Sentence The Sixhundredandsixtieth

 

Bernie Cohen looked at Snooker Tam's scribbled note: 4 Dundonald Road, Hyndland; yes, that made sense, the houses were large and set back from the road and here, in the City Chambers in George Square he had the Valuation Roll and saw that the house was owned by Martin Elginbrod, the Edinburgh solicitor who, along with Sir Paladin MacFarlane, Doughty Doubleday and Chick Cowcaddens, had so recently met with Hamish MacDonald, otherwise AKA in the Saloon Bar of The Clansman by the Forth and Clyde Canal; it was a substantial detached house, with three public rooms, five principal bedrooms (two with their own dressing-rooms) and two others in the loft, for the women servants, with another in the annex, which would be above the garage; he looked at the Electoral Register and found that as well as Martin Elginbrod, there were also three live-in servants, Elizabeth Singer, James Tough and Grace Waterside, all indigenous West of Scotland names – Tough would be Elginbrod's chauffeur and perhaps valet, while one of the women was likely Cook/Housekeeper and the other the Slavey, doubling as that Housemaid the boys had seen admitting AKA; Elginbrod would, naturally, also be listed in the Edinburgh Valuation Roll and Voters Roll but Jock Linkumdoddie would have all that covered, no, what was of immediate concern was the link between AKA and the notorious convicted rapist, Cowcaddens who had somehow been given an

early release - the man was a brute, an evil and pernicious predator, despoiling young lives, this was no lollygagging small-time offender, there could surely be nothing meritorious here, he would never have earned such a concession and Bernie wanted to know why he had been set free, at whose instigation and on who's authority!