Иэн Рэнкин - In a House of Lies

‘Which is why I didn’t want you in the room.’

‘Yes, I can see that now.’

‘He’s talking?’

‘Fairly freely, despite the best efforts of his increasingly flustered solicitor.’

‘Has he said why he did it?’

‘We’ve not quite got to that yet, though if I were to guess, I’d say you weren’t far off the mark. I’ve taken a break so Siobhan and Callum can have a go at him. Dean’s furious that you were allowed in; says it taints whatever story his client spins us.’

‘I doubt that’ll sway a jury.’

‘The fiscal, meantime, is highly delighted. I might owe you a drink, John.’

‘Not while I’m on duty, sir.’ A weak enough joke, but Sutherland laughed anyway.

‘I sort of wish you were still on the force.’

‘Aye, me too,’ Rebus confessed.

‘Do you really have any sway with this Christie character?’

Rebus pondered for a moment. ‘Maybe,’ he eventually concluded. ‘Though I’m hardly likely to waste it on a turd like Glenn Hazard.’

‘So he’s on his own then?’ Sutherland paused. ‘And Cafferty?’

‘Will know about it sooner or later.’

‘I really wish I hadn’t stayed in that bloody room...’

‘You going to report me?’

‘Of course not.’

‘Tell Siobhan to call me at end of play.’

‘I will. And thanks again.’

The line went dead. Smith had leaned across so far in her seat that her head was practically in Rebus’s lap.

‘Catch any of that?’ Rebus asked.

‘No.’

‘Just as well.’

‘But he’s confessing to the murder?’

‘Seems like.’

‘Bloody hell, John — what did you say to him?’

‘Whatever was said stays in the confessional.’

‘You’re hardly anyone’s idea of a priest.’

‘I used to drink with one, though, a long time back — maybe he taught me a few tricks.’

Mid evening at the Oxford Bar. Rebus, Clarke and Fox had requisitioned the back room. The three of them sat around the table nearest the fire as Clarke filled in the blanks.

‘Hazard’s story is he didn’t know Bloom was dead. He hit him with the corner of his mobile phone. Just wanted him unconscious. The plan was to take him to the farm, tie him up in the byre and persuade him not to go ahead with his plan.’

‘His plan being?’ Fox asked.

‘Bloom had spotted Hazard on the film set. Knew who he was and why he’d suddenly stopped being a presence on the clubbing scene.’

‘The ODs?’

Clarke nodded. ‘Hazard thought he was selling ketamine sourced from China, but the batch was a mix of ketamine and MDMA — in too strong a dose.’ She took a sip from her glass. ‘If Hazard didn’t do what Bloom wanted, he was going to start talking — either to us or to Cafferty.’

Rebus watched her from above the rim of his own glass. ‘And what did Bloom want?’

‘He’d already broken into Brand’s office. He reckoned that if you could take something, it would be just as easy to leave something.’

‘He was going to plant drugs there?’

‘Either in the office or more likely the house. Then he’d tip off the police or the press and Brand would no longer be a threat to Jackie Ness’s ambitions.’

‘Why the handcuffs?’

‘As I say, Hazard swears he thought Bloom was knocked out. They were to stop him trying to run off when he woke up — much more effective than round the wrists.’

‘And they stayed on because...?’

Clarke gave a faint smile. ‘Guess.’

‘He’d lost the key?’

‘He’d lost the key,’ she confirmed. ‘When he gets to the farm, he opens the boot and starts to get a bad feeling.’

‘Where’s Andrew Carlton in all of this?’

‘I think Hazard thought he might help put the frighteners on Bloom, but once he saw Bloom was dead, Hazard panicked. Went and got Carlton and told him he just had a car that needed stashing somewhere.’

‘You buy that?’

Clarke considered for a moment, then shrugged. ‘I’m not sure it greatly matters. Carlton’s an accomplice at best. Hazard isn’t saying he was there when he met with Bloom and smacked him.’

‘Where was this meeting anyway?’

‘On the edge of Poretoun Woods — Bloom’s idea, apparently.’

They sat quietly for almost a minute, digesting the story. Rebus was trying to make his IPA last, gripping the glass without drinking from it.

‘Anybody want anything?’

They looked up and saw that Grant Edwards had arrived, his bulk filling the doorway.

‘We’re fine, I think,’ Clarke told him. He disappeared to the bar, coming back with a well-watered whisky. He drew out the chair next to Clarke and sat, taking a sip without bothering to offer a toast.

‘Thanks for coming,’ Rebus said.

‘Was I ever going to do anything else?’

Rebus realised the man wasn’t smiling. He wore a heavy woollen coat and showed no sign that he’d be taking it off.

‘On a scale of one to ten,’ Edwards enquired, ‘how fucked am I?’

‘Eleven,’ Rebus said.

‘Depends on what you’ve got to say,’ Clarke qualified.

‘You know we had a word with Dallas Meikle?’

‘That’s pretty old news,’ Clarke told him.

‘And dealt with,’ Rebus added. ‘Dallas Meikle is our guy now.’

‘This won’t be any use to you then.’ Edwards had dug his phone out of his pocket. He gave it a few taps and held it up so they could hear the recording. It was rough, but audible. They recognised Steele’s voice.

‘ Phone her often enough and I promise you it’ll get to her. But if it doesn’t, or you think she deserves worse, you’ve always got her address .’

‘ Let’s see what happens ,’ Dallas Meikle said.

‘ Keep me posted — once she’s riled, I want to know .’

Edwards switched the recording off and slid the phone back into his pocket.

‘Steele always said you were smarter than anyone gave you credit for,’ Rebus commented.

‘Bit of insurance never goes amiss,’ Edwards agreed.

‘You’ve known for a while it might all go belly up?’ Clarke asked.

‘Insurance, like I say.’

‘What did you think,’ Rebus broke in, ‘when Bloom turned up handcuffed?’

‘At first, not much. Then when they turned out to be police issue...’

‘You recalled the pair you’d given to your dealer?’

‘He was Brian’s dealer too — we couldn’t risk buying from Cafferty’s lot. It would have given the big man something he could have used as insurance.’

‘You knew, though, right? When those kids overdosed, you knew who was responsible?’

‘Brian warned Gram to get out of town for a while.’

‘But not too far, eh? So you’d still be assured of a supply?’ Rebus paused. ‘When did it dawn on you the cuffs might have been yours?’

‘Didn’t really make any odds — Gram had dropped off our radar years back.’

‘And when he did a runner, just at the time Stuart Bloom vanished off the face of the earth, you didn’t connect the two?’

‘I can’t speak for Brian.’ Edwards swirled his drink, not raising his eyes from it. ‘So what does it all add up to, everything you’ve got so far?’

‘Enough,’ Clarke stated. ‘I doubt Hazard is going to stop talking.’ She glanced in Rebus’s direction. ‘He’s got too much to lose.’

‘What have you offered him?’

‘Never you mind,’ Rebus said stonily. ‘All that should be concerning you is how much of your own sorry career you can hang on to.’

‘I’ve worked hard for my pension. I’ve got it earmarked for a motorbike dealership.’

‘That’s nice,’ Rebus said, his tone suggesting the exact opposite.