‘Stephanie told me ages back, when the photos of James and his floozy changed hands.’ She paused. ‘There are some things you’re better off not knowing. Your side of the business is yours and mine is mine. Best if it’s kept that way.’

‘So there’s no point asking you about Tommy Oram’s father?’

‘What about him?’

‘I did a Google search. Theory still seems to be that he’s long dead, yet that man Rebus swore he was alive.’

‘He is,’ Beth stated. ‘I’ve seen him.’

‘Where?’ Mackenzie put his phone down and pressed his hands together.

‘The lock-up.’ She spooned more fruit into her mouth and chewed.

‘What lock-up?’

‘Where Tommy keeps the tools of his trade.’

‘What were you doing there?’

She gave him a stare before replying. ‘Jealous, are we?’ She smiled and sniffed. ‘Anyway, I told him to beat it. His son had turned the place into a bloody pied-à-terre – can you imagine?’

‘The man who was looking for him – did you tell him any of this?’

‘Rebus? Don’t be stupid.’

‘You know him?’

‘He stuck pretty close to Big Ger back in the day. I never knew whether to be envious or worried.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘It was like they hated that they couldn’t live without one another. Speaking of which …’

‘Yes?’

‘You and James. I know you go back a long way, but he’s about to crash and burn, we both know it. This fraud thing’s going to see him in court.’

‘He says not.’

‘That’s because he can’t have his investors getting the jitters, but the clever money is already deserting him and I don’t want anyone thinking we’re idiots.’

‘He’s Gaby’s godfather, for Christ’s sake.’

‘And yet we’re the ones who seem to have done him all the ­favours down the years – and that includes Gaby.’ She paused. ‘If you can’t bring yourself to cut the ties, I’ll be happy to.’

Mackenzie had closed his eyes again. It was as if he were exhausted by the world and everything in it, while Beth only felt more energised with each new day.

‘Okay, I’ll talk to him,’ he eventually said.

‘And to your money men, too. Sooner the better, Fraser.’

‘What is it you know, Beth?’

She lifted a final spoonful of fruit to her mouth. ‘Drink your coffee, love,’ she said.

Rebus got to Ferry Road early, pulling into the gym’s car park and turning off the ignition. He was hoping Beth Mackenzie was a creature of habit. Commuters paraded past, heading by bus and car, on bike or on foot, to jobs in town. As a bus came to a halt in the traffic, Rebus got a better view of its passengers, most of them plugged into their phones. None looked particularly thrilled with the way their lives had worked out.