Doors Open

‘So what is it all about then,’ the gangster was asking, ‘if not the money?’

‘Money plays a big part,’ Mike was forced to admit. He glanced at his watch. ‘Look, there’s a café downstairs… do you fancy a quick coffee?’

‘I’ve had a stomachful,’ Calloway said with a shake of the head. ‘Might manage a cup of tea, though.’

‘My treat, Mr Calloway.’

‘Call me Chib.’

So they headed down the winding staircase, Calloway enquiring about prices, Mike explaining that he’d only been interested in art for a year or two and wasn’t exactly an expert. One thing he didn’t want Calloway to know was that he had a collection of his own, a collection some would doubtless term ‘extensive’. But as they queued at the service counter, Calloway asked him what he did for a living.

‘Software design,’ Mike said, deciding that he would elaborate as little as possible.

‘Cut-throat business, is it?’

‘It’s high pressure, if that’s what you mean.’

Calloway gave a twitch of the mouth, then got into a discussion with the girl behind the counter about which of the many teas on offer – Lapsang, green, gunpowder or orange pekoe – tasted most like actual tea. After which, they took their table, with its views on to Princes Street Gardens and the Scott Monument.

‘Ever been to the top of the Monument?’ Mike asked.

‘Mum took me up there when I was a kid. Scared me stupid. That’s probably why, a few years back, I dragged Do

‘Anyone ever tried breaking into this place?’ Calloway asked at last, studying his surroundings.

‘Not that I know of.’

Calloway wrinkled his nose. ‘Paintings are too bloody big anyway – where would you stash them?’

‘A warehouse, maybe?’ Mike suggested. ‘Art gets stolen all the time – a couple of men in workmen’s uniforms walked out of the Burrell collection with a tapestry a few years back.’

‘Really?’ This seemed to tickle the gangster. Mike cleared his throat.

‘We were at the same school, you and me – same year, actually.’

‘Is that a fact? Can’t say I remember you.’

‘I was never on your radar, but I recall that you more or less ran the place, even told the teachers what they could and couldn’t do.’

Calloway shook his head, but seemed flattered nonetheless. ‘I’m sure you’re exaggerating. Mind you, I was a tearaway back then.’ He eyes lost focus, and Mike knew he was thinking back to those days. ‘A solitary O-Grade, I ended up with – metalwork or something.’

‘One project, we made screwdrivers,’ Mike reminded him. ‘You put yours to good use…’

‘Persuading the nippers to hand over their cash,’ Chib agreed. ‘You’ve got a good memory. So how did you get into computers?’

‘I stayed on for Highers, then college after that.’

‘Our paths diverged,’ Chib said, nodding to himself. Then he stretched his arms out. ‘Yet here we are, meeting up after all these years, proper grown-ups and no damage done.’

‘Speaking of damage… what happened to Do

Chip’s eyes narrowed. ‘What’s it to you?’

‘Nothing at all… just curious.’

Chib pondered for a moment before replying. ‘He got out of the city. Paid me back first, mind. D’you keep up with anyone from the old days?’

‘Nobody,’ Mike admitted. ‘Took a look at Friends Reunited once, but there wasn’t anyone I particularly missed.’

‘Sounds like you were a loner.’

‘I spent a lot of time in the library.’

‘Might explain why I don’t remember you – I only went there the one time, took out The Godfather.’

‘Was that for recreational purposes or for training?’

Chib’s face darkened again, but only for a second. Then he burst out laughing, acknowledging the joke.

And so the conversation continued – fluidly; light-heartedly – neither man aware of the figure who twice passed by the window.

The figure of Detective Inspector Ransome.

5

Mike was standing at the very back of the saleroom, just inside the doorway. Laura Stanton had taken her place at the lectern and was checking that her microphone was working. She was flanked by plasma screens on which images of the lots would be shown, while the genuine articles were placed on an easel or pointed to (if they happened to be hanging on one of the walls) by a team of well-rehearsed staff. Mike could tell that Laura was nervous. This was, after all, only her second sale, and so far her performance had been judged ‘solid’ at best. No real treasures had been unearthed, no records smashed. As Allan Cruikshank had observed, the art market could go that way for months or even years at a stretch. This was Edinburgh, after all – not London or New York. The focus was on Scottish works.

‘You’re not going to be offered a Freud or a Bacon,’ Allan had said. Mike could see him now, seated two rows from the back, not in the market to buy anything, just keen for a final glance at each painting before it vanished into private hands or some corporate portfolio. From where Mike stood, he could take in the whole room. There was whispered anticipation. Catalogues were browsed one last time. Staff from the auction house were seated at their telephones, ready to hook up with distant bidders. It intrigued Mike: who were those people on the other end of the line? Were they Hong Kong-based financiers? Manhattan Celts with a penchant for Highland scenes of kilted shepherds? Rock stars or movie actors? He imagined them being given manicures or massages as they yelled their bids into the receiver, or pushing weights in their home gym, or seated aboard private jets. Somehow he always imagined them as being more glamorous than anyone who actually took the trouble to attend an auction. He’d asked Laura once for some gen on the telephone bidders but she’d just tapped the side of her nose, letting him know there were secrets she couldn’t share.

He knew probably half the people on view: dealers for the most part, who would then try to sell the paintings on. Plus the curious, dressed drably as though they’d only stumbled indoors for want of anything better to do with their time. Maybe some of them had a couple of paintings tucked away at home, a legacy from some long-dead aunt, and now wondered how much the artist was fetching. There were two or three people like Mike himself – genuine collectors who could afford pretty well anything that might come up. There were also a few faces new to him. And seated right at the front – in Newcomers’ Row – but with no paddle (and therefore only satisfying his curiosity), Chib Calloway. Mike had spotted him the moment he’d walked into the room, but had managed (so far) to go u

The gavel came down to signal that the auction was underway. The first five lots came and went in a blur, fetching the bottom end of estimate. A figure filled the doorway and Mike gave a nod of greeting. With retirement looming, Robert Gissing seemed to have more time on his hands for previews and auctions. He was giving the room an all-encompassing, beetle-browed glower. While Allan might regret the whisking away of so many paintings, Gissing had been known to rise to a state of apoplexy in salerooms, storming out, his voice booming down the corridor: Works of genuine genius! Sold into servitude and wrenched from the gaze of the deserving! Mike hoped he wasn’t going to cause a scene today – Laura had quite enough on her plate as it was. He noted that Gissing, too, had failed to collect a bidding paddle, and began to wonder just how many people in the room were interested in actually buying something. The next two lots failed to reach their reserve, adding to Mike’s fears. He knew that some of the dealers would get together beforehand to express their individual interests, making pacts to ensure they didn’t get into bidding wars. This tended to keep prices down unless there were collectors in the room or on the ends of those telephones.