Иэн Рэнкин: In a House of Lies

Hazard nodded.

‘Cafferty even came to the film set,’ Rebus went on. ‘I’m guessing you made yourself scarce that day.’

‘Can I just ask,’ Hazard interrupted, ‘what proof you have of any of this?’

‘Precious little,’ Rebus admitted. ‘But I know you were dealing and I know you sold the dope that put six kids in hospital. I was a cop at the time and I remember it well. Cafferty was the only dealer we knew; even so, we were shocked. His stuff had never been tainted before. Suddenly there are six overdoses in a single night, six admissions to Accident and Emergency. And only five survived — Jamie Spowart didn’t make it. Don’t suppose it meant much to you, but his parents were devastated and probably still are.

‘After that, you had to make yourself scarce. You left Edinburgh, but you kept dealing — on film sets and probably in the towns and villages south of the city. I’m guessing you changed supplier — you didn’t want anyone else snuffing it on your watch. But meantime, we were all over Cafferty like a rash. Which put a dent in his business for a while and also put a black mark beside his name as far as other men of his persuasion were concerned. He’d been wooing an Irish thug called Conor Maloney — name mean anything to you?’ Rebus received a shrug by way of response. ‘I’m pretty sure you knew Stuart Bloom’s name, though. He was a regular at Rogues, maybe even bought a bit from you. Then the kid dies and suddenly you’re off the scene. Few months later, he’s an extra in one of Jackie Ness’s films and spots you, remembers you. So now you have a problem. What happens next, I can only guess. He tried blackmailing you? He was going to go to the police? Maybe you only feared he would do one or the other. So you met up with him, killed him, and dumped the body on your pal’s farm.’ He paused. ‘How does that sound so far, Mr Hazard?’

‘I’m still waiting to hear anything that isn’t a theory.’

‘Theory’s all I have.’

‘And you think I’m suddenly going to throw up my arms and confess?’ Hazard’s eyes had widened.

Rebus was slowly shaking his head. ‘What I think is this: I’m going to leave this room, your lawyer’s going to come back in, DCI Sutherland’s going to fire the apparatus back up, and you’re going to offer him your full and frank admission of guilt.’

‘Is that right?’

‘See, you’re absolutely correct when you say I’ve no proof, and that’s a problem.’

‘You better believe it.’

‘You misunderstand.’ Rebus leaned across the table. ‘It’s not a problem for me, it’s a problem for you .’

Hazard laughed and gestured towards Sutherland. ‘Are you hearing this? You’ve brought a certified nutjob in here.’

Sutherland seemed about to say something, but Rebus waved a hand to stop him. His attention was still on Hazard.

‘In about half an hour from now, we’re letting you go, as is required by law. But I’ll have been on the blower well before then, giving the story to Cafferty. See, Cafferty has a long memory, especially when it comes to vendettas. You cost him a lot of money and a big chunk of his reputation, which it took him years to recover. He’s wanted you since 2006, Glenn. Twelve years he’s festered.’ Rebus paused. ‘But now he’s going to get you. From the moment you walk out of here, you’re a marked man.’

‘Are you hearing this?’ Hazard told Sutherland, a slight but noticeable quaver entering his voice. ‘Your man’s threatening to feed me to the wolves.’

‘Wolves are doubtful,’ Rebus said, ‘though Cafferty does own a pig farm in Fife. We can show you evidence of all the men he’s tortured and murdered down the years. We only put him behind bars once or twice — that’s because he’s good at getting away with it. A lot of those victims vanished into thin air, just like Stuart Bloom. But you’re not quite as capable as Cafferty; Bloom popped up again.’

‘Say I didn’t kill anyone, you’d be sending an innocent man to—’

‘Oh, but we know you did. And that’s what you’ll confess to, so as not to become one of Cafferty’s victims. And in exchange, we can offer you a deal.’

Hazard seemed to calm a little. ‘What sort of deal?’

‘Better than you deserve. After your trial, we’ll ensure you go to HMP Saughton. Why? Because there’s a guy called Darryl Christie in there, a powerful guy who hates Cafferty as much as Cafferty hates the person who sold that overdose. Christie won’t want Cafferty getting to you. In point of fact, he’ll make damned sure he doesn’t. You staying alive will be a thorn in Cafferty’s paw, an irritant that’ll always be there. That’s worth a lot to Darryl Christie, trust me.’

It was Rebus’s turn to lean back in his chair.

‘You’ve got about twenty minutes to decide,’ Sutherland said with renewed vigour.

‘No he hasn’t,’ Rebus corrected him. ‘Because when I leave this room, if we’ve not got a deal, I’m straight on to Cafferty.’ He buttoned his suit jacket and rose to his feet. ‘Oh, and DCI Sutherland? Bring in Clarke rather than Reid when I’ve gone — she’s every bit as good as you think she is.’

‘Wait a sec,’ Hazard said. He was rubbing at his forehead, as if that would help him come to a decision.

‘Time for games is over,’ Rebus told him, making for the door. He paused to remove his phone from a pocket, then placed his hand around the door handle.

‘Please,’ Hazard said, half out of his chair. ‘I need one fucking minute.’

Which was exactly how long Rebus gave him, his eyes on his wristwatch.

‘Okay,’ Hazard said as Rebus pushed the door open. Rebus pulled it closed again and turned to face the room.

‘Okay?’ he echoed, receiving a nod in reply. ‘In which case, I only have one more question for you.’ He approached the table and folded his arms. ‘Who gave you the handcuffs? Was it Brian Steele? Word was, he used to do a bit of coke back then.’

‘I knew him,’ Hazard conceded.

‘You also knew Ness needed handcuffs for his film and you wanted to keep in his good books, so you went to Steele...’

But Hazard was shaking his head. ‘Not Steele,’ he said.

Rebus tried not to let his dismay show. ‘Who then?’

‘His partner.’

Rebus’s eyes narrowed. ‘Grant Edwards?’ He watched Hazard start to nod. ‘Another of your clients?’ Hazard kept nodding. Sutherland was looking at Rebus, but Rebus could only shrug. He pushed open the door again. Francis Dean was waiting across the corridor.

‘He’s all yours,’ Rebus said.

Clarke and Fox were standing in the MIT doorway. Rebus kept his face impassive as he headed for the stairs. As he descended, he heard Sutherland’s voice summoning Clarke to the interview room.

Laura Smith was waiting in the Saab, catching up on emails on her phone.

‘You don’t even have a USB port,’ she complained.

‘Told you vintage cars lack a few amenities.’

‘It’s not vintage, it’s just old. How did it go in there?’

‘Let’s give it half an hour.’

‘They’ll have had to release him by then.’

‘Wait and see,’ Rebus said, turning on the Brian Eno CD. ‘No more talking for a while,’ he told Smith. ‘I need to do a bit of thinking.’

‘Time’s up,’ Smith commented, checking her phone.

‘So it is,’ Rebus agreed.

‘And he’s still in there — meaning he’s talking?’

‘Looks like.’ Rebus allowed himself a small smile.

‘So when do I get the story.’

‘After I get the call. Speaking of which...’ Rebus picked up his vibrating phone and answered it.

‘There were things I heard in there,’ Graham Sutherland said in an undertone, ‘that I probably shouldn’t have.’