Black Book

31

Rebus showed his ID as he drove through the brewery gates. There was only the one police car left at the scene, and no sign of an ambulance. Workers stood around in huddled, low-talking groups, passing round cigarettes and stories.

Rebus knew the detective sergeant. He worked out of Edinburgh West, and his unfortunate name was Robert Burns. This Burns was tall and bulky and red-haired, with freckles on his face. On Sunday afternoons, he could sometimes be found at the foot of the Mound, where he would lambast the strolling heathens. Rebus was glad to see Burns. You might get fire and brimstone with him, but you’d never get waffle.

Burns pointed to the huge aluminium tank. ‘He climbed to the top.’ Yes, Rebus could see all too clearly the metal stairwell which reached to the top of the tank, with walkways circling the tank every thirty feet or so. ‘And when he got to the top, he jumped. A lot of the workers saw him, and they all said the same thing. He just climbed steadily till there were no more stairs, and then he threw himself off, arms stretched out. One of them said the dive was better than anything he’d seen in the Olympics.’

‘That good, eh?’ They weren’t the only ones staring at the tank. Some of the workforce glanced up from time to time, then traced Aengus Gibson’s descent. He’d hit the tarmac and crumpled like a concertina. There was a dent in the ground as though a boulder had been lifted from the spot.

‘His father tried chasing after him,’ Burns was saying. ‘Didn’t get very far. Old boy like that, it’s a wonder his heart didn’t give out. They had to help him down from the third circle.’

Rebus counted up three walkways. ‘A bit of Dante, eh?’ he said, winking at Burns.

‘The old boy’s saying it was an accident.’

‘Of course he is.’

‘It wasn’t, though.’

‘Of course it wasn’t.’

‘I’ve got a dozen witnesses who say he jumped.’

‘A dozen witnesses,’ Rebus corrected, ‘who’ll change their minds if their jobs are on the line.’

‘Aye, right enough.’

Rebus breathed in. He’d always liked that smell of hops, but from now on he knew it would smell differently to him. It would smell like this moment, played over time and time again.

‘The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away,’ said Burns. ‘What happened to your leg, by the way?’

‘Ingrown toenails,’ said Rebus. ‘The Lord gave them, the Infirmary took them away.’

Burns was shaking his head at this easy blasphemy when a window in the building behind them opened.

‘You!’ shouted Broderick Gibson. ‘You killed him! You did it!’ His crooked finger, a finger he seemed unable to straighten, was mostly pointed at Rebus. His eyes were like wet glass, his breathing strained. Someone was trying to coax him gently back into the office, hands on his shoulders. ‘There’ll be a reckoning!’ he called to Rebus. ‘Mark my words. There’ll come a reckoning!’

The old man was finally pulled inside, the window falling shut after him. The workers were looking over towards the two policemen.

‘He must be one of yours,’ said Rebus, making for his car.

That was that then. Aengus Gibson had shot and killed Tam Robertson, and now Aengus was dead. End of story. Rebus could think of one person not in Aengus’s family who was going to be very upset: Big Ger Cafferty. Cafferty had protected Black Aengus, maybe even blackmailed him, all the time waiting for the day when the young man would take over the brewery. With Aengus dead, the whole edifice fell, and good riddance to it.

Still, there was no comeback for Cafferty, no punishment. Back at the flat, Michael had some news.

‘The doe’s been trying to get you.’

‘Which one? I’ve seen so many recently.’

‘Dr Patience Aitken. She seems to think you’re avoiding her. Sounds like the ploy’s working, too.’

‘It’s not a ploy. I’ve just had a lot on my plate.’

‘And if you don’t finish it, you won’t get afters.’ Michael smiled. ‘She sounds nice, by the way.’

‘She is nice. I’m the arsehole.’

‘So go see her.’

Rebus flopped onto the sofa. ‘Maybe I will. What are you reading?’ Michael showed him the cover. ‘Another book on hypnotherapy. You must have exhausted the field.’

‘I’ve just been scratching the surface.’ Michael paused. ‘I’m going to take a course.’

‘Oh?’

‘I’m going to become a hypnotherapist. I mean, I know I can hypnotise people.’

‘You can certainly get them to take their trousers off and bark like dogs.’

‘Exactly, it’s about time I put it to better use.’

‘They say laughter is the best medicine.’

‘Shut up, John, I’m trying to be serious. And I’m moving back in with Chrissie and the kids.’

‘Oh?’

‘I’ve talked with her. We’ve decided to try again.’

‘Sounds romantic.’

‘Well, one of us has got to have some romance in his soul.’ Michael picked up the telephone and handed it to Rebus. ‘Now phone the doctor.’

‘Yes, sir,’ said Rebus.

Broderick Gibson had clout, there was no denying it. On Wednesday morning the newspapers reported the ‘tragic accident’ at the Gibson Brewery near Fountainbridge, Edinburgh. There were photos of Aengus, some in his Black Aengus days, others showing the later model at charity events. There wasn’t a whisper of suicide. It was another cover-up by Aengus’s father, another distortion of the truth. It had become just something Broderick Gibson did, a part of the routine.

At ten-fifteen, Rebus received a phone call. It was Chief Superintendent Watson.

‘There’s someone here to see you,’ he said. ‘I told him you’re under suspension, but he’s bloody insistent.’

‘Who is it?’ asked Rebus.

‘Some blind old duffer called Vanderhyde.’

Vanderhyde was still waiting when Rebus arrived. He looked quite at ease, concentrating on the sounds around him. Chatter and phone calls and the clacking of keyboards. He was seated on a chair facing Rebus’s desk. Rebus tiptoed painfully around him and sat down. He watched Matthew Vanderhyde for a couple of minutes. He was dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and black tie: mourning clothes. He carried a blue cardboard folder, which he rested on his thighs. His walking-stick rested against the side of his chair.

‘Well, Inspector,’ said Vanderhyde suddenly, ‘seen enough?’

Rebus gave a wry smile. ‘Good morning, Mr Vanderhyde. What gave me away?’

‘You’re carrying a cane of some kind. It hit the corner of your desk.’ Rebus nodded. ‘I was sorry to hear.’

‘No sorrier than his parents. They’ve worked hard over the years with Aengus. He has been hard work. Devilish hard at times. Now it’s all gone to waste.’ Vanderhyde leaned forward in his chair. Had he been sighted, his eyes would have been boring into Rebus’s. As it was, Rebus could see his own face reflected in the double mirror of Vanderhyde’s glasses. ‘Did he deserve to die, Inspector?’

‘He had a choice.’

‘Did he?’

Rebus was remembering the priest’s words. Can you live the rest of your life with the memories and the guilt? Vanderhyde knew Rebus wasn’t about to answer. He nodded slowly, and sat back a little in his chair.

‘You were there that night, weren’t you?’ Rebus asked.

‘Where?’

‘At the card game.’

‘Blind men make poor card-players, Inspector.’

‘A sighted person could help them.’ Rebus waited. Vanderhyde sat stiff and straight like the wax figure of a Victorian. ‘Maybe someone like Broderick Gibson.’

Vanderhyde’s fingers played over the blue folder, gripped it, and passed it over the desk.

‘Broderick wanted you to have this.’

‘What is it?’

‘He wouldn’t say. All he did say was, he hoped you’ll think it was worth it, though he himself doubts it.’ Vanderhyde paused. ‘Of course, I was curious enough to study it in my own particular way. It’s a book of some kind.’ Rebus accepted the heavy folder, and Vanderhyde took his own hand away, finding his walking-stick and resting the hand there. ‘Some keys were found on Aengus. They didn’t seem to match any known lock. Last night, Broderick found some bank statements detailing monthly payments to an estate office. He knows the head of the office, so he phoned him. Aengus, it seems, had been leasing a flat in Blair Street.’

Rebus knew it, a narrow passage between the High Street and the Cowgate, balanced precariously between respectability and low living. ‘Nobody knew about it?’

Vanderhyde shook his head. ‘It was his little den, Inspector. A real rat’s nest, according to Broderick. Mouldering food and empty bottles, pornographic video…’

‘A regular bachelor pad.’

Vanderhyde ignored his levity. ‘This book was found there.’

Rebus had already opened the folder. Inside was a large ring-bound notebook. It bore no title, but its narrow lines were filled with writing. A few sentences told Rebus what it was: Aengus Gibson’s journal.