Chapter 18: Secrets revealed

Gavin got his mother settled in the apartment with Lizzie and Fiona. Christine had asked Gavin to take on the unenviable task of telling his sister that Glen was dead. He took Fiona through into one of the bedrooms for some privacy to get the horrible duty out of the way. He waited until she was propped up against the headboard of the bed and sat beside her.

"What's all this about, bro? You've really got me worried. Why couldn't you tell me out there with mum and Lizzie? Have you done something else?" she asked.

"Sis, I've got some really bad news," Gavin started.

"No, nooooo!" Fiona wailed.

Gavin wondered if she had guessed.

"Sis, dad's dead. He didn't come back to the house last night and the police came this morning to tell us that his body had been found floating in the River Clyde."

"Nooooooo!" Fiona screamed.

Gavin hugged her tightly, trying to ease her pain just by being close.

"Apparently he phoned the police to tell them that he knew something about the vigilante. I'm guessing that they must have traced the call and somehow the information was passed on to one of the gangs.

"Sis, it looks as if he was tortured. I think they were trying to get him to tell them who the vigilante is. Mom and I had to go and identify the body this morning, it was a horrible sight," he said.

"Daddy! Daddyyyyyyy!" Fiona sobbed.

Christine and Lizzie entered the bedroom. Christine rushed to comfort her daughter and Lizzie looked confused, wondering what the drama was all about.

"Will someone tell me what's going on?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, Lizzie. I had to tell Fiona first, I hope you can understand that. We found out this morning that our father was murdered last night. Mom and I had to go and identify his body this morning," said Gavin.

Lizzie's hand shot to her mouth as the shock of Gavin's words sunk in.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed.

"Gavin thinks one of the Glasgow gangs killed him," Christine said.

"Oh my god!" Lizzie repeated.

"It's possible that Glen was tortured to tell them about Gavin," Christine added, forgetting that, as far as she knew, Lizzie knew nothing about Gavin's alternative persona.

"Oh my god!" Lizzie said for the third time.

"He didn't tell them anything," Gavin said now.

His statement was made with such conviction that Christine examined his face closely. It had only been an hour or so ago that Gavin himself had raised the possibility that Glen would have told the gang about him. What had changed in that time to convince him that Glen hadn't told everything?

"How can you be so sure? You weren't earlier," she asked now.

"I just know he didn't talk," Gavin replied.

"How did dad die?" Fiona asked, her tears subsiding a little.

Christine realised that she didn't know the answer to that question. She had been in such a fog she hadn't thought to ask.

"A single gunshot to the head," Gavin said.

"But we saw his face, there was a lot of damage, but surely no bullet wounds?" Christine said.

Gavin had spoken to DI MacIntosh quietly and extracted this information without his mother hearing.

"The bullet entered through his mouth, all of the damage would be to the back of his head," Gavin tried to explain.

"It looked as if he suffered terribly," Christine broke down again.

"I think he changed his mind about telling the police about me," said Gavin, "I also think he did everything he could to protect me."

At last Gavin was feeling guilty about what he had done as the vigilante. It had been as a result of his actions that his father had been brutally tortured and killed. A man who had never broken the law in his life, a man who wouldn't know a gang member if he fell over one on the street was dead because Gavin had brought the gangs into his life.

For the first time since he had made the decision to attack the Portcullis Gavin felt he had no more use for the vigilante. He would never know the irony that, as Glen came to change his mind about his son's action moments before his death, he was now coming to the conclusion that Glen had been right all along.

Lizzie tried to lighten the dark mood.

"George is back in his apartment, I saw him earlier and he looked quite cheerful," she announced.

Her efforts didn't work as well as she had hoped.

Drew wasn't happy with the Anderson killing. Something just didn't add up. Was it really possible that a hoax caller had been mistaken for someone who really had information about the vigilante? Had this man paid the ultimate price for wasting police time? It just didn't feel right.

There was nothing in their records on Glen Anderson. No criminal connections, nothing to even hint at anything shady in his past. He was looking at the son now. Strangely he could come up with nothing on his computer for a Gavin Anderson. Sticking doggedly to his task, he checked census data for the Anderson's address and spotted immediately that the son had a different surname - he was Gavin MacSween, not Gavin Anderson.

Another computer search, this time using the name Gavin MacSween, identified that there was a file going back some nine years. Something that old wasn't held on the computer and Drew knew he would have to put in a request for the paper file. He did so now, not holding out much hope. The son would have been only eight or nine back then so it was unlikely the file was going to give him anything interesting.

"I'm going to go for a walk to clear my head," Gavin announced.

His mother, sister and Lizzie all searched his face for any warning signs. With the stress of everything that was going on, Christine still forgot that Lizzie didn't know anything about his activities as the vigilante.

"Don't do anything stupid, Gavin. I don't think I could take losing you and Glen. Please, no more killings. Oh dear!"

Her hand went to her mouth as she at last realised belatedly that Lizzie was there and that she had said too much. The other elements of the evening's conversation now came back to her too.

Gavin smiled for perhaps the first time that day.

"It's okay, mom. Lizzie knows about me. She was the girl I saved from the rapist and she recognised me at the University," he said.

Christine recalled now that she had thought there was something familiar about Lizzie when they had first met. As soon as Gavin explained who she was, she remembered the news footage that had shown Lizzie after the attempted rape.

Gavin left Fiona and Lizzie to bring his mother up to date and left the apartment. He hopped in the van and drove off into the Glasgow night.

Fraser was dropped off at his house by two other members of the Cullen clan. He waited in the car while one of them quickly checked to make sure there would be no repeat of what had happened outside his house previously. Once the all clear was given, he walked quickly up the drive and let himself in.

He poured himself a whisky and turned on the TV before taking a seat in his favourite armchair. There was no sound to warn him but suddenly he felt the barrel of a gun pressed to his temple. Surprisingly he wasn't scared and instead he let out a sigh.

"Gavin, put the gun down. I told you to let this go," he said.

Gavin walked round in front of Gilchrist, his ski mask in place.

How do you know who I am?" he asked.

"Take the fucking mask off, it's so melodramatic!"

Gavin pulled the mask off of his head. He had recognised Gilchrist as he walked away that morning and couldn't let matters rest. Getting into Gilchrist's house had been embarrassingly easy, once again the criminals had no idea of security. Climbing up a drainpipe, he had entered an open upstairs window and then waited for his quarry to arrive.

"How do you know who I am?" he asked again, "how did you know where to find me?"

Fraser sighed again.

"When Cullen ordered his goons to pick somebody up last night I had no idea who it was, just that it was related to the vigilante.

"All of the gangs have been cooperating over the past weeks and months to find the vigilante - he's bad for business, very bad for business.

"I didn't even know where we were going, but as we got closer my heart started to sink and suddenly I made some connections that I'd missed. The gang members thought I was quiet and scared because there was going to be violence, but I was really scared because I just knew we were heading to your house.

"There were clues I should have cottoned on to. When you killed Mulloy and Haining that night, there was something familiar about the way you moved. I didn't see it; maybe the bang on the head you gave me slowed my thinking. But as we pulled up outside your house, it made sense. You lost your mother and I always suspected Steve Miller was wrapped up in that. That's why you hit the Portcullis wasn't it? To get Miller?"

"How do you know all that? How do you know about my mother? What do you mean there was something familiar about the way I moved?" Gavin demanded.