The Ardmore Inheritance, Rob Wyllie [best novels for students TXT] 📗

meeting in the pub. She assumed his prompt presence could be accounted for only because his boss had commanded him not to be late. So what of DCI Jill Smart? Overall, she thought she quite liked her, the senior policewoman being smart, efficient, professional and occasionally quite witty, characteristics that she would normally find endearing. But there was an enigmatic quality to her bearing that meant you were never quite sure if you were seeing the real woman beneath the super-smart exterior. And if Maggie was being honest with herself, she recognised the hint of jealousy she felt towards the woman, mainly on account of her annoying slimness, the result of a maniacal devotion to the gym, but also because of something else she had observed that last time they'd met, when they were in that restaurant celebrating the successful resolution of the Aphrodite case. DCI Jill Smart had a thing for Jimmy. But then, what woman didn't? No-one she'd ever met, that was for sure. It wasn't as if she had a thing for him herself, she was fairly sure of that. Sure, he was good-looking, outstandingly so, but she was nearly ten years older than him for a start, not that that need be an insurmountable obstacle. The truth was she simply felt possessive towards him, protective even, because he'd single-handedly rescued her when she was at the lowest point in her life. No, she didn't want Jimmy for herself, but she wasn't going to hand him over to just anyone either.

Today however she had resolved to push all that to the back of her mind.

'Hi guys,' she said, more brightly that she felt, 'have you ordered?' It had been nearly two in the morning before she had got back from her Scottish trip, and she had found Ollie wide awake and anxious to share the minutiae of his day with her, a request she could hardly refuse.

'Aye, the usual poison,' Frank said, smiling. 'Just waiting for them to shout my name then you can wander over and collect them wee brother.'

Jimmy shot him a look of mild disdain but didn't say anything.

'So how's tricks?' Frank continued. 'Making any progress on your Macallan thing?'

'I'm not,' Maggie said mournfully. 'I wouldn't say my trip north was a complete waste of time but no, I wouldn't say we've made much progress either.' In fact, the only reason the trip hadn't been a complete write-off was because of her very satisfactory meeting with Flora Stewart, but she couldn't very well reveal that in the presence of his brother. 'I'm just hoping Jimmy's got something positive to report.'

They heard a barista bellow 'two americanos, a skinny latte and a cappuccino for Frank'.

'That's us,' Frank said, nodding towards the serving counter. 'Nip over and fetch them and then we can hear all about it when you get back.' With a resigned shrug, Jimmy got up and shuffled off as instructed, returning a couple of minutes later with the drinks, secured in a sturdy cardboard cup-holder. As he set them down on the table, she noticed Jill reach out and almost imperceptibly, slide a finger across the back of his hand, he reacting with the faintest of smiles.

'So Jimmy,' she said, trying to erase the image from her mind, 'how did you get on with the Macallan twin? I can't remember which one you were seeing, Pixie or Posy.'

He smiled. 'Well actually it was neither. What I mean is they're re-branding, as they call it. They're going back to their original names. So it was Elspeth Macallan I saw yesterday.'

'Frank told me a little about your case,' Jill said, 'so I googled them. It must have come up with about a million pictures of them. They're pretty girls, but a bit in your face for me.'

'Yeah, they're everywhere,' Maggie said. 'As Jimmy said, it's all about brand Macallan.'

'Sounds like it should be a make of whisky,' Frank said, smiling.

'It is one already,' Jimmy said straightforwardly. 'No connection though, at least I don't think so. But anyway, coming back to my meeting, well to be honest I got precisely nowhere. In a nutshell, Elspeth Macallan insisted she was first-born and she gave me the metaphorical two fingers when I suggested a compromise might be a good idea.'

'Yeah, I got pretty much the same treatment from Alison Macallan too,' Maggie said, frowning. 'She's pretty sore about the way her husband treated her and she's willing to take her chances in front of a judge.'

'See you in court?' Frank said, shooting Maggie a sardonic look. 'The only guys that'll profit from that are you lawyers. No offence of course.'

'None taken,' she said, smiling. 'We'll just have to hope we get on better with Posy, the other twin.'

'Kirsty, you mean,' Jimmy said. 'She's rebranded, remember? But there was something else that came out of my meeting with her sister. Something I need to run past you Maggie, to see what you think about it.'

'What was that?' Maggie didn't know how or why, but she thought she knew what he was going to say.

'She asked me out. To dinner.'

She smiled, pleased that her intuition had proved accurate. But then again, you didn't need to be Sherlock Holmes to predict what would happen when any woman was within touching distance of Jimmy Stewart.

'So what did you say?'

He laughed. 'I sort of said maybe. That I'd let her know when we'd decided about the case. I think I gave her the impression that I had to get your permission first.'

'Quite right too,' she grinned. 'I'm not having you cavorting with beautiful young women on company time.'

'Certainly not boss, I wouldn't dream of it,' he said. 'So I'll give her a buzz some time and let her know we'll take the case, and then maybe suggest just a wee low-key lunch at some point. I suppose it might come in useful, having at least a friendly relationship with her.'

'Brilliant,' Maggie said, before turning her attention to Frank. 'So this business proposition you