10 Great Rebus Novels (John Rebus)

by Ian Rankin

‘I thought we were trying to harass him?’

  The Farmer dropped the pen on the floor, stooped to pick it up. ‘We’ve been through all this.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘So now we’re going in circles. Bottom line, a complaint from Social Work has to be followed up.’

  ‘And meantime, I can’t work the investigation.’

  ‘It would look bloody odd under the circumstances. What other work have you got?’

  ‘Officially, not a lot.’

  ‘I heard you had a MisPer.’

  ‘I was working it in my own time.’

  ‘So spend a bit more time on it. But – and this is off the record, mind – keep close to Gill and the team. You seem to know more about Rough and Greenfield than most.’

  ‘In other words, you need me, but can’t afford to be seen with me?’

  ‘You always had a way with words, John. Off you go now. POETS day, you know, weekend coming up. Go and enjoy yourself.’

  31

  Janice Mee turned up at Arden Street for want of anything more constructive to do. She had all this time to herself, and over in Fife she felt she was accomplishing nothing. If she sat at home, the patterns on the wallpaper started swirling, and the clock’s tick seemed amplified beyond all enduring. But if she went out, there were questions to be answered by neighbours and passers-by – ‘Is he no’ back yet?’; ‘Where do you think he’d have went?’ – and comments to be fielded – usually to do with having patience or keeping fingers crossed. Besides, she had a feeling whenever she stepped off the train at Waverley that Damon was nearby. It was true people had a sixth sense: you could feel when someone was creeping up behind you. And every time she stepped on to the platform, stopping there while the workers and shoppers made to pass her, hurried lives they had to be getting on with . . . when she stopped there, it was as if her world stopped turning, and everything became still and peaceful. In those moments, with the city hushed and the blood singing in her heart, she could almost hear him, smell him – everything but reach out and touch his arm. She saw herself pulling him to her, scolding him as she poured kisses on his face, and him all grown-up and trying to resist, but pleased, too, to be wanted like this and loved like this, loved the way no one in the universe would ever love him.

  Since he’d gone missing, she’d been sleeping in his room. At first, she’d reasoned to Brian that Damon might sneak back in the night for his things. This way, she’d be there to confront him, to snare him. But then Brian had said he’d move into the room too, and she’d pointed out there was just the single bed, and he’d countered that he’d sleep on the floor. On and on the discussion had gone, until she’d lost it and blurted out that she’d rather be on her own.

  The first time she’d spoken the words.

  ‘Frankly, Brian, I’d much rather be on my own . . .’

  His face had lost all rigidity, had folded in on itself, and she’d felt sick in her stomach. But she’d been right to say the words, wrong to keep them inside the past months and years.

  ‘It’s Johnny, isn’t it?’ Brian, face averted, had plucked up the courage to ask.

  And in a way it was, though not quite the way Brian meant. It was that Johnny had shown her another road she might have taken, and in doing so had opened up the possibility of all the other roads left untravelled, all the places she’d never been. Places like Emotion and High and Elation. Places like Myself and Free and Aware. She knew she’d never say these things to anyone; they sounded too much like stuff from the magazines. But that didn’t stop her feeling they were true. Born and bred in the town, lived most of her days there: did she really want to die there? Did she want it that thirty-odd years of her life could be summarised in five minutes to a friend she hadn’t seen since secondary school?

  She wanted more.

  She wanted out.

  Of course, she knew what people would say: you’re just emotional, dear. It’s bound to be upsetting, something like this. And it was. Oh, Jesus sweet Christ almighty, it was. Yet she felt more powerless and aimless than ever. She’d told her story to all the charities, she’d done her bit talking to the taxi drivers, but what was left? She knew there must be something she hadn’t tried, but couldn’t think what. All she knew was, this was where she had to be.

  Now that she had a feel for the city, she enjoyed the walk to Marchmont. The steep climb up Cockburn Street, full of ‘alternative’ shops – some of them had even taken her flyers. Then up the High Street to George IV Bridge, and down past libraries and bookshops to Greyfriars Bobby. Past the university and the milling students, carrying books with them or pushing their bicycles. Then The Meadows, flat and green and with Marchmont rising in the distance. She liked the shops near Johnny’s flat; liked the tenement itself and all the streets around it. The roofs seemed to her like castle turrets. Johnny said the area was full of students. She’d always imagined students living in poorer places.

  She opened the main door and climbed to Johnny’s landing. There was mail behind his door. She picked it up, took it through to the living room. It looked like bills and junk; no real letters. No photos in his living room; gaps in the wall-units which she would have filled with ornaments. Books tidied away into piles: before she moved them, they’d been lying everywhere. There was a time Brian wouldn’t have stood for it if she’d moved his stuff around; these days, he probably wouldn’t even notice. Johnny had noticed when she’d tidied up, but she wasn’t sure he’d been pleased, even though he’d said ‘Thanks.’

  She took mugs, plate and ashtray through to the kitchen. Took a blanket from the sofa and put it on the bed in the spare room. When everything was to her satisfaction, she wondered what to do next. Clean the windows? With what? Make herself a cup of something? Listen to some music . . . when had she last sat down and listened to music? When had she last had time? She looked through Johnny’s collection. Pulled out an album – one of the first by the Rolling Stones. It looked the same copy he’d had when they’d been going out together. On the back she found an ink doodle: JLJ – Janice Loves Johnny. She’d put it there one night, wondering if he’d notice. He always liked to study his LP sleeves. And when he had noticed, he hadn’t been too thrilled, had tried taking a rubber to it. You could still see the smudge . . .

  Summers in the café, long evenings with the Coke machine and the jukebox. Then a bag of chips, salt and vinegar. Maybe a film some nights, or just a stroll in the park. The youth club was run by the local church. Johnny hadn’t liked that; hadn’t been churchy. Yet here was a copy of the Bible, sitting alone on the mantelpiece. And other books that looked religious: The Confessions of St Augustine; The Cloud of Unknowing. She liked the sound of that last one. Lots of books, yet he didn’t seem much of a reader, and the books looked brand new, most of them.

  His bedroom . . . she’d sneaked a peek in there. Not the most inviting of rooms: mattress on the floor, clothes in piles in a corner, waiting to be decanted into the chest of drawers. Odd socks: what was it with men and odd socks? The whole flat had an unloved feel to it, despite some redecoration in the living room. His chair, positioned next to the bay window, phone on the floor next to it – the whole flat seemed to revolve around that one space. Kitchen cupboards: bottles of whisky and brandy and vodka and gin. More vodka in the freezer; beer in the fridge, along with cheese, marge, and an unpromising quarter of corned beef. Jars of beetroot and raspberry jam on the worktop, breadbin with two stale rolls and the heel of a loaf.

  They said you could tell a lot about a man from his home. She got the feeling Johnny was lonely, but how could that be when he had the doctor, Patience whatser-name?

  The doorbell. She wondered who it could be. Went and opened the door, not even bothering with the spy-hole. A man standing there, smiling.

  ‘Hiya,’ he said. ‘Is John in?’

  ‘No, I’m afraid not.’

  The smile disappeared; the man checked his watch. ‘I hope he’s not going to stand me up again.’

  ‘Well, in h
is job . . .’

  ‘Oh, that’s true enough. You’ll know all about it, I suppose.’

  She felt herself blushing under his gaze. ‘I’m not his girlfriend or anything.’

  ‘No? And here I was thinking he’d struck lucky, the old devil.’

  ‘No, I’m just a friend.’

  ‘Just good friends, eh?’ He tapped his nose. ‘You can trust me, I won’t tell Patience.’

  Her blush spread. ‘We were at school, Johnny and me. Met up again recently.’ She was babbling, and knew it, but somehow couldn’t stop herself.

  ‘That’s nice: old friends getting together. Plenty to catch up on, eh?’

  ‘Plenty.’

  ‘I know the feeling. I was out of touch with John for years too.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Working in the States.’

  ‘How interesting. Were you there long . . .?’ She caught herself. ‘Sorry, I can’t keep you standing out there, can I?’

  ‘I was beginning to wonder.’

  She opened the door wider, took a step back. ‘You better come in. My name’s Janice, by the way.’

  ‘You’ll laugh when I tell you my name. All I can say is, nobody consulted me.’

  ‘Why, what’s your name?’ Laughing now as he stepped past her into the hall.

  ‘Cary,’ he told her. ‘After the actor. Only I’ve never managed to be quite so suave.’

  He was winking at her as she closed the door.

  The flat was empty when Rebus got home, but he sensed someone had been there: things moved, things tidied. Janice again. He looked for a note, but she hadn’t left one. He took a beer from the fridge, then turned on the hi-fi. The Stones: ‘Goat’s Head Soup’. On the album cover, David Bailey had photographed them with their made-up faces covered by some diaphanous material, making Jagger look more feminine than ever. Rebus turned the volume down and called Alan Archibald’s number. Nobody home but the answering machine. Archibald’s voice sounded clipped and distant.

  ‘It’s John Rebus here. A simple message: ca’ canny. A taxi driver picked Oakes up near your home. I can’t think of any other reason he’d have been in the neighbourhood. He’s also been in my street. I don’t know what his thinking is, maybe he just wants to rattle us. Anyway, consider yourself forewarned.’

  He put down the phone. Forewarned is forearmed, he thought, wondering how Alan Archibald would arm himself.

  He turned up the volume, sat by the window and stared out at the opposite tenement. The kids were home from school, playing at their living room table. Some card game, it looked like. Happy Families maybe. Rebus had never been much good at that. When he turned from the window, he saw a shape in the doorway.

  ‘Christ,’ he said, putting a hand to his chest, ‘don’t do that to me.’

  ‘Sorry,’ Janice said, smiling. She raised a carton of milk for him to see. ‘You were running out.’

  ‘Thanks.’ He followed her through to the kitchen, watched her put the milk in the fridge.

  ‘Did you forget your appointment?’ she asked.

  ‘Appointment?’ Rebus was thinking: doctor? Dentist?

  ‘You stood your friend up. He was round here an hour ago. I went with him for a coffee.’ She tutted at Rebus’s fecklessness.

  ‘You’ve lost me,’ he said.

  ‘Cary,’ she told him. ‘The two of you were going out for a drink.’

  Rebus felt his spine turn cold. ‘He came here?’

  ‘Looking for you, yes.’

  ‘And you went out with him?’

  She’d been wiping the worktop, but turned towards him, saw the look on his face.

  ‘What is it?’ she asked.

  He looked towards the cupboards, made a show of opening one to check for something. He couldn’t tell her. She’d have a fit. He closed the cupboard door.

  ‘Have a nice chat, the two of you?’

  ‘He told me about his job in the States.’

  ‘Which one? I think he had a couple.’

  ‘Did he?’ She frowned. ‘Well, the only one he told me about was being a prison guard.’

  ‘Oh, right.’ Rebus nodded. ‘I suppose you told him about us?’

  She gave him a sly glance. There were spots of red on her cheeks. ‘What’s to tell?’

  ‘I mean, told him about yourself, how we know one another . . .?’

  ‘Oh, yes, all that.’

  ‘And Fife?’

  ‘He seemed really interested in Cardenden. I told him off, thought he was taking the mickey.’

  ‘No, Cary’s always interested in people.’

  ‘That’s exactly what he said.’ She paused. ‘Sure you’re all right?’

  ‘Fine. It’s just . . . work-related problems.’ Namely, Cary Oakes, who had now pulled Janice into his game. And Rebus, himself in the middle of the board, had yet to be told the rules.

  ‘Want some coffee or something?’

  Rebus shook his head. ‘We’re going somewhere.’ We? If Cary Oakes had gone to Fife, it was safer for Janice to stay in Edinburgh. But stay where? Rebus’s flat was proving no sanctuary. She was safer with Rebus, and Rebus had somewhere he needed to be.

  ‘Where?’

  ‘Back to Fife. I’ve a few more questions for Damon’s friends.’ And terrain to scout, seeking signs of contamination by Oakes.

  She stared at him. ‘Have you . . . are you on to something?’

  ‘Hard to tell.’

  ‘Try me.’

  He was shaking his head. ‘I don’t want to raise your hopes. It might turn out to be nothing.’ He started to move out of the kitchen. ‘Give me a minute to do some packing.’

  ‘Packing?’

  ‘Weekend’s coming, Janice. Thought I might stay over till tomorrow. Is there still a hotel in town?’

  She hesitated for a moment. ‘You can stay with us.’

  ‘A hotel will be fine.’

  But she shook her head. ‘You’ll understand, I couldn’t let you have Damon’s room, but there’s always the couch.’

  Rebus pretended to be torn. ‘OK then,’ he said at last. Thinking: I want to be there overnight; I want to be close to her. Not for any obvious reasons – reasons he might have put to himself a day or two ago – but because he wanted to know if Cary Oakes would travel to Cardenden, stake out her home. Whatever Oakes was planning, it was moving apace. If he was going to move on Janice, Rebus reckoned it would be at the weekend.

  If anything happened, Rebus needed to be there.

  ‘I’ll just throw some stuff in a bag,’ he said, heading for his bedroom.

  32

  Rebus took Janice to Sammy’s first of all. He just wanted to check on her. She was doing pull-ups with the help of her parallel bars, hoisting herself to standing, locking her knees, then easing herself back into the wheelchair. The front door was unlocked: she kept it that way when Ned wasn’t home. Rebus had been worried, until she’d explained her reasoning.

  ‘I had to weigh up the chances, Dad: me needing help, versus someone breaking in. If I’m lying paralysed on my back, I want any Good Samaritans to be able to get in.’

  She wore a grey sleeveless T-shirt, its back turned a darker grey by sweat. There was a towel around her shoulders, and her hair was matted to her forehead.

  ‘God knows if this is helping my legs,’ she said, ‘but I’m getting a shot-putter’s biceps.’

  ‘And not an anabolic steroid in sight,’ he said, leaning down to kiss her. ‘This is Janice, old school-pal of mine.’

  ‘Hello, Janice,’ Sammy said. When she looked back at her father, he felt embarrassed, and wasn’t sure why.

  ‘Her son’s disappeared,’ he explained. ‘I’m trying to help.’

  Sammy wiped her face with the towel.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. Janice smiled and shrugged.

  ‘Janice still lives in Cardenden,’ Rebus went on. ‘We’re headed back there, in case you were thinking of phoning me tonight.’

  ‘Right,’ Sammy said, her fac
e still busy in the towel. Now that he was here, he knew he’d made some kind of mistake, knew Sammy was jumping to all the wrong conclusions, and couldn’t think of a way out without embarrassing Janice.

  ‘So I’ll see you some time,’ he said.

  ‘I’m not going anywhere.’ She had finished with the towel; was studying the bars, the extent of her current universe.

  ‘We’ll have to go through there some day. I can show you my old hunting-ground.’

  She nodded. ‘We can take Patience, too. I’m sure she wouldn’t want to be left out.’

  ‘Have a nice weekend, Sammy,’ he said, making for the door.

  She neglected to tell him to do the same.

  ‘I’ll just phone Patience,’ he said, easing his mobile out of his pocket. They were back in the car, heading for the A90. Patience sometimes went out with friends on a Friday night; it was a regular thing – drinks and a meal, maybe a play or concert. Three other women doctors: two of them divorced, one still apparently happily married. She answered on the fourth ring.

  ‘It’s me,’ he said.

  ‘What have I told you about using that thing when you’re driving?’

  ‘I’m stalled at lights,’ he lied, giving Janice a conspirator’s wink. She looked uncomfortable.

  ‘Got plans?’

  ‘I have to go to Fife, couple of interviews I want to get out of the way. I’ll probably stay the night. Are you going out?’

  ‘In about twenty minutes.’

  ‘Say hello to the gang from me.’

  ‘John . . . when are we going to see one another?’

  ‘Soon.’

  ‘This weekend?’

  ‘Almost certainly.’

  ‘I’m going over to Sammy’s tomorrow.’

  ‘Right,’ he said. Sammy would tell Patience about Janice. Patience would know Janice had been in the car when he’d called her. ‘I’m staying the night with some friends: Janice and Brian.’

  ‘The ones you were at school with?’

  ‘That’s right. I didn’t realise I’d mentioned them.’

  ‘You hadn’t. Thing is, as far as I’m aware you haven’t made any friends since school.’