I stood in the Grassmarket looking along to the Cowgate. Even in daytime it was dark and dank. Straight in front of me was the arch that supported the South Bridge. The first body to cross the bridge was in a coffin and the citizens of Edinburgh have been wary about this area ever since. With good reason–it was one of the haunts of the body snatchers, Burke and Hare. I was surrounded on all sides by high tenement buildings that shut out most of the natural light, and the wind was howling into my back, blowing me towards the Mission. I was aware I was dragging my feet, but it wasn’t just because I was exhausted and suffering from the effects of stress. I had the creeping sensation that I was being followed.

Six long nights had passed since I had last seen Glasgow Joe. Despite scouring the streets of Edinburgh with Moses and the Dark Angels, he was nowhere to be seen. We had pulled out all the stops, but we all knew that Joe would not be found until he wanted to be; nevertheless, the hunt would continue. The underground jungle drums were buzzing with the news that Moses had approached the Boyle family for help in the search. No one was more surprised than me, but in a way it was troubling that Moses considered he needed to use his last resort to find Joe. He had traded his personal freedom to buy Ma Boyle’s cooperation but, once he had crossed that line, there was no going back. Ma Boyle was a stubborn, nasty old bitch, but she was crucial to our cause. As one of the country’s major drug dealers she had contacts in every major city, town and village in Scotland, and to find Glasgow Joe we had to be prepared to grease palms we normally wouldn’t spit on. And it was effective. Ma Boyle had got her contacts on the West coast checking out Joe’s old haunts in Govan, Parkhead and the Gorbals, but no one had seen him. It was as if he had dropped off the face of the earth.

Unfortunately the same couldn’t be said for my former client.