A long sigh.‘That what all these stupid posters are about?’
‘Can you make sure the new ward knows he’s—’
‘Don’t you think I’ve got more important things to do than run around after you? I’m trying to save lives here!’And the line went dead.
Logan puffed out his cheeks. ‘I get that the NHS is amarvel, and we’re lucky to have it, and most of the people working there are brilliant, dedicated, selfless individuals, who do their best underincrediblydifficult circumstances...but by Christ there’s some complete andutterarseholes.’
He scowled out the window as the pool car wound deeper into the maze.
Had to admit: it was kind of nice here. Green and leafy, arranged around a wee lochan. Like being in the countryside.
Still, there was no time to enjoy the view, not now that Dr Drummond had made life more difficult.
Logan thumbed out a text to Doreen:
Do me a favour and get on to whoever’s at ARI today.
Ward 212 need to call ASAP if Spencer Findlater gets any visitors.
Ward 202 has posters!
SEND.
Tufty took another right, into a nest of branching cul-de-sacs, ending up outside a bungalow with a garage conversion and a brown Volvo on the lock-block driveway.
Stifling a yawn, Logan climbed out.
A white picket fence bordered a flat rectangle of grass featuring an array of garden gnomes, dressed as Darth Vader and his stormtroopers, the alien fromPredatorfishing in a star-shaped pond, and a knee-high concrete AT-AT that doubled as a bird bath.
Not exactly what you’d call classy.
Tufty locked the pool car, then trotted up the drive and rang the bell. Instead of a good, wholesome ‘ding-dong’ it launched into the Cantina tune fromStar Wars. Which was far too jaunty for this time in the morning.
As it tootled out, Tufty gazed at the lawn ornaments with awistful sigh. ‘See,thisis what you miss out on when you live in a flat.’ He gave Logan a wee sideways glance. ‘Sa-arge, I know I is only a lowly sidekick and all that, but...I thought we’re meant to be all about the big newspapery abduction today?’
‘Try it again.’
Tufty poked the button and‘Doot-da-doot-da-dooda-doo...’parped out once more.
‘We are.’ Logan stretched his shoulders and back. ‘We’ve got Steel’s lot on background, we’ve got door-to-doors interviewing the neighbours, we’ve got search teams out, people reviewing ANPR and CCTV footage, Forensics going over the house with a magnifying glass, and support staff sticking it all into HOLMES. So instead of getting in the way,weare multitasking. Someone needs to interview the last of Charles MacGarioch’s little friends, and it might as well be us.’
He pointed at the bell, and Tufty did the honours a third time.
‘Doot-da-doot-da-dooda-doo...’
‘Besides:Chief Superintendent Pineis in charge of Operation “Find Natasha Agapova”. I’ve still got everything else to run.’ Lucky sod that he was. Another point. ‘And again.’
‘Doot-da-doot-da-dooda-doo...’
Logan’s phoneding-buzzed.
DOREEN:
AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!
Have I not got enough on my plate?
He poked out a reply while the Cantina theme launched into its fourth encore. Or was it fifth?
