‘DI McRae.’A hard voice, right behind him. Pronouncing his name like some form of venereal disease.
Logan turned, nice and slow, not making any sudden movements, and there was Chief Superintendent Pine with her arms folded, and jaw set. Eyes pinched.
Oh joy.
He swallowed. ‘Boss.’
She made a big thing of checking the office clock. ‘Morning Prayers?’
‘DCI Rutherford told me to skip them and come in at nine. It’d been a long day.’
‘I see.’ Pine unfolded her arms as a bit of the chill seeped away. But only a bit. ‘We need a result on this one byclose of play, Logan.’
You never knew your luck.
‘Do our best, ma-am.’
‘Especially after yesterday’s fiasco.’ She jerked her head towards Rutherford’s desk. ‘I take it you’ve seen the papers?’
A copy of theAberdeen Examinersat in front of the monitor, unfolded so the front page was on full view: ‘SUNDAE DRIVER IN CITY CENTRE CAR CHASE CARNAGE’ with a big photo of Mr FreezyWhip being hauled out of the river by that crane. Then two small pics from someone’s mobile phone showing the chase, and a map illustrating the route.
Logan puffed out his cheeks. ‘Well...I’d hardly call Tillydrone the “city centre”, but—’
‘You’ll be pleased to hear that I’ve arranged for another eight officers to join us from P and Q Divisions – for the protest this weekend.’ Parking her bum against the desk and smiling at him as if they were the best of chums.
Which was suspicious.
‘Will I?’ He pulled his chin in. ‘In ageneralsense or...?’
‘With Rutherford off on the sick, I’ll need someone to take the reins.’
Aristotle strikes again.
‘Yeah...With respect, Boss, that kind of public-order operation iswayabove my pay grade, so—’
‘You’ll be equally pleased to hear that you’re now officially acting up: DetectiveChiefInspector McRae.’
Oh God, it got worse.
He forced a smile. ‘I see.’
‘Given the rate of attrition round here, you’d better select a couple of acting DIs as well. Delegation is the key to a healthy work–life balance, after all.’
And worse.
He tried not to wince, he really did. ‘Ma-am.’
Her voice softened. ‘I know. But what choice do we have? I’m trying to find us more officers, but everyone’s got the same problem. And while I’d love to issue a statement asking members of the public to stop breaking the law till we’re all feeling better, I worry the criminal elementmighttake that as an invitation to go on a spree.’ Pine gave his fighting suit the once-over with a critical eye. ‘Which reminds me – I want everyone in uniform till the staffing crisis is over. Let’s at least pretend we’ve got more officers out there than we do.’ Pointing. ‘That includes you and your team.’
And even worse again.
‘Ma-am.’
‘Excellent.’ She hopped down from the desk. ‘Now, I’m away to bully Dumfries-and-Galloway into giving us a few bodies. Till then, try to find Charles Sodding MacGarioch.’ And away she marched. ‘And forChrist’ssake, don’t let anyone else get sick!’
He waited till she was gone, before folding over, covering his face with his hands, and boinking his head off the desk.
Should’ve stayed in bloody bed...
