Saints of the Shadow Bible

‘Just get a hook or whatever on it and pull it back out. Throw a tarp over it and keep it safe.’

‘There was a bit of a smell, you know,’ Bairstow conceded. ‘Back seat and the boot.’

‘And the boot was easy enough to open?’

‘Lock was bust. Looked like someone had taken a. .’

‘Yes?’ Rebus fixed his eyes on the man.

‘A crowbar to it.’ Understanding now exactly why Rebus might want the car kept.

Nick Ralph listened to the story with arms folded, lips puckered. He was seated behind his desk at Torphichen.

‘It’s thin, John,’ he said, after about a minute’s thought.

Rebus had walked into the station and straight up to Ralph without any preamble. The first words out of his mouth had been ‘Can I talk to you?’

‘I’ve seen you before,’ Ralph had responded, after which Rebus had introduced himself.

Now the two men were engaged in a staring contest, Ralph rocking slightly in his chair.

‘Very thin,’ he eventually said, breaking the silence.

Rebus just shrugged and waited.

‘You’re saying this man Bell killed Redpath as retribution of sorts?’

‘Yes.’

‘And stored the body for a number of years in a car park? Pat McCuskey’s son finds out, so Bell goes after him?’

‘That’s my thinking.’

‘And you brought it to me rather than DCI Page. .’

‘He’s not in charge of the McCuskey inquiry, sir. And if I can be frank, without the leads I’ve just given you, you seem to be stalled.’

‘Is that so?’ Ralph’s shoulders stiffened. He took a deep breath, picked up his phone and ordered a scene- of-crime team to the scrapyard.

‘And the multi-storey?’ Rebus suggested. But Ralph had already put down the phone.

‘One step at a time, John. We need to bring in the students and hear what they have to say.’

‘They won’t have anything to say.’

‘Still has to be done. And after that, we can talk to Rory Bell. If it went down the way you say it did. . did Pat McCuskey smack his head while trying to get away?’

‘Either that or he was in a fighting mood — they wrestled him to the floor and he connected with the fireplace.’

‘Accidental death, then?’

‘More like culpable homicide. Plus the initial break-in. There’ll be plenty to charge Bell with, don’t you worry.’

‘If we find anything useful in the boot of the Escort.’

Rebus accepted this with a shrug.

‘Well.’ Ralph was rising to his feet, signalling that the meeting was over. He reached out his hand for Rebus to take. ‘We’ll let you know.’

‘Maybe I could oversee the SOCOs.’

But Ralph shook his head. ‘I’m not the kind to forget favours done, John, if that’s what’s worrying you.’

‘It’s not.’

‘Well then, as soon as I have news, I’ll be in touch.’ He made the gesture again with his hand, and this time Rebus shook it.

He heard nothing until half past five.

Every half-hour he’d been taking out his phone, checking it had both charge and signal. When it did eventually ring, he almost dropped it in his haste to answer.

‘Rebus,’ he said.

‘John, it’s Nick Ralph.’

‘Yes, sir?’

‘Neither good news nor bad, really. Fibres were found, and the lab will check if they match the ones from the body pulled out of the dock. It’s not always an exact science, though.’

‘Nothing else?’

‘The team did comment on the residual smell — definite whiff of decay, though that’s unlikely to convince a jury.’

‘But it is Jack Redpath’s car.’

‘Yes, it is. And you may well be right that the chap hauled from Leith Docks is Redpath. That’s why I suggested to your boss that one of his relatives is contacted and asked for a DNA sample — wouldn’t be conclusive unless the man boasts an identical twin, but it would let us know we’re on the right path.’

‘You’ve spoken to James Page?’

‘As a courtesy.’ Ralph paused. ‘Which is when I discovered that you hadn’t said anything to him after our meeting. Hope I’ve not dropped you in it.’

‘Not at all.’ Rebus looked around the empty office. Christine Esson had clocked off, and so had practically everyone else in the building. He wondered if Page would be on his way here right now, full of righteous indignation.

Answer: yes.

Because there he stood, filling the doorway, face reddened, eyes furious.

‘Speak of the devil,’ Rebus said into the phone, before pressing the cancel key. Page was advancing on his desk.

‘How dare you!’ he exploded. ‘That floater is my case!’

‘He’s not a “floater” — if I’m right, his name is Jack Redpath and he connects to the McCuskey killing and a lot more besides.’

‘All of which should have been given to me, so that I could decide what to do with it!’

‘Granted,’ Rebus said. ‘But you were a bit busy grooming yourself for the cameras and the brass. That left me here as the senior officer, and I acted like one.’

‘You did this to get at me — no other reason! Clear your desk and get the hell out. Go ask your good friend at Torphichen for a job. Or maybe you know someone at Wester Hailes. You better hope you’re wanted somewhere, because you’re not wanted here!’

‘It’s been a pleasure,’ Rebus said.

‘It really hasn’t. Everyone warned me: Rebus is a loose cannon; he’s off the scale; you can’t trust him; he’s past his sell-by. Everybody told me that, and a lot worse too. Ask yourself this: how many cop shops in this town would have given you the chance? Not a second chance either, but a sixth or seventh or eighth? I did it because at heart I thought you were a good cop — a copper’s cop, the kind from the old days that I used to hear about but hardly ever seemed to meet.’ Page paused. The fire had been damped. If anything, he seemed fatigued and — yes — genuinely disappointed.

‘Sorry I let you down,’ Rebus conceded.

‘It seems to be your speciality.’

‘I can’t disagree — and you did say I’d sour your mood sooner rather than later. For what it’s worth, DCI Ralph knows this is your investigation. He told me as much.’

‘He shouldn’t have had to do that, though, should he?’

‘No, he shouldn’t.’

Page nodded slowly at the admission. Then he turned towards his cupboard of an office, went inside and closed the door. A moment later it opened again. He placed an empty cardboard box on the floor and slid it towards Rebus’s desk.

‘For your stuff,’ he said. ‘I want you gone in ten minutes.’

The door closed once more. Rebus sat there for half a minute or so, then got up and fetched the box. Placed it on his desk, then realised that he didn’t need it. There was almost nothing here that belonged to him. He hadn’t been back in CID long enough to accumulate anything.