Ruth McConnell was already at her desk when Skinner arrived in the Command Suite, having installed Doherty in Brian Mackie's Special Branch office.
She made to stand up but he waved her back into her chair. 'Good morning, sir,' she said brightly. 'How was your golf?'
OK,' he grinned, beginning to flick through the morning's post, which lay, opened, in a pile on Ruth's side table. 'By my standards, anyway. But I'm playing for the next five days with a man who reckons he can break sixty… and I'm quite sure he can.'
`Better have some coffee to steady your nerves, then. Your filter machine should have brewed by now. I've laid out a plate of biscuits for your visitors.'
He looked up from his mail. 'Visitors.'
`Yes sir, Detective Superintendent Higgins asked if she could see you at nine, and Miss Rose wanted me to keep some of your time free for her.'
`That's fine. I'll see them both, but I don't want to do it in my office. Book a conference room for nine-thirty, and tell Miss Higgins that I want a full meeting. As well as Maggie Rose, she should have Brian Mackie there; oh yes, and McGuire and McIlhenney. I want you there too, to produce a record, and Alan Royston, since we might decide to issue an update report to the media.'
Ruth nodded. 'Very good, sir.'
One other thing. Arrange for Joe Doherty, Brian Mackie and I to have coffee with the Chief after the briefing's over. Joe should pay a courtesy call while he's with us.'
He picked up his paperwork. 'Right, you do that, and I'll spend a happy hour with this lot.
Keep everyone at bay until half-nine.'