‘
I don’t know if the guy was a dealer; I suppose he was but that’s what Tommy told me anyway.’
Dewar thought for a moment. Maybe that was why Denise Banyon had jumped down his throat when he’d asked where Kelly had got his drugs. Stealing from a dealer could be a fatal mistake. ‘Anything else I should know about, Sharon?’
‘
Nothing big. The pair of them have been doing odd straight jobs like and not telling the social security but everybody does round here.’
‘
What sort of things?’
‘
The usual. House removals, bit of rubbish clearance, Tommy painted a fence for a woman along Trinity way, that sort of thing.’
Dewar nodded and said, ‘I want you to think carefully again about the university. Are you absolutely certain that it never came up in conversation at any time between Tommy and Michael Kelly.’
‘
I’m positive,’ replied Sharon. I’m sure I would’ve remembered.’
Dewar smiled and called a halt to the proceedings. ‘Okay, Sharon. If you do remember anything else, tell one of the nurses to contact me and I’ll come and see you,’ said Dewar. ‘In the meantime, enjoy your breakfast.’
Dewar returned to the Scottish Office and called London. It was ten past nine. He drummed his fingertips on the desk while he waited for Macmillan to come on line.
‘
Sorry about that. I’ve just been talking to Geneva on another line,’ said Macmillan. This was followed by a pause that made Dewar expect the worst. He wasn’t disappointed.
‘
The vaccine’s not coming,’ said Macmillan.
Dewar felt as if time had suddenly stopped. He tried convincing himself he had misheard what Macmillan had said but it had been plain enough. ‘You’re can’t be serious,’ he said.
‘
I’m afraid I am,’ confessed Macmillan quietly. ‘The WHO acted on your earlier report that the Iraqis were making serious attempts to get their hands on live smallpox virus. At a joint meeting with a UN advisory body, they acceded to an Israeli request for stocks of vaccine to be administered as a precaution. It’s all been used.’
‘
Jesus Christ, where does that leave us?’
‘
They’ve been frantically trying to locate other stocks; that’s why they’ve been playing hard to get.’
‘
How’d they get on?’ asked Dewar sourly.
‘
They’ve come up with some but it’s in the United States. It’s going to take three, maybe four days to reach you.’
‘
We don’t have that; there were seven new cases last night. We can expect many times that today.’
‘
I’m sorry. Everyone’s doing their best. WHO have instructed the National Institute at Bilthoven in the Netherlands to recommence vaccine production. They hold the
vaccinia
seed virus. They’ll be up and running within two weeks.’
Dewar’s impulse was to say something rude but he stopped himself. It wouldn’t have done any good and his silence proved just as eloquent.
‘
I know, Adam, it’s a bloody mess but we’ll just have to get on with it. Any luck with the source of the outbreak?’
‘
None at all.’
‘
Keep trying.’
People had arrived for the meeting when Dewar went downstairs. Mary Martin congratulated him on his success at The Bell. ‘We didn’t have any luck there at all.’
‘
I just bumped into the right person,’ said Dewar. He still felt numb at the news from London.
Wright read the worried look on his face and came over. ‘Something wrong?’ he asked in a whisper.
‘
There won’t be any vaccine for three, maybe four more days, maybe even longer the way our luck’s going,’ Dewar whispered.
‘
Christ Almighty. What the fuck are they playing at?’ hissed Wright.
Dewar told him about the stocks being used. Wright rubbed his forehead as if completely bemused by the fickleness of fate.
‘
I think we’re all here,’ announced Finlay, bringing the meeting to order. ‘I think everyone knows we now have nine cases in total and can expect more today; the fear is, many more. We’ll be admitting new cases to one of the unused wards at the Western and a second is being prepared. As Dr Wright pointed out earlier, they’re not ideal but needs must when the devil drives. The works department have done their best to partition them and install extra sinks and drainage and we’ve managed to find enough vaccinated nurses to staff them.
‘
What about medical equipment?’ asked Cameron Tulloch.
‘
Truth is, we don’t need much in the way of equipment for this disease. There’s very little we can do except keep the patients as comfortable as possible and hope for the best.’
‘
What about the contacts? Are they staying there too?’
‘
There are too many. Contacts will be traced as quickly as Mary and her people can find them and confined to their homes with Social Services support. I think we have to be realistic in recognising that not all of them are going to comply but if the majority do, that’s probably as much as we can hope for.’
‘
As of this morning, the vaccine still hasn’t arrived,’ announced Mary Martin, her voice filled with exasperation. ‘I can’t get any sense out of London. We’re trying to fight the spread of this disease with our hands tied behind our backs.’
‘
The WHO vaccine isn’t coming, Mary,’ said Dewar quietly and evenly.
The comment brought an instant silence to the room. People looked at each other and then to Dewar for an explanation.
‘
The WHO have used up their stocks,’ he said. ‘They’ve been trying to find an alternative source for us; that’s what the hold-up’s been. They’ve found one in the States but it won’t be here for another three days at least. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the plain awful truth of the matter.’
Wright took advantage of the fact that most people were stunned by what Dewar had announced. He said, ‘That being the case, we now have only one chance of containing the disease and that is to physically isolate it. We must act now to close off Muirhouse from the rest of the city.’
‘
I agree,’ said Dewar emphatically. ‘We can’t let smallpox go on the rampage in a largely unvaccinated community.’
‘
But sealing off the area would be an enormous undertaking,’ protested Rankin, the Scottish Office man.
‘
Do you know how many people live there? How many streets in and out there are?’ asked Mary Martin. ‘People living there already feel a sense of injustice. There would be a revolt.’
‘
It’s either that or a full scale smallpox epidemic,’ said Wright. ‘And believe me, everything you’ve said is preferable to that. If it means calling in the army then do it. If it means putting down riots with guns, do it, but we must contain the outbreak.’
‘
I don’t think it need come to that,’ said Cameron Tulloch. ‘If things are handled properly.’
‘
What the hell did the WHO do with the vaccine?’ asked a stunned and angry Finlay.
‘
They sent it to the Middle East. There was a scare,’ said Dewar, without volunteering any more information.
‘
There must be another way of dealing with this,’ said Finlay.
‘
There isn’t,’ said Wright.
‘
But what would we tell the people concerned?’ said Finlay.
‘
The truth,’ said Dewar, who’d been thinking about that very question. ‘We use the media to come clean and tell the citizens there’s been an outbreak of smallpox and that we’re trying to contain it. We ask for their help and co-operation.’
‘
I agree with that,’ said Tulloch. ‘It would be lunacy to even contemplate sealing off the area without giving people a reason. They would start making up their own reasons and the rumours would be worse than the reality.
‘
We’d be kidding ourselves on if we imagined that no one was going to try to leave but with a bit of luck we might persuade the majority to stay put,’ said Dewar.
‘
You probably don’t have the manpower to supervise such an operation, Superintendent?’ said Finlay.
Tulloch bristled ‘I’ve been highly trained in civil unrest situations,’ he said. ‘I think my men and I will manage.
’
In that case it might be a good idea to start off with a minimal police presence to get a feeling for the mood,’ said Wright.
Dewar nodded his agreement. ‘The police are accepted as part of the community, whether they’re liked or not, but when they appear in large numbers with helmets and shields it’s a different matter. They could be invaders from a different planet.’
‘
I also think we should call in the military if there should be any sign of general unrest,’ said Wright. ‘We don’t want a slowly escalating series running battles on the streets with police. We just want to contain the population within the confines of the area until they’re vaccinated.’
‘
That may be
your
priority,’ said Tulloch. ‘It’s our responsibility as a police force to maintain law and order within the area whatever the circumstances. I’ve no intention of sitting back and watching the yobs take over. We owe it to the law abiding citizens.’
‘
There’s always been tremendous resentment in the past when the army have been used in civilian situations,’ said Mary Martin. ‘Surely, if it became necessary, police could be drafted in from other areas so they can control the situation through sheer weight of numbers rather than involve the army?’
Tulloch shrugged in a negative way. ‘I don’t think it will come to that,’ he said. ‘I’m confident my men and I can maintain law and order.’
‘
The truth is, we just don’t know what’s going to happen, either with the disease or with public reaction,’ said Dewar. ‘I suggest a compromise should it come to it. We agree to call the military in sooner rather than later but we use them solely to secure the perimeter allowing the superintendent and his men to carry out normal police duties within the estate.’
‘
Oh God,’ said Finlay, sounding weary. ‘This is all beginning to sound nightmarish.’
Wright and Dewar were the only two at the table who were convinced of what was right in their own minds. The others were still trying to think of alternatives to sealing off the estate. There was silence for a full minute.
Wright broke it. ‘Doing nothing is not an option,’ he said. ‘Neither is waiting and seeing. We’re already running out of time.’
‘
I’d feel happier about physical containment if we had vaccine to offer the people affected,’ said Finlay.
‘
But we don’t and we can’t afford to wait until it arrives,’ said Dewar flatly. ‘As I see it, the majority of people living in Muirhouse will be ordinary, decent citizens. who’ll be stunned by the announcement. They’ll accept the situation, at least for the first day or two, by which time the vaccine will be here. It’s the junkies and yobs we have to worry about. They’ll probably put up resistance from the word go. They’ll see it as a licence to cause mayhem under the banner of fighting for individual civil liberty or some such high-sounding ideal.’
‘
In my experience, fighting for individual civil liberty usually involves smashing Dixon’s window and walking off with a television set,’ said Tulloch sourly.
‘
The shops will have to be closed, the schools too,’ said Wright. ‘Local businesses shut down, public transport suspended.’
Finlay, already suffering from the effects of lack of sleep, supported his head in his hands as the administrative nightmare unfolded. ‘What d’you think, Mr Rankin?’ he asked.
‘
It’ll take a couple of days to set up but if that’s what the team wants sir, I’ll make arrangements.’ replied Rankin without a trace of personal opinion.
‘
I don’t think Social Services will be able to cope,’ said Mary Martin. ‘And my people are going to be run off their feet.’
‘
We can put out an appeal for volunteer help from the rest of the country,’ said Wright. ‘There should be enough vaccine floating around the various health authorities to offer them protection.
People lapsed into silence again for a short time before Dewar said, ‘I think we need a decision.’
All eyes fell on George Finlay who looked haunted. ‘Well, if there’s no other way,’ he said. ‘So be it. I’ll draft an announcement and the Scottish Office people can make the necessary arrangements.’
Wright closed his eyes and gave silent thanks. Everyone else bustled into action. Dewar phoned Inspector Grant and told him what had been decided.
‘
Did I hear you right? You’re going to seal off Muirhouse?’ said an astonished Grant.
‘
It’s our only chance of containing it,’ said Dewar.
‘
And Cameron Tulloch agreed to this?’
‘
He said it would be difficult but he could do it. Chances are, the military will be called in to maintain the perimeter if the going gets tough.’
‘
I hope it’s 2 para and the Foreign Legion,’ said Grant. ‘They might have a chance.’
Dewar ignored Grant’s pessimism. He had expected nothing better. It wasn’t in Grant’s nature to see the bright side of anything, not that there was much of a bright side to isolating a whole community. ‘Right now I need a computer check on a Thomas Hannan,’ he said.
‘
Tommy Hannan? Known associate of Michael Patrick Kelly. What d’you want to know?’
‘
His past form. I take it you know him?’