‘News?’ Rebus demanded. She shook her head.

‘Just tired,’ she explained.

‘Hard to believe he’s not turned up yet.’

‘We’ve looked all over. I want to request his phone records, but my DCI says I’ve insufficient grounds. How about you – any progress with Jack Oram?’

‘Apparently he’s in a smoky room playing hand after hand of poker with your guy.’

‘I’ll take that as a no.’

Rebus took a step closer. ‘There’s something I want to say. Coming from me, you’ll probably burst out laughing, but I’m going to say it anyway.’ He looked over towards his daughter and granddaughter. ‘There’s more to life than the job, Siobhan. When I think of the energy I put into it, usually at the expense of folk who should have been important to me …’

‘Be a shame to lose them then,’ Clarke replied. ‘Go see a doctor, John.’

‘Come on, angel,’ Samantha was telling her daughter. ‘Time to give Grandpa his freedom back.’

‘I will,’ Rebus told Clarke. For once, she almost believed him.

On her way home, she stopped at a pizza place, no cooking required. The parking gods were gentle with her and she found a space further along her street. She half expected Fox’s Merc to be there, but it wasn’t.

Inside her flat, she dumped her coat and bag and placed the pizza box on the kitchen worktop, sliding a couple of glistening slices onto a dinner plate. She thought of the break-in at Newhaven. Nobody looked twice at a food delivery. Any neighbour would have opened up, even after checking. She switched the TV on for company and got comfortable on the sofa. Good thing about a pizza was there’d be some left for breakfast. She would up the ante in the morning, make Haggard’s disappearance public, whether her DCI agreed or not. Although his particulars had been issued to every cop working the beat, she wondered how hard they would try. Christine Esson probably had a point: he was one of their own, whatever he had done. Not all of them would think that way, but some definitely would. Those same cops would have been the type to turn a blind eye to Rebus and his ilk back in the day. Should she include herself in that group? Probably. She’d been warned what Rebus was like from the first day she’d worked with him.

‘But he gets results,’ was always the excuse.

If past sins were about to catch up with him, how would she handle that? Malcolm Fox would be watching for any sign of a cover-up. Could she protect Rebus, even if she wanted to?

After an hour or two’s mindless TV, she considered closing her eyes and napping on the sofa, but knew she’d probably wake up in the middle of the night feeling like crap.