Sentence The Onehundredandtwentyfourth
Which is why, later that same day, two industrious Revenue Officers made their way – not to Rose Street, but to Young Street and The Oxford Bar, for the O'Hooligan Sisters had gone there at lunchtime and had found the company so convivial that they had stayed through the afternoon, at a table with two Police Scotland Inspectors – Gordon Brevity and his erstwhile superior, Bruce Bruse; all four of then had tackled every puzzle in Bruse's morning newspaper of choice and by the time Annabelle and Traci pushed their way past the smokers outside and entered the Bar, the four puzzlers
were toasting themselves and proposing to form a Pub Quiz Team and perhaps even enter the TV Eggheads competition; so it was with some slight awkwardness that the sisters-in-law drew up two more chairs and joined the quartet, “my goodness,” said DCI Bruse, gazing somewhat enigmatically at Annabelle, “what a fine head of True Scarlet, you have there, it's one I'm sure many would envy,” and Annabelle, her shoulders squared and her bosom fine and proud, acknowledged the compliment and thanked Bruse – calling him by his given name, because she had assisted him on several of his cases, when he needed to know something of a victim or suspect's financial situation, most particularly and spectacularly when he had been investigating the suspicious death of a prominent businessman and Councillor in a brothel near York Place, where the Inland Revenue Special Investigation Team was based; and then the two police officers rose from the table, for they both had places to go, but assured the O'Hooligan sisters that they weren’t levanting and they paid for the afternoon's drinks before leaving – Brevity to home, where his wife Goldy was expecting him, and
Bruse back to his duty for he had suspects to investigate; and this left the four women alone, during which time Traci exungulated her already perfect fingernails, for want of any other innocent way of passing the time, until a few minutes later they were joined by Bernie Westwater; and after some commonplace remarks, it was Traci who 'cut to the chase' and explained – without naming him, Lionel's desire to spy on the notorious QC and perhaps plant a surveillance camera in his bedroom; the three O'Hooligans burst out laughing, and it was Dixie who first regained control of her mirth and explained to the two Revenue girls that they already had that all set up: she told them about a system The Economic Migrant had established, by hacking into the computer network in Elginbrod's house and also his telephone system – both landlines and mobiles; and all without having to set foot inside the building; and as proof, Dixie produced a folder of colour prints taken from every room in Elginbrod's house that had either a Smart TV, PC, laptop or tablet – the two Revenue Officers were amazed and delighted, but something troubled Traci, and she voiced it: “all of this means that if my friend were to gain access, he would be caught on camera,” and Bunty nodded, “yep, sure as eggs is eggs, I'm afraid, but I'll tell you what, The Economic Migrant will know of the 'dead times' when there's no-one meant to be in the house, so I could ask him, well, pay him, to switch the cameras off for, say, an hour, if you could let me know exactly when” - now, it will be understandable that Traci MacGillivray felt rather uneasy about the position Lionel would be in if there was any photographic evidence of him being in Elginbrod's home, so she told the O'Hooligans (which is to include Bernie, a cousin of The Twins) that she would have to think carefully about this as she had some doubts about the ability of her friend to enter and leave such a house without leaving any incriminating evidence, having no experience of housebreaking and, being an ordinary honest person, no contacts with anyone who did, and that she was in a mind to ask him to abstain from such a risky enterprise, but Dixie tried to cut through the ballyhoo and offered her own services to assist Traci's friend; she had considerable experience as a 'cat burglar', she said and both Traci and Annabelle were impressed when she laid out her credentials; Traci felt somewhat mollified and said that she would speak to her friend later and maybe they could meet with Dixie again tomorrow – at which everyone joined in heartily when Bunty proposed a toast to the success of the venture and the downfall of the Elginbrod Empire!
Which is why, later that same day, two industrious Revenue Officers made their way – not to Rose Street, but to Young Street and The Oxford Bar, for the O'Hooligan Sisters had gone there at lunchtime and had found the company so convivial that they had stayed through the afternoon, at a table with two Police Scotland Inspectors – Gordon Brevity and his erstwhile superior, Bruce Bruse; all four of then had tackled every puzzle in Bruse's morning newspaper of choice and by the time Annabelle and Traci pushed their way past the smokers outside and entered the Bar, the four puzzlers
were toasting themselves and proposing to form a Pub Quiz Team and perhaps even enter the TV Eggheads competition; so it was with some slight awkwardness that the sisters-in-law drew up two more chairs and joined the quartet, “my goodness,” said DCI Bruse, gazing somewhat enigmatically at Annabelle, “what a fine head of True Scarlet, you have there, it's one I'm sure many would envy,” and Annabelle, her shoulders squared and her bosom fine and proud, acknowledged the compliment and thanked Bruse – calling him by his given name, because she had assisted him on several of his cases, when he needed to know something of a victim or suspect's financial situation, most particularly and spectacularly when he had been investigating the suspicious death of a prominent businessman and Councillor in a brothel near York Place, where the Inland Revenue Special Investigation Team was based; and then the two police officers rose from the table, for they both had places to go, but assured the O'Hooligan sisters that they weren’t levanting and they paid for the afternoon's drinks before leaving – Brevity to home, where his wife Goldy was expecting him, and
Bruse back to his duty for he had suspects to investigate; and this left the four women alone, during which time Traci exungulated her already perfect fingernails, for want of any other innocent way of passing the time, until a few minutes later they were joined by Bernie Westwater; and after some commonplace remarks, it was Traci who 'cut to the chase' and explained – without naming him, Lionel's desire to spy on the notorious QC and perhaps plant a surveillance camera in his bedroom; the three O'Hooligans burst out laughing, and it was Dixie who first regained control of her mirth and explained to the two Revenue girls that they already had that all set up: she told them about a system The Economic Migrant had established, by hacking into the computer network in Elginbrod's house and also his telephone system – both landlines and mobiles; and all without having to set foot inside the building; and as proof, Dixie produced a folder of colour prints taken from every room in Elginbrod's house that had either a Smart TV, PC, laptop or tablet – the two Revenue Officers were amazed and delighted, but something troubled Traci, and she voiced it: “all of this means that if my friend were to gain access, he would be caught on camera,” and Bunty nodded, “yep, sure as eggs is eggs, I'm afraid, but I'll tell you what, The Economic Migrant will know of the 'dead times' when there's no-one meant to be in the house, so I could ask him, well, pay him, to switch the cameras off for, say, an hour, if you could let me know exactly when” - now, it will be understandable that Traci MacGillivray felt rather uneasy about the position Lionel would be in if there was any photographic evidence of him being in Elginbrod's home, so she told the O'Hooligans (which is to include Bernie, a cousin of The Twins) that she would have to think carefully about this as she had some doubts about the ability of her friend to enter and leave such a house without leaving any incriminating evidence, having no experience of housebreaking and, being an ordinary honest person, no contacts with anyone who did, and that she was in a mind to ask him to abstain from such a risky enterprise, but Dixie tried to cut through the ballyhoo and offered her own services to assist Traci's friend; she had considerable experience as a 'cat burglar', she said and both Traci and Annabelle were impressed when she laid out her credentials; Traci felt somewhat mollified and said that she would speak to her friend later and maybe they could meet with Dixie again tomorrow – at which everyone joined in heartily when Bunty proposed a toast to the success of the venture and the downfall of the Elginbrod Empire!
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