Иэн Рэнкин - In a House of Lies

‘A bit weak, like your answers.’

‘It’s decaf. Better for the blood pressure. I can add a tot of something stronger, if you like.’

‘I’ll survive.’

‘I don’t doubt that.’ Cafferty ran a hand over his shaven head. It was shaped like a bowling ball, with folds of fat at the nape of the neck. Nicks and bits of scar tissue evidence of the knocks he’d taken, all the way back to childhood. In gangs from his early teens, working his way up, learning and staying lucky and toughening his hide. There were probably points in his life where he could have turned to left or right, but he hadn’t taken them. He’d vanquished his rivals, done some time, and now sat in his penthouse, alone and probably still dissatisfied. Rebus couldn’t help thinking of his own tenement flat, and those night-time walks, and the solitariness, part of his mind always on his shadow self, Morris Gerald Cafferty.

‘Will they want to talk to me, do you think?’ Cafferty was asking.

‘They might.’

‘Who’s in charge, anyone I know?’

‘A DCI called Graham Sutherland.’

‘From Inverness originally?’

‘I don’t know.’

Cafferty was nodding to himself. ‘Pretty sure that’s him. He’s just a name to me though — no run-ins to speak of.’

‘Siobhan Clarke’s on the team, too.’

‘Always a pleasure to do business with Siobhan. Is she still going out with Malcolm Fox?’

‘They were never an item.’

‘I heard otherwise.’

‘If you paid for that, you might want a refund.’

‘And Fox is still at Gartcosh?’

‘Have you tried Google?’

‘Touché, John.’ Cafferty smiled again, scratching at his jawline. ‘They probably will want to talk to me. I told you back then, I put money into one of Jackie Ness’s films.’ Cafferty watched Rebus nod. ‘It was actually Billy Locke who asked me. Billy was Ness’s partner in the business. He was looking for new angels — that was what he called us. You got treated to a good dinner and he gave you his spiel, and you either got out your chequebook or you didn’t.’

‘A chequebook?’ Rebus sounded sceptical.

‘You’re right — I was always strictly cash. Not that I put in much, and I got it back with interest. They asked me if I wanted my name added to the credits, but I said no.’

‘Why?’

‘By the time it came out, Stuart Bloom had gone missing.’

‘You didn’t want anyone making the connection?’

‘There wasn’t any connection, but you’re right — wouldn’t have stopped people trying.’

‘Which film was this?’

‘Some zombie flick with kilts and claymores.’

‘Siobhan Clarke just watched the DVD of that. You know Bloom actually appears in it? Him and his boyfriend both.’

‘News to me. I’ve probably got a copy here somewhere.’

Rebus looked towards the TV. There was no DVD player. ‘Nothing to play it on, though.’

‘Why would I? It was a pile of shite.’

‘Did Ness ever ask you for help other than financial?’

‘Against Adrian Brand, you mean? Like I said back then, I had nothing to do with that.’

‘Doesn’t quite answer my question.’

‘Maybe he asked and maybe I said no.’

‘You were scared of Conor Maloney?’

Cafferty gave a snort. ‘You know me better than that, John.’

‘If that golf course had gone ahead, with Maloney and his paramilitary money involved, wouldn’t that have been seen as the first step?’

‘Towards him pushing into Edinburgh?’ Cafferty brushed the notion aside.

‘How did Maloney get friendly with Brand anyway?’

‘Some golf course in Ireland. They both owned a share. Country club type thing, that’s what Brand wanted to bring to Scotland.’

‘How did it feel when he went to Maloney rather than you?’

‘It’s ancient history, John. An archive’s the place for it.’

‘How did you feel, though? If not threatened exactly, then maybe pissed off at the snub, at the lack of respect it showed?’

Cafferty made a show of yawning. ‘I’m beginning to think it’s too early in the day for decaf, and way too late in the day for this little chat.’ He pushed back his chair and rose slowly to his full height. ‘Besides, I’ve got things to do, and you’ve probably got a dog to walk.’

On the TV, Catherine Bloom was no longer making her speech. Instead, aerial footage of Poretoun Woods was playing, with an old photograph of Stuart Bloom in the top right corner of the screen.

‘Ness wanted me to buy that place, you know,’ Cafferty commented. ‘Sticking point was, I had to carry on with the upgrading of both house and woods. He had it all planned out, and I had to sign up to every last bit of it.’

‘So you’ve been to Poretoun House?’

‘Not since it was sold.’

‘And the woods, too?’

‘Just the one day — I watched a bit of the filming. The acting wasn’t up to much, but give Jackie his due, he always found some very pretty faces to point his camera at.’

‘I know — we interviewed a slew of them.’

‘Not with enough rigour to keep Madam Bloom happy.’ Cafferty’s eyes were on the TV again, though the story had changed to politics. ‘One thing I see the new inquiry’s keeping to itself,’ he mused.

‘What’s that?’

‘Bloom was wearing handcuffs.’

‘And how could you possibly know that?’

Cafferty fixed Rebus with a look. ‘Some of us are still in the game, John. Police issue, were they?’

‘They’re still being tested. Who have you got on the inside?’

‘More to the point, how come you know about the handcuffs? Siobhan been whispering in your ear? That counts as a leak, I’d say, especially when the person she’s leaking to was part of the original case and might yet be a suspect.’

‘Handcuffs could have come from anywhere. I dare say you or your pal Maloney would have known where to find some.’

‘Few quid to the right cop,’ Cafferty agreed. ‘Plenty of them on the take in 2006. Then there are people like your old boss Bill Rawlston — good friend of Adrian Brand’s back in the day, used to be on his table at the odd charity event. Not forgetting the deceased’s boyfriend’s dad — a pal of yours, I seem to remember.’

‘Anyone else you want to add?’

Cafferty pretended to think. Rebus decided not to wait for a reply.

‘Brian Steele and Grant Edwards,’ he stated. ‘They did a bit of work for Brand — and for you.’

‘For me?’

Rebus nodded, his eyes locked on Cafferty’s. ‘Don’t think I don’t know.’

‘And what is it you think you know?’

‘You met with Conor Maloney one time, not long before Stuart Bloom went missing. Took Steele and Edwards along as muscle.’

‘Just Steele, actually.’ Cafferty thought for a moment. ‘Your pal in Glasgow CID? Makes sense they’d have Maloney on their radar.’

‘From the moment his plane touched down in Glasgow,’ Rebus acknowledged. ‘Steele was in uniform back then, which means he’d have carried handcuffs as a matter of course.’

‘The day he was with me, he was in a nice sharp suit — I remember being a bit narked because he almost put my own tailoring to shame.’

‘What did you tell Maloney about Stuart Bloom?’

Cafferty shook his head. ‘You really think this is going to work? Siobhan won’t fall for it, and neither will anyone else. It’s you and yours they’ll be focused on, and rightly so. You’re selling dodgy merch, John — frankly, I’m a bit embarrassed for you. But it does make me wonder how desperate you are... and whose tracks you’re trying to cover. Take a bit of advice — you’re not a well man. It’s time you adjusted to that reality and tried to relax and enjoy yourself rather than knocking your pan out with all this stuff.’