Stuart compiled all the files on the SD card into one folder on his laptop, "Mike, it looks like these are mostly case files, hundreds of them, from all over Scotland. She must have been accumulating these for a long time, maybe even years. Looking at the report references, a lot of these won't have been officially archived or moved online yet, so she would have had to physically scan them herself" Michael nodded, glad to be making headway but saddened that Jackie had never spoken to him about what she was up to. "There are some more locked files, but let's work with what we have access to and perhaps the passwords will be forthcoming" Stuart asserted, Michael smirked, enjoying Stuart being in his element. "Sir, I have my projector in the car, I could set it up and we can look at some of the files together see if that helps!" Stuart chirped.
"Good idea, I'll put a fresh pot of coffee on!" Michael smiled grabbing Stuart's and Robbie's mug, heading to the kitchen. Robbie followed him after a few minutes, Michael was making the coffee and Robbie took a deep breath.
"Mike, you didn't tell C and D about those disks, when they interviewed you, did you?" Robbie stated.
"no I didn't!" Michael nodded, admitting that he had knowingly withheld evidence, that an obstruction charge could easily be made.
"you could lose your career Mike!" Robbie walked towards him, shocked by his normally strict boss's actions. "Not informing the CS about Jackie's alternative identity is one thing but lying about vital evidence is another." Michael leaned back against his kitchen counter, sighing loudly, the irony of Robbie scolding him for not following procedures was not lost on him.
"Listen, Robbie, I can't stop now" Michael shook his head "but I understand if you want to!" Michael turned from him to deal with the coffee pot. Robbie walked around the counter to face him.
"that's not what I am saying, it's not my career I'm worried about!" Michael reluctantly looked up. "Mike, I know that Jackie is the reason I am still here. I know she has gone to bat for me and broke the rules. More so than I deserve!" Robbie smirked. "And besides, It is not like I am a stickler for the rules!" Michael smirked at the admission. "But you are, and she wouldn't want you to throw away your career for her!" Michael shook his head, knowing that on some level he was right, he rubbed his hand across his brow.
"Robbie, I wouldn't have a career if it wasn't for her!" Michael handing him a fresh coffee "it not just you she has jeopardised her career for. She did the same for Stuart when he was suspended. We argued about that a lot, she didn't hesitate to stick up for Stuart" he smiled, remembering her trying to apologise to him, even though she was in the right. "And …. She did the same for me, when I was suspended!"
"wait, you were suspended?" Robbie beamed.
"yes Robbie" Michael smirked "I made a mistake, and I got suspended for it!"
"and, Jackie, helped you!" Robbie stated knowing better than to pry into the situation.
"Defended me like no one but her can!" Michael smirked. "She told me to call her the repair woman!" Robbie laughed. "this is my chance to repay her, regardless of the consequences!" Michael shrugged and Robbie nodded. They took the coffees into the dining room, both looking at each other and smiling as Stuart with various cables in his hands and a serious look of concentration on his face.
"I am just about set up, Mike would you mind moving that picture and I can project onto that wall" Michael placed his and Stuart's coffee on the table, and walked over removing the framed picture on his wall, and placing on the cabinet in the back of the room. Michael and Robbie sat at the dining table. Michael looked at his dining room wall, now with the bright light of Stuart's laptop. Stuart took a deep breath, "so as you can see these are all case files, with the file names being the case reference. There are two locked folders, and then two random jpegs here" Stuart moved the mouse navigating all the files. "One called, 1. Family 1968"
"Ok, let's start with that then!" Michael stated and Stuart clicked the file. The photographed filled the Michael's dining room wall, two young boys both in school uniform sitting on a wall, either side of a young girl wearing a blue and white check school dress, white socks and black patent shoes, with scrapes on her knees, Michael smiled as he instantly recognised the girl's mop of dark hair.
"that's Jackie,…. Right?" Robbie smirked.
"Yes, that's our Jackie!" Michael smiled, thinking she always was, one of the boys.
"maybe 5 or 6?" Robbie added, startling Michael who was lost in thought, he coughed pretending the picture of a young Jackie had no effect on him. Michael got up and walked over to the photograph and pointed to the young boy on her left.
"Do we think that this one is Chris MacDonald?" Michael asked.
"Well, you did think they knew each other before all of this!" Robbie answered. "She called it family, maybe that is what she wanted us to know. That he was family to her!" Michael nodded, although her actions after his death had already told him as much.
Michael turned to Stuart. "you said there was another jpeg Stuart!"
"File is called 2. Training 1981!" Michael nodded and Stuart clicked on the file. When this picture filled the room, it was almost a replica of the first, two young men sitting either side of Jackie!
"so, now 18/19? Three of them again and she called it training" Michael looked closer at the photo, the warm smile on her face, even from the photograph he could tell she was close with them. Now they are older the one on her left was identifiable as Chris Macdonald. "so this would be during the gap in Jackie's service record!" Stuart nodded "Did you check to see if Chris had the same gap?"
"yes, but when Jackie came back, He didn't. He went straight into undercover work, and his records are largely sealed!" Stuart confirmed.
"the other guy, looks really familiar!" Robbie stated.
"yeah looks familiar to me to!" Stuart said.
"Was there anyone else in Jackie's year that has a gap in their record to!" Stuart nodded, reaching for his notepad, and flipping back through the pages.
"Yes, an Andrew Jones" Robbie stood up.
"Andy Jones, that is exactly who it is! He was that undercover that got himself murdered a few years ago!" Robbie remembered it was all the talk in Glenside. "He was brutally killed, tortured! The gang he was infiltrating found out he was a cop and made an example of him!" Michael vaguely remembered the incident, remembered McVitie talking about it. "I think it was 1997 around then?"
"Must have been about then!" Michael confirmed "so can't be a coincidence that Andy was tortured to death and now his childhood friends are being killed off!"
"Question is whether it's from something back then that got them killed, or Jackie and Chris were trying to find out what happened to their friend?" Robbie leaned back "I don't see Jackie just letting something like that go, I mean if something happened to one of us, she would not stop!" Michael nodded in agreement; Jackie's loyalty was never wavering when provoked. "Jackie never mentioned anything about a friend being undercover, or even dying?" Robbie asked.
"Well, if he was deep cover, she would want to protect him. She wouldn't take any risk with that!" Michael rationalised.
"1997, wasn't that about the time Jackie had that car accident, and she went to pieces!" Stuart stated. Michael nodded, he had assumed the crash was the reason she had acted so irrationally, had put herself in danger, why she had felt so guilty. Maybe it was just more trauma on top of a grief she couldn't share with him, that her friend had been brutally murdered.
"is Andy's case file in there?" Michael turned to Stuart pointing to his laptop.
"Possibly, but there are so many files, I would need to work out what the reference is!" Stuart stated defeated.
"what about the date the file was added, if his case is in there, given its importance to her, it's likely to be the first file she would have added?" Stuart looked at Michael visibly surprised, impressed with the suggestion. Michael smirked in response, secretly happy that he had thought of something Stuart hadn't.
"ok all the files were added on the same date, the day before she went on holiday, this must have been her backup file." Michael sat down "She named the two jpegs, 1 and 2 obviously because she wanted us to look at those first! The first case file she added was at 5:30pm and it was this one!" He clicked the file a scan of the case file, Michael was right it was the investigation into Andrew Jones's death.
"that was what started this for her, his murder!" Michael nodded.
"sir, its going to take a long time to go through all the files, and work out why Jackie put them together. Can we bring Heather in to help?" Michael shook his head, reluctant to bring anyone else in to jeopardise their career, and the unsettling thought of not knowing who he could trust, wouldn't leave him.
"no I think we need to keep this between us!" Stuart nodded and Robbie agreed.
"you said there was some locked folders?"
"yes, I tried all the passwords, from earlier!"
"try repairman!" Michael stated looking to Robbie, who smiled. The file opened containing more jpegs and some video files.
"these were the last files to be added to the folder, at 6:30pm, it took her an hour to get all these files backed up, the other locked file has a different password!" Stuart clicked on the first jpeg in the folder. "these are surveillance photographs!" Stuart exclaimed. "looks like the photographs have been taken through a window, the frame is visible on the edge."
"That's George Skelly" Robbie stated, as Stuart clicked through the series photographs, more of George Skelly and Ferguson, violently attacking someone in Skelly's club.
Stuart stopped pointing his curser to the figure in the back of the photograph "isn't that DI Skinner in the background?" Michael nodded. Stuart flicked to the next photograph a close up on DI Skinner. Stuart paused.
"keep going Stuart!" Stuart continued to click through the photographs which eventually showed Skinner taking the victim of the attack away in handcuffs.
"Why would Skinner watch anyone get beat up like that, then lead them away in handcuffs?" Stuart was visibly shocked, he was aware that Skinner was not the most likable of people but he would never have suspected him being involved with Skelly.
"let's just keep going and see what else we have!" Michael noted, noticing Stuart's dismay at Skinner's involvement. Stuart clicked on the next photograph which was of Robert Kinsella, and Frank Caulder with a large selection of drugs on the table. "ok that is our friend Robert Kinsella, is that Caulder?" Michael looked to Robbie, who nodded in response.
"who is that guy?" Robbie asked. Pointing to a third man in the photograph.
"oh I know who he is!" Michael stated, Robbie looked to Stuart who simply shrugged. "ok here is what we are going to do! Robbie, tomorrow I want you to go and bump into Skinner, see what you can find out casually. There is no love loss between us, so feel free to use that to your advantage and find out if he knows anything about Jackie's disappearance, but don't tip the Andy Jones angle" Robbie nodded in response.
"Stuart! I want you to follow up on the files, there's a connection and we need to find it. See if you can find her notes, she probably hid them somewhere in one of these files.
"Mike, should I phone in sick and just come here?" Michael nodded.
"yeah good idea!"
"what about the chap with Robert Kinsela?" Robbie piped up.
"Just leave him to me!" Michael stated firmly.