‘Feel what?’
‘Mortality, chapping at the door.’ To reinforce the point, Cafferty rapped the knuckles of his left hand against the arm of his wheelchair.
‘Well, this is cheery.’ Rebus leaned back, getting as comfortable as the sofa would allow.
‘Life isn’t cheery, though, is it? We both learned that lesson long ago. And stuck here during COVID, there wasn’t a hell of a lot to do except...’ Cafferty tapped his forehead.
‘If you’d asked, I’d have let you borrow a jigsaw.’
Cafferty gave a slow shake of the head. ‘You forget that I know you. You’re telling me you sat for weeks on end in that flat of yours, that living room, that head of yours, and didn’t brood? What else would you do?’
‘I had a dog that needed walking.’
‘And you had your daughter and granddaughter take it for those walks — I saw them.’ He jerked his head towards the telescope. ‘And Siobhan Clarke too, sometimes. She could never get within a hundred yards of here without staring up. Staring, mind, not...’ He raised two fingers towards Rebus.
‘If you could maybe get to the point while there’s still a bit of light in the sky.’
‘The point is...’ Cafferty sucked in some air and expelled it noisily. ‘I’ve had nothing to do but think back on things I’ve done, people I’ve done them to. Not all of it strictly merited.’
Rebus held up a hand, palm towards Cafferty. ‘I no longer take confession. Siobhan’s the one you need to talk to.’
‘Not for this,’ Cafferty said quietly. ‘Not for this.’ He leaned forward in his chair. ‘You remember Jack Oram?’
It took Rebus a few moments, Cafferty staying silent, content to let the synapses do their slow-grinding work.
‘Another of your legion of the disappeared,’ Rebus eventually stated. ‘What was the name of his place — the Potter’s Bar?’
‘I knew you’d remember.’
‘A pool hall where a cue could come in handy in more than one way. Oram’s name above the door but profits accruing to the man I’m looking at right now. Oram starts skimming and pretty soon he needs more than a pool cue to save him.’
‘I didn’t touch him.’
‘Of course you didn’t.’
‘He ran before I could. Turned into a missing person case. I’ve half an idea your old pal Siobhan worked on it.’
‘So?’
‘So I hear he’s back in town.’
‘And?’
‘I wouldn’t mind a word, always supposing he can be persuaded.’
Rebus gave a grunt. ‘What are you going to do, have Andrew pat him down with a bit more malice?’
‘I want to say sorry to the guy,’ Cafferty stated solemnly.
Rebus made show of cupping a hand to one ear. ‘I must have misheard.’
‘I’m serious. Yes, he took what wasn’t his, and, yes, he ran. He’s been laying low the past four years, doubtless scared shitless. Probably only came back because he heard about this.’ Cafferty thumped the arm of his wheelchair again.
‘I’m still not sure I get it.’
‘That’s because you don’t know what he needed the money for. His brother, Paul, died of cancer. Left a wife, two kids and precious little in the bank. Jack wanted to help, whatever it took.’
‘Are you asking me to believe you’ve suddenly grown a conscience?’
‘I just want to tell him to his face that I’m sorry for what happened.’
‘So have your gofer go fetch him.’
‘I could do that, but seeing how you’re to blame for what happened to him...’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Four and a bit years back, you were drinking in some pub, got chatting to a guy called Eric Linn. Ring a bell?’
‘I’ve met a lot of people in a lot of pubs.’
‘The two of you had a mutual acquaintance, Albert Cousins, snitch of yours from back in the day. Linn asked if you still saw him. You said no, but you’d heard he was losing a bit too much at after-hours poker games in the Potter’s Bar.’ Cafferty broke off. ‘Anything?’
‘Maybe.’
‘Well, Eric knew I had a stake in the bar and he reckoned I might be interested, which I was, because nobody had thought to tell me about these wee sessions. Jack Oram had been holding back, not cutting me in. That got me doing some digging, and it started to look a lot like he’d been skimming from the pool hall, too. Lucky for him, he got wind I’d be wanting a word.’ Cafferty paused again. ‘All because your mouth got a bit slack in a bar one night.’
Rebus was silent for a moment. It was true about Albert Cousins and his gambling. Rebus couldn’t have known not to mention it in conversation. All the same...
‘The streets have changed,’ Cafferty was saying. ‘I’ve not got the eyes and ears I once had.’
‘Neither have I.’
‘But you still know your way around, and you’ve got time on your hands.’
‘I’m a bit long in the tooth to play Humphrey Bogart.’ Rebus got to his feet and retraced his steps to the window. He heard the whirr of the wheelchair’s motor as Cafferty followed him.
‘I’m on the way out,’ Cafferty said quietly. ‘You noticed as soon as you walked in here. Those bullets did too much damage.’ He suddenly looked tired. ‘I just feel bad about Oram. I can’t explain it exactly, why him and none of the others. And there’s money in it, of course.’ He was gesturing towards a wall unit. ‘Envelope there with some cash in it. You wouldn’t be Humphrey Bogart if you didn’t take it.’
‘Any chance of a femme fatale on the side?’
‘No promises, but who knows what you’ll turn up. It’s got to be better than festering in that flat of yours.’
‘I’m halfway through another jigsaw, though. Sergeant Pepper, a thousand pieces.’
‘It’ll still be there.’
Rebus turned and leaned in towards the seated figure. ‘Whatever happened to Oram, I’m not to blame — you are. You’d have found out eventually, one way or another. Plenty chancers out there who’d be happy to track him down for you.’
‘I don’t want just any chancer, though — I want the biggest.’
Rebus gave a thin smile, almost despite himself. ‘So what have you got, apart from his name?’
‘Could be he’s using an alias — I would, in his shoes. Last sighting was near Gracemount a few weeks back.’
‘A lovely spot for an ex-cop to go walkabout. Is this you trying to get me bushwhacked?’
‘He was coming out of a lettings agency on Lasswade Road.’
‘Didn’t you used to own a lettings agency?’
Cafferty nodded. ‘It changed hands a few years back.’
‘And that’s his last sighting — a lettings office that used to be in your name?’
Cafferty offered a slow shrug. ‘I know you’d rather it was a Hollywood mogul’s house, but that’s all I can offer.’
Rebus leaned down further, his hands gripping the arms of the wheelchair. The two men fixed eyes, the silence lengthening. Then he pushed himself upright and shook his head slowly.
‘I’ll think about it,’ he said, walking towards the door.
Cafferty stayed facing the window. In around five minutes, he could place his eye to the telescope and watch Rebus heading back across the Meadows. He heard the front door close and sensed Andrew behind him, awaiting instructions.
‘Tea, I think,’ he said. ‘Builder’s strength.’
‘I didn’t like him,’ Andrew commented.
‘You’re a good judge of character. But then you probably wouldn’t like me either if I wasn’t paying for the privilege. Though with what you’re learning, maybe I should be charging tuition fees.’