The only transport we had was Joe’s trike. Moses hated going on any type of motorbike and, as he pointed out, if we were going in under stealth the noise of the trike would blow our cover. The cold wind blew through our hair as I started up the machine. A few curtains twitched this time. Maybe the residents of Cumberland Street weren’t so different from those in West Pilton Circus after all, or maybe they’d just had enough of me, their very own neighbour from hell. The streets were quiet, and the traffic lights were at green. The only thing I needed now was for Sam Jones to be waiting at the entrance to the Docks. She was the one with most to gain.

Moses got off the trike at the Shore and I turned left at the traffic lights and parked in front of the Malmaison, once the old seamen’s mission. The moon hid behind the clouds. The streets were deserted, apart from a few prostitutes who poked their heads out of closes, then, when they saw I didn’t have a car, melted back into the shadows. I walked over the cobbles towards the gates. Over my shoulder I saw the ships docked against the quayside. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a woman leaning against the large ship’s anchor, an ornament that architects had left behind to remind the people of Edinburgh that Leith had once been a thriving Docks. True Leithers just wished they still had the Docks instead of the fancy waterfront restaurants and flats that they could not afford.

Bizarrely, I was disappointed that DI Sam Jones had not brought Joe along, although in my head I knew that was ridiculous. The police officer was holding him to ransom to make sure I did whatever she wanted–and she wanted Marshall to go down. When I was ten feet away from my blackmailer, the moon came out from behind the cloud and for the first time I saw the woman I was supposed to meet–and it wasn’t Sam Jones.

Patsy Barnes.

‘Brodie. I’m sorry it had to come to this.’

‘Fuck off with your apologies. Is Joe safe?’

She nodded. ‘But he won’t be if you don’t call off the tail.’ She pointed to the dark shadows where Moses was hidden. ‘Moses!’ I called. He stepped out under a streetlight and walked towards us. ‘Such devotion,’ Patsy said as she stared at Moses. ‘I approve of devotion; it’s the only thing that has kept Joe alive.’

‘Spare me your sentiments,’ I said.

‘I’m not a fool, Brodie,’ she smiled. ‘And I don’t dislike you. Don’t make me kill him. There are so few good men left in this world, don’t you think?’

‘What do you want, Patsy?’ I said.