Chapter 13

Mark's chin rested on Flick's shoulder as he peered down at the pages of the report Drew had shared with them both. He grunted to let Felicity know he had finished reading the pages that were currently open and was ready for her to turn over to the next ones. Together they quickly absorbed the remaining pages and Flick turned her head slightly to meet Mark's eyes and confirm he was finished.

"So, let me just make sure I've got this right and we are all on the same page here," said Mark.

"This teacher - Kenny MacGovern - has somehow managed to single-handedly raise the performance of three different schools to twenty percent above the national average.

"A high percentage of those he has taught have gone on to be really successful in their chosen professions.

"These successful people that MacGovern taught are all making monthly donations to an organisation called the Church of Cyberscience.

"MacGovern also taught the Dundee policeman who stopped me for speeding and for having a dodgy tail-light. That policeman is also making monthly donations to the Church of Cyberscience.

"The Church of Cyberscience has recently purchased two Glasgow casinos, casinos that seem to be under the management of the Hamilton brothers - two of Glasgow's gang leaders.

"The Hamiltons do not appear to be in control of the Church of Cyberscience as they are making their donations every month too - which tends to suggest perhaps that the Church of Cyberscience is controlling them.

"The man who tried to attack me with a knife - the solicitor called Jason Welsh - is also making monthly donations to the Church of Cyberscience. He doesn't appear to have any connection to the Hamiltons and he won't talk about the Church despite the fact that he claims the 'church' whispered inside his head and told him to attack and kill me.

"Is that about the size of it?" Mark finished.

"There still seems to be far more questions than answers," complained Flick. "How could MacGovern achieve those improvements in school results all on his own? How is MacGovern connected to the Church of Cyberscience? By the way, I notice that MacGovern doesn't appear to be making monthly donations.

"What in the name of Christ is the Church of Cyberscience? What connects all of these people to MacGovern and the Church? Most important of all, if the Hamiltons and Welsh are somehow being controlled by this church, why does it want Mark dead?"

"Okay, okay. I didn't claim to have all the answers, just that I'd made a significant breakthrough," said Drew a little defensively. "I've talked to my boss and agreed that I should bring this MacGovern character in for questioning. Maybe then we'll get some answers."

"Wouldn't it be better to simply investigate him first rather than alert him? Surely the more information you have before you confront him the better? At least, that's how I normally go about these things," pitched in Mark, his investigative journalist's instincts kicking in.

"I can't think of much else we could do," responded Drew. "I've had someone trying to unearth anything they can about the Church of Cyberscience but all I can get is its registered company address and the names of the company officer bearers. The address is a private estate in Fife and the officers are two of the names who are making monthly donations. One is a lawyer and one a senior executive with our biggest pension company - I can't find anything unusual about either of them.

"The Hamiltons are another dead-end and Jason Welsh either can't or won't tell me anything about this church. So far as I can see PC Colin MacSween in Dundee has done nothing illegal - you were speeding Mark and there's no law against making donations to charity so far as I'm aware. I can't just haul in a policeman and give him a grilling without good grounds!

"I've sent officers to each of the three schools where MacGovern has taught - the last one is where he is currently the headteacher. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. No one has a bad word to say about the man. For all intents and purposes he is a very well respected teacher who delivers astonishing results.

"Felicity has just laid out the big questions we need answered. If you can tell me how to go about answering any of them without pulling MacGovern in for questioning then I'm all ears," said Drew.

"Well, how about just putting MacGovern under surveillance to see who he meets? Can't you get a phone tap or something to listen in to his calls? There must be more you can do without tipping the guy off that you're interested in him. Once he knows the police are possibly on to him he'll cover his tracks so you'll never find anything," said Drew.

"You've been watching too much TV son. I don't have the manpower to put anybody under surveillance and it's only the security services that go in for all that James Bond wire tapping stuff. I still think the best way forward is to bring MacGovern in and put him under the microscope."

"I agree with Mark. It sounds like there is much more you need to know before you start questioning this man. Your approach seems to be based on the hope that he will tell you the answers but how likely is that? The best way to get him to open up is to be able to demonstrate that you already know most of what's going on. If you're just going to go on a fishing trip he'll spot that right away and just clam up. There must be more that we can do," urged Flick.

Inside his head, Drew quietly agreed with what Mark and Felicity were saying. Bringing MacGovern in for questioning was a big gamble to take and it could go spectacularly wrong.

"Maybe it would be worthwhile putting MacGovern under surveillance. Didn't the Chief offer me additional resources this afternoon? Why don't I just take him up on his offer and watch this guy for a week or so to see where that leads us?" he thought.

"Surely you must have enough manpower to watch this guy for a while?" Mark pressed again.

Drew shrugged. He wasn't the kind of person to stick stubbornly to his guns when he could see his own ideas weren't necessarily the best. Experience had taught him that pride did come very much before a fall and he was willing to follow whatever approach got results.

"I might be able to twist the Chief Superintendent's arm to give me some more men," he replied now. "You're both possibly right. It might be better to watch MacGovern for a week or so and see whether that gives us any clues as to how all the pieces of this jigsaw are connected."

More officers piled into the computer room and Kenny quickly found himself hauled to his feet, pressed forcefully face-first up against the wall and handcuffs were secured around his wrists. One of the officers spun him around once the cuffs were in place and he was able to watch what was going on.

Another man who had entered the room thrust an official looking notice under his nose.

"This is a search warrant authorising us to legally search this house and the surrounding estate," the officer barked, "consider yourself nicked you disgusting little pervert."

Kenny wished he could shrivel up and die on the spot. He wished the ground would open up and give him somewhere to hide from the disgusted looks he was getting from all of the officers in the room. It was clear they somehow knew about his involvement with the young girls and their contempt for him was written in the expressions they wore. His shoulders slumped and the shame of what he had done washed over him once again.

The officers continued to taunt him as they searched the room and there was no escape for Kenny from their obvious loathing.

"Get your jollies from preying on little girls do you? Just wait until you see how they treat your kind inside son. All the hardest criminals want to see your kind pay a price. In no time at all you're down to get a visit from 'Mr Big' in your cell at night. I'd put a bet on that you'll be passed round the prison before the week's out. Can you feel your arse being burst open pervert? Can you!?"

"Is that the only way you can get your pathetic little excuse for a cock hard? Is it? Interfering with little girls? You're fucking sick! I hope he's right, I hope the cons ream you out good and proper!"

One man in plain clothes seemed to be in charge.

"Okay you lot, can the remarks and get out of this room so the techies can get access to the computers and the cameras."

Kenny was hustled towards the door and he called out a warning over his shoulder.

"Whatever you do, don't turn the other computer on or everything on it will be lost," he pleaded.

Kenny had had to come to a split second decision. Let the police turn on the PC and perhaps risk all of the data being wiped or warn them so that it would be safe. If it was wiped then he might be better off in terms of whatever charges the police were intent on bringing against him. The down side was if the data was wiped he might never be able to trace who had been controlling him. For Kenny, finding out who was behind all of this was more important and so he warned the policemen what could happen. He wished now he had simply disconnected the PC from the Internet by disabling the internal wireless card.

A policeman took up position on each side of him and took his elbows, urging him down the hallway and through the smashed front door. Kenny found himself thrust into the back of a waiting police car - one of the officers pushing his head down so he didn't bang it as he ducked into the rear seat. He watched the door slam shut and through the window he saw two men in full length white coveralls approaching the house. He guessed these were the technicians and he hoped that they would heed the warning he had given. As the car pulled away down the drive, he took one last look out of the rear window at the Cambo House Estate. He wasn't sure what was in store for him now but it wouldn't be pleasant.

The Hamilton brothers were extremely agitated. The contract killer from Liverpool had supplied a number that could be used, but only in emergencies. The brothers had tried the number repeatedly but the phone wasn't answered and it didn't trip through to a message service.

Roddy and Duncan had been trying to stop the 'hit' on Mark MacGhee for most of the day. They couldn't have explained why it was important to cancel the killing or why they had changed their minds about the journalist. They just knew that nothing else mattered as much as stopping the killer from carrying out the job he had been paid for. The fact that they were unable to do what they wanted to, what they absolutely need to, was driving both men close to the edge of sanity. Their minds blanked out everything else apart from cancelling the contract and the tension inside the room was almost tangible, almost a physical thing, the longer they went without being able to make contact with the paid killer.

"Are you sure there's no other way of contacting this guy?" Roddy demanded.

"Positive. These people are very security conscious - what else do you expect given what they do for a living? If there was another way I'd have already tried it! Now give me fucking peace!" barked Duncan in response, the tension he was experiencing coming to the surface.

Duncan hit redial on his mobile phone and his eyes widened in surprise when he realised his call had been answered. Before the person on the other end of the line even had a chance to speak, Duncan shouted out his orders.

"This is Glasgow. All bets are off. You'll still get the final part of the fee, but all bets are off. Do I make myself clear?"

"It's your money and it's no skin off my nose whether I do the job or not - just so long as I get paid," said the voice on the other end of the connection.

"Fine. Just forget you even heard this guy's name. The rest of the money is already in the account you set up," replied Duncan.

"It's always nice to get paid for doing nothing," the contract killer said as he cut the connection.

"It's done," Duncan said to his brother.

"Thank god for that," Roddy responded.

The tension in the brothers seeped magically away now that they had achieved what had become an obsessive, all consuming objective. Neither of them thought to question what they had just gone through.

Drew knocked on the Chief Superintendent's door for the second time that day. He heard Hugh Graham call out, inviting him to enter the office.

"Back again so soon Drew, what can I do for you now?" the Chief asked.

"Well, I don't want to appear too keen or too greedy but you know you offered me some additional resources this morning? I'd like to take you up on your offer if that's okay."

"What is it you need?" asked Hugh Graham.

"I'm thinking that it would be a good idea to put this Kenny MacGovern character under surveillance for a wee while, just to see who he is in contact with. I'm going to pull him in eventually but before I do that I'd like to get a better picture of who he's talking to, who he might be working with."

"That sounds like a very good idea, Drew. I've already organised things so that you've got access to more manpower if you need it. This case has all the makings of a major coup, don't let me down son," replied the Chief.

Drew nodded his thanks and backtracked through the office door. He knew the duty sergeant would have details of the officers that had been made available and he went in search of him to set the surveillance up. His earlier investigations had of course identified the school where MacGovern was currently the headteacher and had also thrown up the address of the flat where the teacher lived. Those would be the starting points for the watch he would set up.

An hour later, two men having been briefed and dispatched to stake out the teacher, Drew called it a day and headed home for some much-needed sleep. He used his hands-free set in the car to call Mark as he made his way across Glasgow.

"Mark? It's Drew. Just to let you both know that I managed to persuade the Chief to give me some additional manpower. I've already got the teacher staked out and I'll let you know if anything interesting comes up. Keep me informed of where you're going."