28

The day dawned bright, with blue skies and a breeze which would soon warm. It was expected to stay good all day, with a clear night for the fireworks. Princes Street would be bursting at the seams, but it was quiet as DCI Kilpatrick drove along it. He was an early riser, but even he had been caught by Rebus's wake-up call.

The industrial estate was quiet too. After being cleared by the guard on the gate, he drove up to the warehouse and parked next to Rebus's car. The car was empty, but the warehouse door stood open. Kilpatrick went inside.

'Morning, sir.’ Rebus was standing in front of the HGV.

'Morning, John. What's with all the cloak and dagger?’

'Sorry about that, sir. I hope I can explain.’

'I hope so too, going without breakfast never puts me in the best of moods.’

'It's just that there's something I had to tell you, and this seems as quiet a place as any.’

'Well, what is it?’

Rebus had started walking around the lorry, Kilpatrick following him. When they were at the back of the vehicle, Rebus pulled on the lever and swung the door wide open. On top of the boxes inside sat Abernethy.

'You didn't warn me it was a party,' Kilpatrick said.

'Here, let me help you up.’

Kilpatrick looked at Rebus. 'I'm not a pensioner.’

And he pulled himself into the back, Rebus clambering after him.

'Hello again, sir,' Abernethy said, putting his hand out for Kilpatrick to shake. Kilpatrick folded his arms instead.

'What's this all about, Abernethy?’

But Abernethy shrugged and nodded towards Rebus.

'Notice anything, sir?’ said Rebus. 'I mean, about the load.’

Kilpatrick put on a thoughtful face and looked around. 'No,' he said finally, adding: 'I never was one for party games.’

'No games, sir. Tell me, what happens to all this stuff if we're not going to use it in a sting operation?’

'It goes to be destroyed.’

'That's what I thought. And the papers go with it, don't they?’

'Of course.’

'But since the stuff has been under our stewardship, those papers will be from the City of Edinburgh Police?’

'I suppose so. I can't see 'You will, sir. When the stuff came here, there was a record with it, detailing what it was and how much of, it there was. But we replace that record with one of our own, don't we? And if the first record goes astray, well, there's always our record.’

Rebus tapped one of the boxes. 'There's less here than there was.’

'What?’

Rebus lifted the lid from a crate. 'When you showed me around before with Smylie, there were more AK 47s than this.’

Kilpatrick looked horrified. 'Are you sure?’

He looked inside the crate.

"Yet the current inventory shows twelve AK 47s, and that's how many are here.’

'Twelve,' Abernethy confirmed, as Rebus got out the sheet of paper and handed it to Kilpatrick.

'Then you must have made a mistake,' said Kilpatrick.

'No, sir,' said Rebus, 'with all due respect. I've checked with Special Branch. They hold a record of the original delivery. Two dozen AK 47s. The other dozen are missing. There's other stuff too: a rocket launcher, some of the ammo…’

'You see, sir,' said Abernethy, 'normally nobody would bother to backtrack, would they? The stuff is going for disposal, and there's a chitty says everything checks. No one ever looks back down the line.’

'But it's impossible.’

Kilpatrick still held the sheet of paper, but he wasn't looking at it.

'No, sir,' said Rebus, 'it's dead easy. If you can alter the record. You're in charge of this load, it's your name on the sheet.’

'What are you saying?’

Rebus shrugged and slipped his hands into his pockets. 'The surveillance on the American, that was your operation too, sir.’

'As requested by you, Inspector.’

Rebus nodded. 'And I appreciated it. It's just, I can't understand a few things. Such as how your trusted team from Glasgow didn't spot me and a friend of mine having a drink with Clyde Moncur and his wife.’

'What?’

'The details you gave me, sir, there was nothing about that. I didn't think there would be. That's partly why I did it. Nor was there any mention of a meeting between Clyde Moncur and Frankie Bothwell. All your men say is that Moncur and his wife go for walks, see the sights, act the perfect tourists. But there is no surveillance, is there? I know because I put a couple of colleagues onto Moncur myself. You see, I knew something was up the minute I met Inspector Abernethy here.’

'You put an unofficial surveillance on Moncur?’

'And I've the pictures to prove it.’

On cue, Abernethy rustled a white paper bag, one side of which was clear cellophane. The black and white photos could be seen inside.

'There's even one here,' Abernethy said, 'of you meeting Moncur in Gullane. Maybe you were talking about golf?’

'You must have promised The Shield some of these arms before I came along,' Rebus went on. 'You brought me into the investigation to keep an eye on me.’

'But why would I bring you here in the first place?’

'Because Ken Smylie asked you to. And you didn't want to raise his suspicions. There's not much gets past Ken.’

Rebus had expected Kilpatrick to deflate, but he didn't, if anything he grew bigger. He plunged his hands into his jacket pockets and slid his shoulders back. His face showed no emotion, and he wasn't about to talk.

'We've been looking at you for a while,' Abernethy continued. 'Those Prod terrorists you let slip through your fingers in Glasgow…’

He shook his head slowly. 'That's one reason we moved you from Glasgow, to see if you could still operate. When news of the six-pack reached me, I knew you were still lending a hand to your friends in The Shield. They've always relied on inside help, and by Christ they've been getting it.’

'You thought it was a drugs hit,' Kilpatrick argued.

Abernethy shrugged. 'I'm a good actor. When you seconded Inspector Rebus, I knew it was because you saw him as a threat. You needed to keep an eye on him. Luckily he came to the same conclusion.’

Abernethy peered into the bag of photographs..’And here's the result.’

'Funny, sir,' said Rebus, 'when we were talking about' Sword and Shield, the old Sword and Shield I mean, you never mentioned that you were a member.’

'What?’

'You didn't think there were any records, but I managed to track some down. Back in the early '60s you were in their youth league. Same time Frankie Bothwell was. Like I say, funny you never mentioned it.’

'I didn't think it was relevant.’

'Then I was attacked by someone trying to put me out of the game. The man was a pro, I'd swear to that, a streetslugger with a cutthroat razor. He had a Glasgow accent. You must have met a few hard men during your stint over there.’

'You think I hired him?’

'With all respect,' Rebus locked eyes with Kilpatrick, 'you must be off your rocker.’

'Madness comes from the head, not the blood, not the heart.’

Kilpatrick rested against a box. 'You think you can trust Abernethy, John? Well, good luck to you. I'm waiting.’

'For what?’

'Your next gimmick.’

He smiled. 'If you wanted to make a case against me, we wouldn't be meeting like this. You know as well as I do that a filing mistake and an innocent photograph don't make a case. They don't make anything.’

'You could be kicked off the force.’

'With my record? No, I might retire early, say on health grounds, but no one's going to sack me. It doesn't happen that way, I thought two experienced officers would know that. Now answer me this, Inspector Rebus, you set up an illicit surveillance: how much trouble can that get you in? With your record of insubordination and bucking the rules, we could kick you off the force for not wiping your arse properly.’