"Quintin, Jardine - Autographs in the Rain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Quintin Jardine)

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14


Bob Skinner laughed. The one place I can't be contacted, Neil, as you
well know, is on Gullane Hill with my clubs over my shoulder. If I took
my mobile out on the golf course with me, I'd soon run out of playing
partners.

'I'm sorry they interrupted your Saturday though. I didn't really expect
that.'

'No problem, Boss. My daughter was just about to bully me into doing
the ironing.'

'Has she not taken that over yet?'

'No, she says she's too small to reach the ironing board properly. She
also says that she doesn't expect to be tall enough till she's about eighteen.
She's more like her mother every day, I tell you.'

'You don't have to, mate. I've seen her in action.' He smiled briefly at
the thought. 'Anyway, what did this boy from the Met have to tell me?'

Mcllhenney drew a breath. 'Nothing you're going to like.' He outlined
the content of Crowther's call, omitting nothing. When he finished there
was silence from the other end of the line.

Skinner broke it at last. 'The bastard must have fired a blank,' he said,
firmly. 'There was a gun, Neil, and it was fired. Believe me?'

'I never doubted you for one second, Boss,' his executive assistant replied.
'It's just a pity there weren't any witnesses.'

He heard the Deputy Chief Constable sigh. 'Aye, well, that's not exactly
the case. The fact is, there was someone with me when it happened.'

'Why didn't you say so, then?' Mcllhenney blurted out.

'Discretion, pal. Discretion. Does the name Louise Bankier mean
anything to you?'

'Louise Bankier? The actress? The movie star?'

'The very same. Lou was there; she and I had just had dinner in a
restaurant in Soho. We were looking for a taxi when the car drove by and
the guy took his pop at me. For all sorts of reasons, I didn't want her about