The Bad Fire by Campbell Armstrong Read Free Book Online Page A

nautical, like an admiral. How ironic.
    â€˜Sod it,’ Haggs said. ‘It doesn’t matter who tells us what. We’ll get it in the end anyway. There’s just too much buzz vibrating along the grapevine for this to be a bag of hot air. That old tosspot Mallon was up to something, and it was big, and I’m not being left out in the fucking cold. Nothing passes me by.’
    Loose talk in the criminal fraternity, Caskie thought; but enough to convince Haggs something profitable was in the wind. Caskie decided to risk standing up. He leaned carefully against the handrail and looked down into the water. Reflected light hit his sunglasses. His mouth filled with sticky saliva. He was going to throw up. His moment of courage passed and he made his way shakily back to his seat. I’ll never be a seagoing man. No life on the ocean wave for me.
    Haggs said, ‘Jackie Mallon left Glasgow last Wednesday from Central Station. You any idea where he went?’
    â€˜It’s news to me,’ Caskie said.
    â€˜My man saw him enter the station, then he was gone in a flash.’
    â€˜Maybe he didn’t go anywhere. Maybe he was playing games with your man.’
    â€˜He was seen buying a ticket,’ Haggs said.
    â€˜And then your man lost him? Downright careless.’
    â€˜You know nothing about this jaunt?’
    â€˜Nothing. Anything else on the agenda, Haggs?’
    Haggs gestured loosely. ‘We’re almost finished.’ He ticked off the names on his fingertips. ‘Matty Bones. Joyce. Senga Craig. I’ll deal with Matty when he’s had a few more hours to sweat. You can cope amiably with Joyce. And Senga – do you want me to leave her to you?’
    â€˜Yes,’ Caskie said.
    â€˜You’re the expert on the Mallon family, after all. You’re the authority. You’re the historian.’
    â€˜Up to a point,’ Caskie said.
    â€˜What you don’t know about the family isn’t worth knowing.’ Haggs stretched his long arms until his elbow joints cracked. He smiled. The expression made him appear ugly and unwanted, like the solitary bruised Cornice left in a greengrocer’s display after all the others have been sold. ‘It’s a bloody shame Jackie was such a stubborn fucker –’
    â€˜I don’t think he’d have told you anything in a million years,’ Caskie said. ‘He was never easily intimidated. If he didn’t want to tell you something, that was the end of it. You could pull out his fingernails one by one, he still wouldn’t tell you if he didn’t want to.’
    Caskie remembered Jackie Mallon the last time he’d seen him – Jackie’s ruined looks, the glossy hair, the sunken cheeks that might have belonged to an old trumpeter. A chance encounter on Argyle Street on a busy Saturday afternoon last Christmas, the shops festooned with tinsel and light, an army of Santas everywhere, a kiddy choir singing ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’, and Jackie walking one way, Caskie the other, and they’d collided. They shook hands vigorously, men who tolerated, perhaps even liked each other, despite the fact they worked different sides of the street.
    What are you up to these days, you old rogue? Caskie asked.
    All I do with my time is play dominoes in the senior citizens’ centre. You didn’t hear this from me, but we actually play for money. It’s illegal, I know, I know. But where’s the harm in gambling for a few quid, eh? Such are the innocent pleasures of sorry old men. I was never a reprobate . Jackie had smiled then, the easy-going smile that made you feel he was sharing an enormous confidence.
    Caskie laughed. And I believe in Santa .
    Aye, everybody should believe in Santa. Where’s the spirit of Christmas if you don’t believe in the gaffer?
    They wished each other seasonal greetings. Jackie Mallon had patted Caskie’s arm and walked away, bent forward a