A Heart Full of Headstones

‘Snooping behind my back, Strawman?’

Strawman – Cafferty’s nickname for him. It usually meant Rebus had drilled into a nerve.

[...]

‘Looks to me like someone sent a picture of him to you, and now he’s on a mortuary slab.’

‘You sure it’s him in the picture?’

‘I dare say the inquiry team will want to check.’

‘What the hell is this? You trying to stir up shit?’

‘Where you’re concerned, there’s never a spoon far away.’

‘This has got the square root of nada to do with me.’

‘You might want to tell the inquiry that.’ Rebus paused. ‘So what have you done about it?’

‘The photo? Not a damned thing.’

‘Mind if I ask why?’

‘I do mind, yes. You’re not CID any longer, Strawman. I think sometimes you forget that.’

She [Mrs Mackenzie] slid her sunglasses down her nose with her free hand and looked at him over the rims, her eyes vividly blue. ‘You think Jack Oram’s still alive?’ she asked.

[Rebus:] ‘Witnesses confirm it.’

‘I can see how that might make you want to talk to Tommy, but I don’t see what my family’s got to do with any of it.’

[Rebus:] ‘Jack was seen entering or leaving your office.’

‘And both Fraser and Marion told you you’ve been misinformed.’ She granted him a smile that had had all possible warmth removed from it. ‘Big Ger always called you thrawn. Said even when you were wrong about something, you just kept ploughing away.’

[Rebus:] ‘You’d be amazed at what even a rusty plough can turn up.’

‘Whole lot of nothing going on around here,’ Rebus commented, wiping his hands on a serviette.

‘Gaby’s a DJ, did you know that? I watched her do a set last night at a club on Blair Street.’

‘Any good?’

‘Pretty popular.’

‘Anything I’d know – a bit of Jeff Beck or Rod Stewart?’

‘Music’s moved on.’

‘Got worse, you mean, like everything else.’ He looked at [Siobhan] Clarke’s plate. ‘Apart from bacon rolls. You can trust a bacon roll.’

Clarke started to wrap hers up. ‘We got into a bit of a scrap as we were leaving the club.’

‘We?’

‘Malcolm was with me.’

‘That’s some choice of dance partner.’

‘On our way out, some of the Tynie lot were heading in.’ I’m sure Malcolm proved equal to the moment.’

‘He didn’t back off, if that’s what you’re thinking.’

‘The world is full of surprises.’

One of the doormen calmed things down. Seemed pretty pally with the Crew.’

‘Doormen can be a good source of information. I had a few on my books back in the day.’

‘They can be sources of other things too, though?’

Rebus saw what she was getting at. He gave a slow nod.