'Neither of us hasor ever could.' Cafferty managed another smile.

'You still reckon one or the other might be behind this?'

'Everything is possible.'

'So where does Lord Minton fit in?'

'Maybe he'd taken backhanders somewhere down the linelet off the Starks' men, or Christie's. Thinking of making a clean breast of it towards the end of his life...' Cafferty shrugged. 'I'm not the detective here.'

'Then maybe it's time I called one,' Rebus suggested.

'Maybe it is,' Cafferty conceded, leaning back in his chair.

Clarke arrived with Christine Esson. This, too, was apparently a deal-breaker, and Esson was sent to wait in the car. Both note and bullet still sat on the coffee table, and Clarke noted them immediately.

'Okay,' she said, exchanging looks with both men. 'Which one of you wants to do the talking?'

'He does,' Rebus said, nodding towards Cafferty. 'I need to feed the meter and have a smoke.'

He headed back outdoors, passing the bodyguards' car. Only one of them was inside. The other had his back to Rebus as he walked sentry-style towards the rear garden. Rebus tapped on the window and the man in the driver's seat obliged by lowering it an inch.

'Just the two of you?' Rebus enquired.

'We're working shifts with another pair. Mr Cafferty tells us you used to be a cop.' He watched as Rebus got a cigarette going.

'I was army before thatParachute Regiment.' Rebus exhaled smoke. 'How about you?'

The man gave a slow nod.

'I can usually tell.'

'Same way I can usually spot a cop. Is it serious, what's happening with Mr Cafferty?'

'Might be.'

'He's a sitting target as long as he stays here.'

'Just what I've been telling him.' Rebus flicked ash on the driveway. 'Keep up the good work, eh?'

As he walked up the road, digging change from his pocket, he saw Christine Esson crouched on the pavement next to Clarke's Astra. She was patting the wire-haired terrier.

'Looks like you've made a friend,' Rebus commented.

She straightened up. 'It's nice to feel wanted.' Then, with a gesture towards Cafferty's house: 'I'm not happy about being shut out.'

'Siobhan will tell you all about it.'

'So why am I not in there?'

'Because Cafferty's hardly a major contributor to the Police Benevolent Fund.'

'Exactlyyet here we are offering our help.'

Rebus watched as the dog sniffed his shoes before returning to the more attentive Esson. 'That's what we do, Christine, sometimes whether people want it or not.'

'Are you forgetting you've retired?'

Rebus looked at her. 'You know, for a second there, it actually had slipped my mind. But being a civilian has its advantages.'

'Such as?'

'Not answering to anyone, just for starters. And at the end of the day, no forms to fill in. How's the Minton case, by the way?'

'We're just back from Linlithgow. Lottery winner got done in a couple of weeks back.'

'I remember that. Siobhan thinks there might be a connection?'

'Tenuous at best.'

'No note left at the scene?'

'Local team's going to give the house another search.'

'Your priorities may be about to change,' Rebus warned her.

'Why's that?'

But Rebus just smiled and walked on, crushing the remains of his cigarette underfoot and paying for a new parking ticket at the machine. She was playing with the dog again as he passed her on his way back to the house.

He had left the front door unlocked so he could let himself in. Clarke was seated in the chair Rebus had vacated, Cafferty across from her. She was studying the note.

'Whose is the dog?' Rebus asked Cafferty.

'What dog?'

'The one that's always outside.'

'Turned up a week or so back. I think it's a stray.'

'Looks like someone's feeding it, though.'

'A lot of soft touches on this streetpresent company aside.'

Rebus turned his attention to Clarke. 'What's the thinking?' he asked.

'Mr Cafferty is unwilling for this to be made public,' Clarke answered. 'I've told him that will be DCI Page's decision. Meantime, I want the bullet taken to the forensic lab for analysisthey might want to send it elsewhere if their equipment isn't up to the job. Could be a while before we get any results.'

'And the note?'

'Looks like the same pen, probably the same hand. Again, I'd like an expert to give us an opinion.'

'Reckon it adds up?' Rebus folded his arms. 'Minton was attacked inside his home by someone who broke in. Not nearly the same MO as standing on somebody's lawn and shooting through a window.'

'You think the notes and the shooting are unconnected?'

'I'm just raising a doubt. The murder in Linlithgow has more in common with Minton than this does.'

'What murder in Linlithgow?' Cafferty interrupted.

'Not important,' Clarke told him.

'Lottery winner a few weeks back,' Rebus added, earning a glare of disapproval from Clarke for his efforts.

'I remember hearing about that,' Cafferty said.

'It's really not important,' Clarke stressed.

'So what's next?' Rebus asked.

'Mr Cafferty needs to come to HQ and give a statement.'

'No way,' Cafferty stated, raising a hand. 'I walk in there, it's going to be all over the news.'

'We could bring the recording equipment here,' Rebus suggested. Clarke gave him another look. 'And by "we", of course, I mean Police Scotland.'

'I'm not sure the Fiscal's office would go for it,' Clarke said.

'But you could ask?'

'I need to take this to DCI Page first.' Clarke was digging in her pocket for her phone.

'I don't want any more cops in here,' Cafferty warned her. 'You, I'll just about tolerate.'

'And John?'

Cafferty stared at Rebus. 'For now, I suppose,' he conceded.

'Well, I need to speak to Page anyway.' Clarke got to her feet and moved towards the door, making the call as she went. Cafferty stood up and found himself face to face with Rebus.

'The crew outside,' Rebus said. 'Two-by-two, twelve-hour shifts...'

'What about them?'

'Where did they come from?'

'How do you mean?'

'I mean, are they part of Andrew Goodman's show?'

'What does it matter?'

'Just that Goodman's been in at least one meeting with the Starks since they hit town.'

'I knowAndrew told me. He's a good guy.'

'And did Andrew happen to say what the Starks wanted from him?'

'A guy from the Highlands called Hamish Wright was mentioned, but only in passing. Seemed it wasn't him they were looking for so much as something he's got hidden away somewhere.'

'And we both know what that will be.'

'Thing is, we're talking a commodity of some considerable bulk.'

'Not easy to hide?'

'And difficult to move without someone noticing. No way Wright can use one of his own lorries.'

'So he'll be in touch with other hauliers maybe?'

'If he feels he needs to move it. Then again, it may be stowed away somewhere he reckons no one can find it.'

'Would he know people in the city?'

'I'd say so.'

'You wouldn't be one of them?'

'I'm not of a mind to get into that sort of discussion.'

'Which sort of answers my question. Do you know where Hamish Wright is?'

'I'd be surprised if he's anywhereanywhere above ground, that is.'

Rebus's eyes narrowed. 'Then why are the Starks looking for him?'

'What makes you think they are?'

'What do you mean?' But Cafferty just shook his head and placed a hand on Rebus's shoulder, steering him towards the door. 'How much of this did you already know when Fox and I spoke to you?'

'You worried I'm not being honest with you, John?'

'I suppose there's a first time for everything.'

'To put your mind at rest, I only heard from Goodman after you and I had our little chinwag in the Golden Rule.'

'I'll get you to a safe house,' Rebus said, stopping just inside the front door. 'It's yours as soon as you tell me what's really going on.'

'Go find a dominoes game or something. If I want advice on protection, I'll consult the police rather than a pensioner.'