday. They phone or text him then with instructions to pick up the cash and how and where to deliver it. Meanwhile the Tulliallan boys sit on their thumbs – no contact of any kind.’

‘But they’d see him leave the house, wouldn’t they?’ Fulton said. ‘Report it to us?’

The man with the sign turned it to “Go” and Knox moved off. ‘Uh-huh,’ he replied. ‘Which would mean we might tail Tavener and see him deliver the money without the tracker. The kidnappers have a greater chance of escaping, less chance of us discovering where his daughter’s being held. She’d be in far greater danger.’

Fulton nodded. ‘But how can we avoid that?’

Knox shook his head. ‘A long shot, would depend on the bank’s cooperation.’

‘Forth Mercantile?’

‘Yes,’ Knox said. ‘One of the managers at the St Andrew Square office is an old mate. We were at the same school in the Borders together. Over the years, we’ve kept in touch. I could ask him to let me know if Tavener requests a significant withdrawal in the next few days. If he does, I can ask them to include the tracker. It would let us follow the money without him knowing.’

‘They’d do that? Without Tavener’s knowledge or consent, I mean.’

Knox shook his head. ‘Tricky one. I’d have to get Warburton to sanction a special order.’

‘Think he’d agree?’

‘Maybe. Any repercussions, he’d be putting his head on the block. However, if it were the only way of making sure Samantha was safe…’

‘But how can we be sure the kidnappers have approached Tavener?’ Fulton said.

‘That’s the key question,’ Knox replied. ‘We’d need to be sure they have.

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