'So I hear.'

'Means he might end up running Glasgow.'

'If we don't put him away as an accessory to murder.'

'Good luck with that. Is it true Holroyd left a diary?' He watched as Rebus nodded. 'Naming names?'

'Including yours.'

'You think the inquiry will get off the ground?'

'I dare say some will want it strangled at birth.' Rebus had taken out his car keys. 'Can I give you a lift?'

Cafferty shook his head and gestured towards the window. 'You keeping the dog?'

'Maybe.'

'Might be a good move, now you're retirednice long walks in the fresh air. I find I like walking too.'

'Now that there's no one with a gun out there looking for you?'

'Every car that passes, though... I always wonder if this'll be the time it stops and Darryl Christie invites me to step in.'

'If we get him to trial, will you testify?'

'Absolutely.' Cafferty paused. 'But for the defence rather than your lot.' He gave the briefest of waves as he turned to go.

'You still reckon you have the beating of him, don't you?' Rebus called out. Cafferty paused without looking back and held up a single index finger. Rebus knew what the gesture meant.

One last good fight left in me...

He didn't doubt it for a minute.

Opening the Saab and getting in, Rebus gave Brillo's coat a rub before starting the engine. He watched as Cafferty's figure receded, then lifted a CD from the passenger seat and slotted it home. It had arrived first thing, mail order. The album was called The Affectionate Punch. He skipped through it to track seven and listened as Billy Mackenzie started to sing about a boy, a boy frightened, neglected, abandoned. Sons and fathers, he thought: Malcolm and Mitch Fox, Dennis and Joe Stark, Jordan Foyle and Bryan Holroyd. His phone alerted him to a text. It was from Samantha. She had sent the photo he'd asked for, the one of him and Carrie. He studied it for a moment before showing it to a quizzical Brillo; then, having turned up the volume on the stereo, he reversed out of the parking space and headed back into the city.

About the Author.

Ian Rankin is an internationally #1 bestselling novelist and the recipient of an Edgar Award, a Gold Dagger for fiction, and the Chandler-Fulbright Award. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, with his wife and their two sons.

Also by Ian Rankin.

The Inspector Malcolm Fox Series.

The Complaints.

The Impossible Dead.

The Detective Inspector Rebus Series.

Knots & Crosses.

Hide & Seek.

Tooth & Nail (previously published as Wolfman) A Good Hanging and Other Stories.

Strip Jack.

The Black Book Mortal Causes Let It Bleed.

Black & 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 Alley The Naming of the Dead.

Exit Music Standing in Another Man's Grave.

Saints of the Shadow Bible The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories (a story collection).

Other Novels.

Witch Hunt.

Blood Hunt Bleeding Hearts.

Watchman.

Doors Open Dark Entries (graphic novel).

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