‘Bloody waste of all that surveillance, though,’ Fox muttered to himself. Still, the ACC owed him now, and she would not be allowed to forget.
The lift doors slid open again and he stepped out. One more door separated him from the clear fresh air of the world outside. Through the glass, he could see a hooded figure waiting just the other side.
Food delivery? No, the figure wasn’t carrying anything. Tenant? Just possibly. But Fox was starting to think otherwise: one of Cafferty’s collection of scumbags. A junior-level dealer most likely. He pulled open the door. Beneath the hood, the pockmarked face was hesitant.
‘You going in or what?’ Fox demanded to know.
Another moment before the decision was made. Then: ‘Aye, thanks.’ Hands stuffed deep inside the hoodie’s pockets, the youth started to move past Fox, who was still holding the door open for him.
‘I’m assuming you know the way – P for penthouse.’
‘I know the way, aye. Cheers. Really helpful.’
‘Don’t expect him to be in the best of moods, mind,’ Fox said as he exited the building. It was still light outside. This time of the year, it was hard to imagine the many long dark nights that would arrive all too soon …
Acknowledgements
This book was begun long before the COVID outbreak of 2020, but edited while the lockdown was in force. I am so grateful to my wife Miranda for putting up with me throughout, as well as for being my first reader and most telling reviewer. I’d also like to thank the staff of Forward Vision in Edinburgh for their dedication in looking after not only our son Kit but all the other young adults in their care.
Those who know the area around Tongue will realise that I have taken several liberties. There is no village of Naver, nor does Camp 1033 exist, though other camps mentioned are real, as are some of the incidents recounted.
I’m grateful to Edinburgh Central Library for pointing me in the direction of several valuable resources, most notably Camp 165 by Valerie Campbell and British Concentration Camps: A Brief History from 1900–1975 by Simon Webb. On one of my visits to the north coast I also happened across Tongue and Farr by Jim A. Johnston, which helped me explore the history of that beautiful region of Scotland.
All errors and inaccuracies are mine.
Here’s to all the songs and all their singers, in times of darkness and times of light.
I. R.
About the author
Ian Rankin is the multimillion-copy worldwide bestseller of over thirty novels and creator of John Rebus. His books have been translated into thirty-six languages and have been adapted for radio, the stage and the screen.
Rankin is the recipient of four Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Awards, including the Diamond Dagger, the UK’s most prestigious award for crime fiction. In the United States, he has won the celebrated Edgar Award and been shortlisted for the Anthony Award. In Europe, he has won Denmark’s Palle Rosenkrantz Prize, the French Grand Prix du Roman Noir and the German Deutscher Krimipreis.
He is the recipient of honorary degrees from universities across the UK, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and has received an OBE for his services to literature.
Website: IanRankin.net
Twitter: @Beathhigh
Facebook: IanRankinBooks
Also by Ian Rankin
The Detective Malcolm Fox Series
The Complaints
The Impossible Dead
The Detective Inspector Rebus Series
Knots and Crosses
Hide and Seek
Tooth and Nail (previously published as Wolfman)
Strip Jack
The Black Book
Mortal Causes
Let It Bleed
Black and Blue
The Hanging Garden
Death Is Not the End (a novella)
Dead Souls
Set in Darkness
The Falls
Resurrection Men
A Question of Blood
Fleshmarket Close
The Naming of the Dead
Exit Music
Standing in Another Man’s Grave
Saints of the Shadow Bible
Even Dogs in the Wild
Rather Be the Devil
In a House of Lies
Other Novels
The Flood
Watchman
Westwind
Doors Open
Writing as Jack Harvey
Witch Hunt
Bleeding Hearts
Blood Hunt
Short Stories
A Good Hanging and Other Stories
Beggars Banquet
The Beat Goes On
Plays
Dark Road
Rebus: Long Shadows
Copyright
First published in Great Britain in 2020 by Orion Fiction,
an imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd.,
Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
An Hachette UK Company
Copyright © John Rebus Ltd. 2020
The moral right of Ian Rankin to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (eBook) 978 1 4091 7700 5
www.orionbooks.co.uk
Table of Contents
Title Page
Contents
Prologue
Day One
1
2
3
4
5
Day Two
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Day Three
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Day Four
23
24
25
Day Five
26
27
28
29
30
31
Day Six
32
33
34
35
36
37
Day Seven
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
Acknowledgements
About the author
Also by Ian Rankin
Copyright
