Resurrection Men
(Book 13 in the Inspector Rebus series)
A novel by Ian Rankin
A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY
Scotland is divided into several police regions. Rebus works for Lothian and Borders Police, whose “beat” covers Edinburgh and most points south until you reach the English border. The region’s HQ is based at Fettes Avenue in Edinburgh, and is often referred to by officers as “the Big House.” Other main police stations in the capital include St. Leonard’s (where Rebus is normally based), Leith (the port of Edinburgh), Gayfield Square and West End.
The officer in charge of this region is known as the chief constable. He is served, in decreasing order of rank, by a deputy chief constable (DCC), two assistant chief constables (ACCs), and various detective chief superintendents (DCSs), superintendents, chief inspectors, inspectors, sergeants and constables. If an officer works for CID (Criminal Investigation Department), then he or she will carry the prefix D (for Detective). A DCI is a detective chief inspector, DI is a detective inspector, DS a detective sergeant, and DC a detective constable. Officers not assigned to CID would wear a uniform. (Rebus sometimes refers to these unfortunates as “woolly suits.”) Lowest in the pecking order are the PC (police constable) and WPC (woman police constable).
CAST OF CHARACTERS
At Tulliallan Police College
DI John Rebus — based at St. Leonard’s police station in Edinburgh
DI James “Jazz” McCullough — based in Dundee
DI Francis Gray — based in Glasgow
DS Stu Sutherland — based in Livingston
DI Thomas “Tam” Barclay — based in Falkirk
DC Allan Ward — based in Dumfries
DCI Archibald Tennant — the Resurrection Men’s boss
Andrea Thomson — career analyst
The Rico Lomax Murder Case
Eric “Rico” Lomax — murder victim
Fenella — Rico’s widow
“Chib” Kelly — Fenella’s current lover, Glasgow bar owner and criminal
Richard “Dickie” Diamond — Rico’s friend
Malky — Dickie’s nephew, barman in Edinburgh
Jenny Bell — Dickie’s onetime girlfriend
Bernie Johns — deceased Glasgow drug baron
At St. Leonard’s Police Station
DS Siobhan Clarke — (pronounced “Shiv-awn”)
DI Derek Linford — no friend to Rebus, disliked by Siobhan
DCS Gill Templer — officer in charge of St. Leonard’s
DC David Hynds — a new recruit
DS George “Hi-Ho” Silvers — officer with both eyes on approaching pension
DC Grant Hood — young and unpredictable officer with a crush on Siobhan
DC Phyllida Hawes — tough female officer, usually based at Gayfield Square
DCI Bill Pryde — second in command to DCS Gill Templer
The Edward Marber Murder Case
Edward Marber — murdered Edinburgh art dealer
Cynthia Bessant — friend of the deceased, also an art dealer
Malcolm Neilson — artist
William Allison — Neilson’s lawyer
Dominic Mann — art dealer
Eric “Brains” Bain — detective, computer specialist
Professor Gates — pathologist
Morris Gerald “Big Ger” Cafferty — Edinburgh’s preeminent gangster
The Weasel — Cafferty’s lieutenant
Aly — the Weasel’s son
Ellen Dempsey -owner of MG Cabs in Edinburgh
DI Bobby Hogan — Leith-based detective
WPC Antonia “Toni” Jackson — experienced uniformed officer at St. Leonard’s
PC John “Perry” Mason — latest recruit to the uniformed branch at St. Leonard’s
Laura Stafford — a prostitute
Donny Dow — father of Laura’s child
DS Liz Hetherington — Dundee-based detective
Ricky — manager of the Sauna Paradiso
Other Characters
Claverhouse — detective in the Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency
Ormiston — Claverhouse’s partner
ACC Colin Carswell — based at police HQ
Sir David Strathern — chief constable of Lothian and Borders Police
Jean Burchill — Rebus’s current partner, museum curator
1
“Then why are you here?”
“Depends what you mean,” Rebus said.
“Mean?” The woman frowned behind her glasses.
“Mean by ‘here,’ ” he explained. “Here in this room? Here in this career? Here on the planet?”
She smiled. Her name was Andrea Thomson. She wasn’t a doctor — she’d made that clear at their first meeting. Nor was she a “shrink” or a “therapist.” “Career Analysis” was what it had said on Rebus’s daily sheet.
2:30–3:15: Career Analysis, Rm 3.16.
With Ms. Thomson. Which had become Andrea at the moment of introduction. Which was yesterday, Tuesday. A “get to know” session, she’d called it.
She was in her late thirties, short and large-hipped. Her hair was a thick mop of blond with some darker streaks showing through. Her teeth were slightly oversized. She was self-employed, didn’t work for the police full-time.
“Do any of us?” Rebus had asked yesterday. She’d looked a bit puzzled. “I mean, do any of us work full-time . . . that’s why we’re here, isn’t it?” He’d waved a hand in the direction of the closed door. “We’re not pulling our weight. We need a smack on the wrists.”
“Is that what you think you need, Detective Inspector?”
He’d wagged a finger. “Keep calling me that and I’ll keep calling you ‘Doc.’ ”
“I’m not a doctor,” she’d said. “Nor am I a shrink, a therapist, or any other word you’ve probably been thinking in connection with me.”
“Then what are you?”
“I deal with Career Analysis.”
Rebus had snorted. “Then you should be wearing a seat belt.”
She’d stared at him. “Am I in for a bumpy ride?”
“You could say that, seeing how my career, as you call it, has just careered out of control.”
So much for yesterday.
Now she wanted to know about his feelings. How did he feel about being a detective?
“I like it.”
“Which parts?”
“All of me.” Fixing her with a smile.
She smiled back. “I meant —”
“I know what you meant.” He looked around the room. It was small, utilitarian. Two chrome-framed chairs either side of a teak-veneered desk. The chairs were covered in some lime-colored material. Nothing on the desk itself but her legal-sized lined pad and her pen. There was a heavy-looking satchel in the corner; Rebus wondered if his file was in there. A clock on the wall, calendar below it. The calendar had come from the local firehouse. A length of net curtaining across the window.
It wasn’t her room. It was a room she could use on those occasions when her services were required. Not quite the same thing.
“I like my job,” he said at last, folding his arms. Then, wondering if she’d read anything into the action — defensiveness, say — he unfolded them again. Couldn’t seem to find anything to do with them except bunch his fists into his jacket pockets. “I like every aspect of it, right down to the added paperwork each time the office runs out of staples for the staple gun.”
“Then why did you blow up at Detective Chief Superintendent Templer?”
“I don’t know.”
“She thinks maybe it has something to do with professional jealousy.”
The laugh burst from him. “She said that?”
“You don’t agree?”
“Of course not.”
“You’ve known her some years, haven’t you?”
“More than I care to count.”
“And she’s always been senior to you?”
“It’s never bothered me, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“It’s only recently that she’s become your commanding officer.”
“So?”
“You’ve been at DI level for quite some time. No thoughts of improvement?” She caught his look. “Maybe ‘improvement’ is the wrong word. You’ve not wanted promotion?”
“No.”