‘The way I was supposed to flush out the Mackenzies? And meantime, if I got close to the truth, the men who topped him would want the same fate for me. You’d probably call that a win–win. Nearly was, too. I’d be growing cold on the floor of the Moorfoot right now if Oram’s son hadn’t come looking. Lucky for me, he was tooled up. Oh, and the upshot of that is, Beecham won’t be giving you any more money.’ Rebus paused. ‘How come you took the price off his head anyway?’

‘He got reacquainted with an old psycho pal of his.’

‘Crosbie.’

‘No way I could touch Beecham without Crosbie coming for me. I’d have to deal with both of them.’

‘Messy,’ Rebus agreed.

Cafferty looked at him. ‘Messy isn’t always good for business. Same went for Constitution Street. Losing a wedge hurt me for a few weeks, but I was back in the black soon enough. As for Jack Oram …’

‘Yes?’

‘If he hadn’t got himself killed, I’d almost certainly have done him some damage.’

‘So they did you a favour at the Moorfoot? Despite which, you sent me after them.’

‘Yet here you are, luck of the devil.’

‘Not so lucky for you, though.’

‘You can’t blame a man for trying.’

‘Trying to do what? Get people killed, take back your old empire so you can start poisoning Edinburgh again?’

‘If not me, then somebody else,’ Cafferty snarled. ‘Everybody knows the way it has to be. I just couldn’t stand the thought of it being Fraser Mackenzie.’

‘Fraser?’ Rebus raised an eyebrow. ‘You’ve no idea, have you? It’s your old flame Beth running the show. The daughter provides muscle from her nightclub and the pair of them make quite a team, believe me.’

Cafferty’s face creased as he took this on board.

‘They’ve almost certainly been keeping Tynecastle sweet, too – another tactic Beth learned from you. Not that your relationship with the Crew was wholly amicable. After that stunt you pulled, getting them to cripple Tony Barlow—’

‘With your help, Strawman,’ Cafferty interrupted.

‘With my help,’ Rebus acknowledged. ‘But that’s when they decided to do the Constitution Street job, just so you’d know they weren’t quite as controllable as you’d hoped.’ He paused. ‘So what happens now?’

‘How do you mean?’

‘You’ve got hold of the Mackenzies’ stash – reckon Beth’s going to let you keep what’s hers?’

‘She can try taking it.’

‘I wouldn’t bet against her. You might want to warn Andrew he’s up against superior forces.’

‘I’m the one in charge, Strawman!’ Cafferty’s voice had risen.

‘I know you think you are, but from where I’m standing, you’re just a greedy old man in a wheelchair.’

‘A greedy old man who still pulls the strings – yours included!’

‘Maybe time to cut them, then.’