'Meaning more gullible?'
'Meaning just what I said.'
Clarke took another moment to make up her mind. 'Actually, it's me in charge of this case, so let's meet for that coffee first thing Monday morning. There's a place on Broughton Street I sometimes use.' She named it, and a time.
'Thanks, DS Clarke,' Goodyear said. Tou won't regret it.' He held out his hand and they shook on it.
Day Four. Monday 20 November 2006
11
Siobhan Clarke was ten minutes early, but Goodyear was already there. He was in his uniform, but with the same bomber jacket as Friday night covering it and zipped to the neck.
'Embarrassed to be seen in it?' Clarke asked.
'Well, you know what it's like…'
She did indeed. Long time since she'd worn a constabulary uniform, but the job was still something you didn't always readily own up to. Parties she'd been to, people always seemed a bit less comfortable once they knew what she did for a living. It was the same on a night out, guys either losing interest or else making too many jokes: going to cuff me to your bedposts? Wait till you see my truncheon.
Don't worry about the neighbours, I'll come quietly, officer…
Goodyear was back on his feet, asking what she'd like. 'They're on the case,' she assured him. Her regular cappuccino was being prepared, so all Goodyear had to do was pay for it and fetch it over.
They were seated on stools at a table by the window. It was a basement, so all they could see was a passing parade of legs at street level. Gusts of rain were blowing in from the North Sea; everyone was hurrying to be somewhere else. Clarke turned down his offer of sugar and told him to relax.
You're not at a job interview,' she said.
'I thought I was,' he replied with a nervy little laugh, showing a line of slightly crooked teeth. His ears stuck out a little bit, too, and his eyelashes were very fair. He was drinking a mug of filter coffee and the crumbs on his plate were evidence of an earlier croissant. 'Good weekend?' he asked.
'Great weekend,' she corrected him. 'Hibs won six-one, and Hearts lost to Rangers.'
'You're a Hibs fan.' He nodded slowly to himself, filing the information away. 'Were you at the game?'
She shook her head. 'It was at Motherwell. I had to content myself with a film.'
'Casino RoyaleT She shook her head. 'The Departed.' They lapsed into silence, until a thought struck Clarke. 'How long were you waiting before I got here?'
'Not too long. Woke up early and thought I might as well…' He took a deep breath. 'To be honest, I wasn't sure I'd find this place, so I left plenty of time. I always err on the side of caution.'
'Duly noted, PC Goodyear. So tell me a bit about yourself.'
'Like what?'
'Anything.'
'Well, I'm guessing you know who my grandad was…' He looked up at her, and she nodded. 'Most people seem to, whether they say as much to my face.'
Tou were young when he died,' Clarke said.
'I was four. But I hadn't seen him for the best part of a year.
Mum and Dad wouldn't take me with them.'
'To the prison, you mean?' It was Goodyear's turn to nod.
'Mum fell apart a bit… She was always highly strung, and her parents thought her a class above my dad. So when his dad ended up in jail, that seemed all the proof they needed. Added to which, my dad always liked drowning his own sorrows.' He offered a rueful smile. 'Maybe some people would be better off never marrying.'
'But then there'd be no Todd Goodyear.'
'God must have had his reasons.'
'Does any of it explain why you joined the police?'
'Maybe – but thanks for not making a straight assumption. So many people have tried spelling it out to me like that. “You're atoning, Todd” or “You're showing not all Goodyears are cut from the same cloth.”'
'Lazy thinking?' Clarke guessed.
'How about you, DS Clarke? What made you become a cop?'
She considered a moment before deciding to tell him the truth. 'I think I was reacting against my parents. They were typical liberal lefties, growing up in the sixties.'
'The only way to rebel was to become the Establishment?'
Goodyear smiled and nodded his understanding.
'Not a bad way of putting it,' Clarke agreed, lifting her cup to her lips. 'What does your brother think of it all?'
Tou know he's been in trouble a few times?'
'I know his name's on our books,' Clarke admitted.
Tou've been checking up on me?' But Clarke wasn't about to answer that. 'I never see him.' Goodyear paused. 'Actually, that's not strictly true – he's been in hospital, and I went to visit him.'
'Nothing serious?'
'He got himself into some stupid argument in a pub. That's just the way Sol is.'
'Is he older than you or younger?'
'Two years older. Not that you'd ever have known it – when we were kids, neighbours used to say how much more mature than him I seemed. They just meant I was better behaved – plus I used to do the shopping and stuff…' He seemed lost in the past for a moment, then shook his head clear. 'DI Rebus,' he said, 'has a bit of history with Big Ger Cafferty, doesn't he?'
Clarke was surprised by the change of subject. 'Depends what you mean,' she said warily.
'It's just gossip among the uniforms. The pair of them are supposed to be close.'
'They detest one another,' Clarke heard herself say.
'Really?'
She nodded. 'I sometimes wonder how it'll pan out…' She was almost talking to herself, because it had crossed her mind often these past few weeks. 'Any particular reason why you're asking?'
'When Sol started dealing, I think he was talked into it by Cafferty.'
'You think or you know?'
'He's never admitted it.'
'Then what makes you so sure?'
'Are cops still allowed to have hunches?'
Clarke smiled, thinking of Rebus again. 'It's frowned upon.'
'But that doesn't stop it happening.' He studied what little was left in his mug. 'I'm glad you've put my mind at rest about DI Rebus. You didn't sound surprised when I mentioned Cafferty.'
'Like you said, I did some checking.'
He gave a smile and a nod, then asked if she wanted a refill.
'One's enough for now.' Clarke drained her cup, taking only a few seconds to make up her mind. “You're based at Torphichen, right?'
'Right.'
'And can they spare you for a morning?' Goodyear's face brightened like a kid at Christmas. 'I'll give them a
