Head Shot Read Online Free Page A

his voice had brought all conversation in the dining room to a halt.
    'What is it?' asked the Chief.
    'I don't know,' he answered. 'She couldn't, or wouldn't, say. I'm off out to Gullane; that's where she was calling from.'
    He rose from the table and turned towards the door. Before he reached it, it swung open and Detective Inspector Neil Mcl henney came into the room, shock and concern written across his face. 'Andy,' he said, his voice low, 'I've just taken a call from a guy who said he was the county sheriff, in Buffalo, New York. He was looking for the Boss, but the message was about Sarah ...'
    Detective Superintendent Maggie Rose was still on a high; the phone cal from Mario had come as a complete surprise. She knew that the Special Branch posting usually carried a reward thereafter, but she had not expected that her husband would have jumped straight from his secretive office to the status of divisional CID commander.
    'How long have you known?' she had asked him, with more than a hint of suspicion, once the initial delight had subsided.
    'I didn't; not until this morning, when the Chief called me in and told me. Honest, love, it's the truth. Do you think I could have kept something like that from you?'
    'After all that time in Special Branch? Too bloody right I do. But I'l take your word for it. So what's happening to Dan Pringle? Early retirement?'
    He had hesitated for less than a second, but she had picked it up. 'Far from it. He's the new Head of CID.'
    Thinking back, she had felt not even a twinge of disappointment; no, her instant reaction had been one of relief. 'Good for Clan. He's earned it.'
    'Aye, sure, but. . .'
    'I've told you, Mario. I've gone as far as I want for now. That job's about half a step below executive rank; I don't have the experience for it.
    Besides, I've out-ranked you for long enough.'
    'You think we'l make the papers? Husband and wife team and al that?'
    'Are you kidding?'
    'TFR, I'm kidding. The Chief said he wants that aspect played down; the press guy's under orders not to mention it.'
    But someone would, she mused, as she stared out of the window of her small office, all but deaf to the bustle of the Haymarket traffic.
    Sooner or later, some wag would decide to run a feature on the Nick and Nora Charles of Edinburgh CID, and for al ofAlan Royston's contacts and negotiating skil s, it would happen.
    18

    She was brought back to the present by a knock on her door. 'Come,'
    she cal ed, sharply. It opened, with its familiar squeak, and a fresh-faced probationer constable came into the room. He was carrying a brown folder; she noticed that his hand trembled slightly as he held it out to her.
    Christ, she thought, is that how the youngsters think of me?
    'Yes, Constable?' she greeted him, deliberately softening her tone and offering a smile.
    'I'm sorry, miss ... eh, sorry, ma'am, but. . .'
    She interrupted him. 'That's at least one "sorry" too many, son. You're new here, yes?'
    'First month, ma'am.'
    'What's your name?'
    'PC Haddock, ma'am.'
    Poor lad, she thought. You 're going to have to be good.
    'When they sent you up here, PC Haddock, did the lads tell you that I eat probationers for lunch?'
    'More or less, ma'am.'
    'They're right.' She paused. '. . . But not in their first few weeks. I prefer them a bit more seasoned. Now; what have you got for me?'
    Pink-cheeked, the tal , gawky young man looked down at her. 'Chief Superintendent English cal ed in, ma'am.' She nodded; English was the senior officer in the division, the top uniform. 'He's been detained up at headquarters; the meeting with Mr Haggerty's going on into the afternoon. So he asked if you'd take a look at the night-shift reports.'
    Inwardly, Maggie bristled. Manny English was pushing his luck; the night-shift reports were pure bloody trivia puffed up by the panda patrol ers to make it look as if they had been rushed off their feet. They could have been checked by a sergeant, but the Chief Super was a procedural paragon.