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Mairi chuckled as she left the bathroom and returned to the living room. She cleared up a dirty cup and saucer, and a plate with a half-eaten piece of toast on it and took it to the tiny galley kitchen, which looked like it hadn’t been updated since the bungalow had been built. She went into the fridge and pulled out a clingfilm-wrapped sandwich on a plate, and then found a can of tomato soup on the kitchen table. She opened it with a can opener that was laid out on the side. Poor old Hector’s arthritis meant that he could not open a can without help, so she quickly removed the top and tipped the bright red liquid into a saucepan, and put it on the stained hob on low.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Looking at the screen she frowned at the message.I need it now, was all that the message said. Feeling a sick sensation in her gut, she tucked the phone back in her tabard pocket.
She went to the drawer in the kitchen dresser and pulled it open. She knew what she’d find in there. She pulled out a large leather wallet, which she opened. Inside was a passport and driving licence in the name Hector MacFarlane. She pulled out her phone and engaged a scanner app. She quickly scanned the driving licence and the details page of the passport, which bore a faded photo of a much younger looking Hector. As she leafed through the passport, she couldn’t helpbut be saddened by the stamps on almost every page showing how much Hector had travelled until his arthritis had put a stop to it all, and it only increased her shame at what she was doing. She looked at the big stack of unopened mail on the dresser top and flicked through it until she found what she was looking for. She ripped open the envelope, and pulled out Hector’s council tax bill. She scanned this as well and saved the image to her phone, before sliding the bill back into the envelope and tucking it into the stack of mail. Hector did have family, but not nearby and his son took care of all his bills remotely. No one would notice that the bill had been opened, and if they did, so what? There was no fraud, nothing was being stolen.
She quickly opened WhatsApp and composed a reply to the message she’d just received from a number that was just saved in her phone as ‘D’.
Passport, driving licence and utility. Enough?and pressed send. Her face flushed as she tucked her phone away again. This wasn’t the first time she’d done this for him. He could be very persuasive, and it was hard to say no. Nothing was being stolen, no one was being defrauded. ‘Borrowing an identity for a wee while’, was how he had sold it to her, and she’d make a little bit of coin out of it. Her pay was so low that a thousand quid just for a single message wasn’t money she could turn down, was it?
She tucked the passport and driving licence away in the wallet and returned them to the drawer, closing it silently. Not that she needed to, Hector wouldn’t hear a thing. She stirred his soup, a feeling of shame washing over her like a harsh, sticky blanket.
‘Mairi, I’m ready, hen,’ came the croaky voice.
She shook her head to clear the fog. No one was getting harmed; it was just borrowing an ID for a while. No harm, no foul, she thought before squaring her shoulders to go and see to lovely Hector.
14
LC-Campbell, Louise
To:
Cc:
Subject: David Hardie – Debrief and immunity exploratory exercise
Dear Finn,
It was lovely to meet you and Mark earlier today, and thank you so much for the warm welcome that the Crown Office has extended to me. In my role as lead for criminal justice support, I am keen to develop a close relationship with yourselves as Crown Agent and COPFS generally to ensure a joined-up approach which will help strategise a formal, corporate procedure.
Just to summarise, the case of Hardie to ensure we are all aware of the terms of reference.
A scoping interview will be undertaken with David Hardie, currently serving a twelve-year sentence for drug trafficking offences. He will be covertly interviewed within the prison estate by DS Lenny Maxwell, and DC Ann Laithwaite, both of Covert Source Management Unit, overseen by DCS Miles Wakefield. Hardie will be legally represented at all times by Leo Hamilton, of Hamilton and Partners solicitors.
Post interview evaluation will be sent to yourself and Mark Jacobs, Advocate Depute, for consideration.
In the event of a reliable indication that prima facie evidenceexists to indicate that remains of Beata Dabrowski (BD) are locatable, an operational plan will be devised to produce Hardie from HMP Shotts in order to identify the deposit site for BD. The operation will be fully risk assessed, but as it stands, it appears to be a wholly proportionate exercise.
Upon successful identification of the remains of BD, the proposal by Leo Hamilton will be considered as a matter of urgency by yourself in conjunction with Mark Jacobs.
Once the agreement is signed, a full debrief of David Hardie will be undertaken at a secure facility, which will include digitally recorded evidence, along with an ABE standard debrief, which will be evidentially sound.
This will enable a further strategy to be devised to locate as yet unidentified suspects in the case of the disappearance of BD, and bring them to justice.
You will both agree that this exercise is of the highest importance, and is of high levels of public interest, if the allegations being made by Hardie have any credence. Police Scotland has suffered some PR disasters over the last few years, and I want us to be squeaky clean in our handling of it.
We’ll speak again, once we know the results of the initial debrief.
Warm regards,
Louise Campbell
Louise smiled as the ‘whoosh’ from her laptop indicated that the email had been sent. She had only arrived in Scotland a few weeks ago and already she had one of the biggest scandals land right on her desk, at a time when the Chief was sunning himself in Tenerife. If things went well, this case could almost be done and dusted before he got back, and all the credit would be hers. Just perfect timing, to be seen as a new professional standards broom, when Police Scotland had been riven with corruption scandals, and if Hardie was to be believed,a significant public figure was at the centre of this inquiry. She smiled, as she stood up and walked to her Nespresso machine, slotted a pod in the slot, placed a cup under the nozzle and pressed. A small, thick stream of coffee drizzled into the cup, almost like treacle, filling the room with the heady aroma.
She inhaled deeply and took a sip, a tingle of excitement in her stomach at the prospect of landing in her new force with such a bang.
There was a ping, as an email arrived, she returned to her leather chair and sat down.
FT-Townsend, Finn
