Skinner's Ghosts by Quintin Jardine Read Free Book Online Page B

morning. They've labelled it exclusive, but they'l release copies to television and radio at nine this evening, to promote their sales.'
    His hand shook as he handed Skinner the newspaper, and he winced as the policemen unfolded it and saw the front page.
    ' Top Cop and Sexy Sarge,' the headline blared. 'Naked romps shock police force . . . Exclusive, by Spotlights top reporter Noel Salmon.'
    Skinner felt his spine stiffen as he stared at the tabloid, his eyes 33
    widening. Beneath the headline most of the front page was taken up by a colour photograph. It had been shot with a long lens, and through a muslin-draped window, but it was clear enough. It showed a tal , naked man, standing with his back to the window and the camera.
    Beyond, sitting up in bed and staring at him, as if in awe, the head and shoulders of a woman, recognisable clearly as Pam Masters.
    'Holy shit!' Skinner whispered at last, as he stared at the picture.
    It took a while, before he was able to shift his gaze to the story beneath. He began to read, aloud, in a strained voice.
    ' Top Detective Bob Skinner, Edinburgh s famous deputy chief of police, has been enjoying a steamy affair with his quote personal assistant unquote. Sergeant Pamela Masters, while his beautiful doctor wife Sarah has been staying in the US.
    with her parents and year-old baby son, James.

    'Only last year Mrs Skinner, 32, spent a week-long vigil at her husbands bedside as he lay critically wounded in an Edinburgh hospital after being stabbed by a young girl.
    'The two-timing detective, 46, thought to be a serious candidate for the post of Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, and the stunning Sarge have been enjoying raunchy romps at Skinner s luxury seaside cottage in Gullane, Scotland
    - one of his three homes - and at 34-year-old Masters'
    penthouse pad in Edinburgh's trendy Leith district.
    'This week, Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Martin refused to answer Spotlight questions on his boss s indiscretion, or on the likely reaction of Mrs Skinner, angrily ordering that your reporter be thrown out of an open press conference at which he tried to raise the issue.
    'Martin, 37, is engaged to Skinner's lawyer daughter Alexis, 22, and is known throughout Scottish police circles as his personal protege.
    'The high hopes that Masters, a one-time marketing whizz-kid, clearly entertained for a similarly rapid rise through the ranks, look like disappearing even more rapidly as Skinner's own career is thrown into doubt.
    'Spotlight readers must ask whether the two-timing 'tec can be trusted in one of the country s top police positions, and whether he can continue in his other post, as security adviser to Bruce Anderson, the new Secretary of State for Scotland.
    'Read next week's Spotlight for Sarah Skinners reaction to her husband's betrayal. More exclusive pies on pages 4 and 5.'
    'Would you credit that?' said Skinner hoarsely as he looked up from the newspaper. 'The miserable, snooping, duplicitous little creep 34
    photographed me through my bedroom window. And the story's a fucking travesty.
    'Sarah and I are formal y, legal y separated, both here and in the States. "Holidaying with her parents" for Christ's sake! She has a job over there. She took my son over there - without my agreement at that.
    'What the hell else have they done? Let's see.' He lifted the paper again and tore it open at pages four and five. As he did so Alex and Andy came to stand with him, scanning the pages from either side.
    The spread showed an array of photographs. One showed Sarah, white-tunic-clad at an open-air crime scene, frowning at her husband.
    'Last year, at Witches Hill, I guess,' said Skinner. Others showed Martin, at the press conference, pointing to the door as he ordered Salmon from the room, then glaring angrily at Alan Royston. A fourth, taken in the street below, showed Alex andAndy leaving home, casually dressed.
    Finally there was a series of three photographs, in colour like the rest.