Skinner, from the corridor, leaned into the ante-room to Sir James Proud's office. 'Is the Chief free?' he asked Gerry, his civilian secretary. It was just after midday.
'Yes, sir. He's catching up with his correspondence, that's al. I'm sure he'l be pleased to see you.' The young man looked efficient and crisp in an immaculately pressed short-sleeved white shirt.' That our officers should be half as smart,' the DCC mused as he opened the door and stepped into Proud Jimmy's long office.
The Chief Constable looked up from the papers on his desk. 'Oh, hel o, Bob,' he said, almost casually. 'What can I do for you?'
Skinner grinned. 'You can give me your version of whatever the hell you said to the Police Board this morning. I've just had a call from Roger Mather, the Tory member from East Lothian; he was laughing so much I thought he'd have a stroke.'
'Was he?' remarked the Chief, blandly 'What was the outcome? I left before the end.'
'No vote was taken. Apparently Aggie Maley did some ranting, but didn't quite get round to proposing the motion.'
Proud Jimmy nodded. 'That's good,' he said. 'That's good. Best that it ends that way. Best for you and best for the force.'
'Aye,' laughed Skinner, 'but according to Roger, most of the ranting was about you. Christ, Jimmy, did you really accuse Maley of being shacked up with a married man?'
'Certainly not. Not directly, at any rate. But what if I had? It's true.'
'And did you really threaten to rattle all the skeletons in their cupboards if they put the motion to a vote?'
The old Chief leaned back in his chair beaming, now, with undisguised pleasure. 'Too bloody right I did, my son. Too bloody right I did. If those bastards thought that they could have a go at you and I'd just sit there and allow it; or worse, if they thought they could just ignore me…
'They rucking well know different now, don't they?'
Skinner shook his head, still laughing quietly. 'You know, Chief.
When you drop the old avuncular act you drop it with a real vengeance.'
Gradual y, though, his expression grew more serious. 'Mind you,' he said, 'you've made an enemy of Aggie Maley.'
'Nothing new in that. Council or Maley's the enemy of everyone in a uniform… unless it's got a red star on it somewhere. I can handle her, and the troublemakers behind her. Hopeful y Ms Topham wil have a bit more control over them, now that I've set her the example.'
He slapped his palms flat on the desk. 'You'll find out for yourself at the next meeting. I'm on holiday, so you'll have to be there.'
Skinner scowled. 'Maybe they'l have another go.'
'No danger of that,' said Proud. 'They're paper tigers, with a lighted match held at their tails. They might shout the odds for a day or two, but they won't cross me again… or you. No, Bob, you don't have to worry about the councillors.'
He paused and frowned. 'Ministers, though, that's another matter.
I don't know this new Secretary of State at al. What's he like?'
Skinner shrugged his shoulders. 'I barely know him either,' he said. 'I've met him twice, to brief him on outstanding matters. On each occasion he just listened, barely said a word.'
'What do we know about him?'
'He's squeaky clean. He's a doctor by profession. He was a GP for five years, till he landed his seat in the wilds of Glasgow.'
'Pro-police or anti, would you say?'
The DCC thought the question over. 'Pro-himself more than anything else. He wants to climb the tree. I reckon he'd step on his own granny to reach a higher branch.'
'Watch him, then,' warned Proud.
He swung round in his chair. 'Bob,' he ventured, suddenly tentative.
'About Pamela. Would it make life easier for you if I gave her a job on my personal staff?'
Skinner looked at him, surprised. 'Yes, Jimmy, it would. But it would make life more difficult for you, so I would be against it.
'The thought's much appreciated,' he said. 'But Andy and I are considering Pam's career options. And soon, I'm going to have to let her in on our thinking.'