from his glass. ‘George, I’m going to ask you to look at a picture.’ He drew Yobatu’s photograph from its brown envelope and handed it to his host.
Harcourt looked at it and gave a start which in other circumstances would have seemed theatrical. Skinner did not doubt its sincerity for a moment. The stocky advocate looked towards Cowan.
‘That’s the guy, Peter. That’s the guy I was telling you about. I’d know that face anywhere. That’s the guy who sat through the McCann trial, staring at Rachel. If she’d asked me, I’d have had the judge throw him out. As it was, she never said a word, but I could tell that she was aware of him, and that she was rattled. And no wonder. Look at those eyes!’
23
When Skinner returned to his office, at just after 9.00 p.m., he found in his in-tray another telex from Strathclyde CID. It was marked, ‘Urgent. FAO DCS.’
He picked it up, switched on his desk lamp and read quickly.
The report told him that at that moment, John Ho, one of the two accused in the Yobatu trial, was safely locked away in Peterhead Prison. While Mike Mortimer’s excellent advocacy had seen him acquitted of the rape and murder charges, it had been unfortunate for Ho that when he was arrested following Shirai’s murder, the police had found, hidden in his apartment, heroin with an estimated street value of £100,000.
The case had been tried a week after his acquittal of the murder. Ho, represented by a different advocate, since Mortimer’s clerk had arranged, skilfully, for him to be elsewhere, had pleaded guilty. The judge had sentenced him to twelve years.
Shun Lee too was out of circulation: permanently.
In October, ten weeks after the murder acquittal, he had been found hacked to death outside his home in Garnethill. The killing was brutal, and fitted the pattern of a Triad assassination.
Shun Lee’s murder was still unsolved, but an informant in the Chinese community had suggested to Strathclyde CID that he and John Ho had stolen the drugs found at Ho’s flat, to sell for their own profit. According to the story, which Strathclyde believed to have the ring of truth, the Triad gangsters who had owned the heroin had been mightily put out. Shun Lee had been killed by a ritual execution squad recruited from London. It was said that a bounty of ten thousand pounds had been offered on the prison grapevine to anyone who would assassinate Ho in jail.
While there was no hard evidence to back up the informant’s Triad story, it had been taken sufficiently seriously for John Ho to have been removed from the main prison and placed in solitary for his own safety.
Skinner buzzed the outer office. To his surprise, Mackie answered.
‘Brian? I thought you’d gone home.’
‘Not me, boss. Just nipped out for a fish supper. We’re on stake-out tonight again, remember.’
‘Could I forget? Look, since you’re here, would you try to get hold of Willie Haggerty for me. He’s the investigating officer in the Shun Lee killing.’
‘What’s that, boss?’
‘Those two Chinese lads I asked you to check on - seems that one of them went to join his ancestors a wee while back; courtesy of the Triads, so they say. The other’s in solitary in Peterhead, in case he’s next on the list.
‘I’ve read the report; now I’d like to hear the story from Haggerty.’
Five minutes later he was back on the line. ‘I’ve got Detective Superintendent Haggerty now boss. He’s off duty, but I told them it was urgent.’
‘Thanks, Brian.’ The line clicked. ‘Willie? Bob Skinner. How are you? It’s been a year or two. Superintendent now, eh.’ Skinner and Haggerty had worked together in the past, on an inter-force investigation of a country-wide stolen car racket.
‘Aye, it’s going well for me, Mr Skinner. I see you’re having a busy time though. Is that what this call’s about?’
‘Could be, Willie, it just could be. But it all depends on the strength of your Triad information in the
Harcourt looked at it and gave a start which in other circumstances would have seemed theatrical. Skinner did not doubt its sincerity for a moment. The stocky advocate looked towards Cowan.
‘That’s the guy, Peter. That’s the guy I was telling you about. I’d know that face anywhere. That’s the guy who sat through the McCann trial, staring at Rachel. If she’d asked me, I’d have had the judge throw him out. As it was, she never said a word, but I could tell that she was aware of him, and that she was rattled. And no wonder. Look at those eyes!’
23
When Skinner returned to his office, at just after 9.00 p.m., he found in his in-tray another telex from Strathclyde CID. It was marked, ‘Urgent. FAO DCS.’
He picked it up, switched on his desk lamp and read quickly.
The report told him that at that moment, John Ho, one of the two accused in the Yobatu trial, was safely locked away in Peterhead Prison. While Mike Mortimer’s excellent advocacy had seen him acquitted of the rape and murder charges, it had been unfortunate for Ho that when he was arrested following Shirai’s murder, the police had found, hidden in his apartment, heroin with an estimated street value of £100,000.
The case had been tried a week after his acquittal of the murder. Ho, represented by a different advocate, since Mortimer’s clerk had arranged, skilfully, for him to be elsewhere, had pleaded guilty. The judge had sentenced him to twelve years.
Shun Lee too was out of circulation: permanently.
In October, ten weeks after the murder acquittal, he had been found hacked to death outside his home in Garnethill. The killing was brutal, and fitted the pattern of a Triad assassination.
Shun Lee’s murder was still unsolved, but an informant in the Chinese community had suggested to Strathclyde CID that he and John Ho had stolen the drugs found at Ho’s flat, to sell for their own profit. According to the story, which Strathclyde believed to have the ring of truth, the Triad gangsters who had owned the heroin had been mightily put out. Shun Lee had been killed by a ritual execution squad recruited from London. It was said that a bounty of ten thousand pounds had been offered on the prison grapevine to anyone who would assassinate Ho in jail.
While there was no hard evidence to back up the informant’s Triad story, it had been taken sufficiently seriously for John Ho to have been removed from the main prison and placed in solitary for his own safety.
Skinner buzzed the outer office. To his surprise, Mackie answered.
‘Brian? I thought you’d gone home.’
‘Not me, boss. Just nipped out for a fish supper. We’re on stake-out tonight again, remember.’
‘Could I forget? Look, since you’re here, would you try to get hold of Willie Haggerty for me. He’s the investigating officer in the Shun Lee killing.’
‘What’s that, boss?’
‘Those two Chinese lads I asked you to check on - seems that one of them went to join his ancestors a wee while back; courtesy of the Triads, so they say. The other’s in solitary in Peterhead, in case he’s next on the list.
‘I’ve read the report; now I’d like to hear the story from Haggerty.’
Five minutes later he was back on the line. ‘I’ve got Detective Superintendent Haggerty now boss. He’s off duty, but I told them it was urgent.’
‘Thanks, Brian.’ The line clicked. ‘Willie? Bob Skinner. How are you? It’s been a year or two. Superintendent now, eh.’ Skinner and Haggerty had worked together in the past, on an inter-force investigation of a country-wide stolen car racket.
‘Aye, it’s going well for me, Mr Skinner. I see you’re having a busy time though. Is that what this call’s about?’
‘Could be, Willie, it just could be. But it all depends on the strength of your Triad information in the
Similar Books
