What Will Burn by James Oswald (ebook reader web .txt) 📕

‘But you think she was only interested in you as a means to furthering her own career.’

‘I didn’t at the time, of course. Well, maybe a bit. She’s – was – very easy to be around. Good company, you know? Always knows the right thing to say. Christ, you should see her work a room full of politicians.’

‘I have,’ McLean said, recalling the Safe Streets Campaign. ‘And I’ve seen her switch on the charm, too. It’s like being caught in a spotlight. Disconcerting.’

‘You married, McLean?’ Martin leaned forward, his gaze flicking down to McLean’s hand and its lack of rings.

‘I was engaged once. A long time ago. She . . . died.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be. Like I said, it was a long time ago. I have a partner. We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’re working things out.’

‘She know about Gail?’ Martin asked.

‘As in her existence, yes. There’s nothing else to know, really.’

Martin took another drink, but McLean could see the old man’s eyes on him the whole time. ‘She must be losing her touch, then,’ he said, as he placed the glass back down on the table.

‘She’s chief superintendent in charge of all policing in Edinburgh and the Lothians, and I’m a DI, recently knocked back from DCI for failing to follow procedure and pissing off too many politicians. There’s no good reason why she should be interested in me. I can’t do anything for her.’

‘I don’t know. Maybe she’s changed. Maybe she’s looking for someone to settle down and grow old with.’

‘Why not Tommy Fielding, then? He’s living in Edinburgh now.’

McLean had thought the name might spark a reaction, and he was right. He was wrong about the nature of that reaction, though. Far from anger, hearing the lawyer’s name brought first a smile and then a burst of laughter so loud it disturbed the other drinkers and earned them both a withering glare from the barman.

‘Fielding? And Gail? After what he did to her?’ Martin shook his head so vigorously McLean thought his spectacles might have flown off. ‘No, no, no. You’ve got that relationship all wrong. She despises him even more than I do, which is saying something.’

‘But she—’

‘Fell for exactly the same game she was playing on me. Fielding’s just like her. He uses people and then throws them away when he no longer has need of them. He worked his charm on her and for once she fell for it. Maybe she thought she was playing him, but we all know that’s not how it ended up, eh?’

‘The laptop.’

Martin’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’re remarkably well informed, McLean. Who’ve you been talking to?’ He didn’t wait for an answer. ‘Yes, the laptop. Thing is, I didn’t leave it at her place. She borrowed it, along with my password and security tag. That was a lapse on my part and I got hung out to dry for it. But if she hadn’t taken it in the first place, then Fielding wouldn’t have seen what was on it. He’d probably still be a failed divorce lawyer taking out his misogyny on cheated wives. And I’d have retired on a Detective Chief Super’s pension and a broken marriage.’

‘That case made Fielding’s career? I thought he was already going places.’

‘Yeah, probably. Guys like him always seem to prosper, don’t they? And he was a nasty piece of work. Didn’t really know what men’s rights activists were back then, but that was what he was doing. Whipping up hatred for feminists, putting women “in their place”.’ Martin used both hands to emphasise the phrase, but didn’t quite go the whole rabbit ears. ‘He was clever about it. Never too brazen, and certainly not in court. But see him with a client during an interview? Christ, it made me feel dirty just being in the same room.’

‘So there’s no way he’d have got back in touch with Elmwood, then. For old times’ sake?’

The laughter was quieter this time, but no less hollow for that. ‘Neither of them would piss on the other if they were on fire. Way I heard it – and you’ll understand I was out of the Met by then, working in IT in Cambridge until I retired up here – way I heard it, soon as she could, she started making life difficult for him. Payback, I guess. And the higher she climbed, the more influence she could bring. That’s probably why he came back up to Scotland.’

‘He must be overjoyed to hear she’s our new chief superintendent, then.’

Martin picked up his glass, drained what was left in it, then thumped a light belch out of his chest. ‘I imagine he’s furious. If I were her, I’d be watching my back.’

49

Janie Harrison hung her coat on the hook in the hall and bent down to unlace her boots. Kicking them off at the end of the day was one of life’s little pleasures. It had been a long day too, an odd one. She still wasn’t sure what had prompted her to join the boss at the old woman’s funeral. A sense of duty, perhaps? A wish to apologise for their failure to catch those responsible for her death, certainly. It had been worth it in the end, though. Seeing Izzy dressed up like a proper lady was a laugh, but meeting Mirriam Downham had been something else entirely.

There was something about the woman, an inner strength maybe, that was utterly fascinating. Janie had tried to stop herself from staring, knowing it was both rude and unprofessional. But she hadn’t been able to, and had hung on every word the woman had said. Even the nonsense about witches. Better not tell Manda about that, or she’d come home one day to find her flatmate had bought them both pointy hats and decorated the place with pumpkins.

A light knock at the door stopped her before she reached the kitchen. Janie peered through the peephole to see who it was, then quickly opened the