Ian Rankin - The Naming of the Dead

“How do you mean?”

“Well, do you think it was the guilt finally catching up with him? He’s killed three men when only one was necessary. He’s under a lot of pressure because of the G8. We’ve just identified the patch from Cyril Colliar’s jacket. He starts to panic that we will catch him-is that how you see it?”

“I’m not even sure he knew about the patch,” Rebus said quietly. “And how would he have gone about procuring some heroin for those lethal injections?”

“Why are you asking me?” Siobhan gave a short laugh.

“Because you’re the one who’s accusing an innocent man. No access to hard drugs…no easy access to police files…” Rebus traced the line from Ben Webster to his sister. “Stacey, on the other hand-”

“Stacey?”

“Is an undercover cop. Probably means she knows a few dealers. She’s spent the past few months infiltrating anarchist groups-told me herself, they tend to base themselves outside London these days-Leeds and Manchester and Bradford. Guest died in Newcastle, Isley in Carlisle-both a manageable drive from the Midlands. As a cop, she’d be able to access any information she liked.”

“Stacey’s the killer?”

“Using your wonderful system”-Rebus slapped his hand against the board again-“it’s the obvious conclusion.”

Siobhan was shaking her head slowly. “But she was…I mean, we talked to her.”

“She’s good,” Rebus conceded. “She’s very good. And now she’s back in London.”

“We’ve no proof…not a shred of evidence.”

“True, up to a point. But when you listen to Duncan Barclay’s tape, you’ll hear him say she was in Kelso last year, asking around. She even spoke to him. He mentioned Trevor Guest to her. Trevor, with his housebreaker’s credentials. Trevor who was in the area, same time Mrs. Webster was killed.” Rebus gave a shrug, to let her know he had no trouble accepting any of this. “All three were attacked from behind, Siobhan, whacked hard so they couldn’t retaliate-just the way a woman would do it.” He paused. there’s her name. Gilreagh said there could be something significant about trees.”

“Stacey’s not the name of a tree…”

He shook his head. “But Santal is. It means ‘sandalwood.’ I always thought sandalwood was just a perfume. Turns out it’s a tree.” He shook his head in wonder at Stacey Webster’s intricate construction. “And she left Guest’s cash card,” he concluded, “because she wanted to be sure we’d have his name…leading us by the nose. A bloody smoke screen, just like Gilreagh said.”

Siobhan was studying the board again, probing the schematic for flaws. “So what happened to Ben?” she asked at last.

“I can tell you what I think…”

“Go on then.” She folded her arms.

“Guards at the castle thought there was an intruder. My guess is, it was Stacey. She knew her brother was there and was bursting to tell him. We’d found the patch-she’d probably heard about that from Steelforth. Thought it was time to share news of her exploits with her brother. As far as she was concerned, Guest’s death meant closure. And, by Christ, she’d made sure he paid for his crimes-mutilating his body. She relishes the challenge of sneaking past the guards. Maybe she’s sent him a message, so he comes out to meet her. She tells him everything-”

“And he offs himself?”

Rebus scratched the back of his head. “I think she’s the only one who can tell us. In fact, if we play it right, Ben’s going to be crucial in getting a confession. Think how hellish she must be feeling-that’s her whole family gone now, and the one thing she thought would bring her and Ben closer together has actually destroyed him. And it’s all her fault.”

“She did a pretty good job of hiding it.”

“Behind all those masks she wears,” Rebus agreed. “All these warring sides to her personality…”

“Steady,” Siobhan warned. “You’re starting to sound like Gilreagh.”

He burst out laughing, but stopped just as abruptly and scratched at his head again, eventually running the hand through his hair. “Do you think it holds up?”

Siobhan puffed out her cheeks and exhaled loudly. “I need to give it a bit more thought,” she conceded. “I mean…scrawled on a board like this, I can see it makes a kind of sense. I just don’t see how we’ll prove any of it.”

“We start with what happened to Ben…”

“Fine, but if she denies it, we’re left with nothing. You’ve just said so yourself, John, she wears all these masks. Nothing to stop her slipping one on when we start asking about her brother.”

“One way to find out,” Rebus said. He was holding Stacey Webster’s business card, the one with her cell number.

“Think for a minute,” Siobhan counseled. “Soon as you call her, you’re giving her advance warning.”

“Then we go to London.”

“And hope Steelforth lets us talk to her?”

Rebus considered for a moment. “Yes,” he said quietly, “Steelforth…Funny how quickly he knocked her back to London, isn’t it? Almost as if he knew we were getting close.”

“You think he knew?”

“There was surveillance video at the castle. He told me there was nothing to see, but now I’m wondering.”

“There’s no way he’s going to let us go public,” Siobhan argued. “One of his officers turns out to be a killer and might even have done away with her own brother. Not exactly the PR he’s looking for.”

“Which is why he might be willing to do a deal.”

“And what exactly have we got to offer?”

“Control,” Rebus stated. “We step back and let him do it his way. If he turns us down, we go to Mairie Henderson.”

Siobhan spent the best part of a minute considering the options. Then she saw Rebus’s eyes widen.

“And we don’t even have to go to London,” he told her.

“Why not?”

“Because Steelforth’s not in London.”

“Then where is he?”

“Under our bloody noses,” Rebus explained, starting to wipe the board clean.

By which he meant: an hour’s rapid drive to the west.

They spent the whole trip going through Rebus’s theory. Trevor Guest hightailing it out of Newcastle-maybe owing money on some deal. Quick route to the handily anonymous border country. Scratches around, but can’t find a fix and hasn’t any money. His one area of expertise: burglary. But Mrs. Webster is home, and he ends up killing her. Panics and flees to Edinburgh, where he assuages his guilt by working with the elderly, with people like the woman he murdered. Not sexually assaulted-he liked them a lot younger.

Meanwhile-Stacey Webster is destroyed by her mother’s murder, heartbroken when the death destroys her father too. Using her detective’s skills to track down the likely culprit, only he’s already behind bars. But due out soon. Giving her time to plan her revenge. She’s found Guest on BeastWatch, alongside others like him. She picks her targets geographically-easy reach of her Midlands base. Her counter culture existence gives her access to heroin. Does she get Guest to confess before she murders him? It doesn’t really matter: by then she’s already killed Eddie Isley. Adds one more, to reinforce the notion that a serial killer is at large, then stops. Sated and at peace. Far as she’s concerned, she’s been cleaning scum off the streets. SO12’s G8 planning has led her to the Clootie Well, and she knows it’s the perfect spot. Someone will happen upon it. And they’ll spot the clues. To be certain, she ensures they have one name straightaway…the only name that matters.

No way she’s going to be found.

The perfect crime.

Nearly…

“I have to admit,” Siobhan said, “it sounds plausible.”