A smile crawled across Simon McLeod’s face. ‘Oh sure, because I’m going to say loads of incriminating things with you in the room. Anything in particular you want me to confess to while you’re here? Kidnapping Shergar? Killing Lord Lucan? You’ve not caught Bible John yet, maybe that was me too? Course, I was only two at the time, but I’ve always been precocious.’

Logan stood and the couch creaked again. He shook his head at Reuben. ‘Told you this was a waste of time. Go home and tell Wee Hamish, Simon McLeod isn’t interested in a peaceful solution.’

Simon raised an eyebrow, tugging the scar tissue around his hollow eyes into new shapes. ‘Wee Hamish? This isn’t just Reuben acting the dick, throwing his weight around? ’

‘Who you calling a dick, you blind sack of—’

‘Hoy!’ Logan held up a hand. ‘You’re supposed to be facilitating, not making things worse.’

Reuben’s shoulders went back and he stepped forward, his fists up. Then stopped, took a breath, and settled against the wall again.

Better.

Logan pointed at Simon, even though there was no way he could see it. ‘Let’s say, hypothetically, you’ve been going around battering the living hell out of Oriental gentlemen with a claw-hammer. Your brother Colin’s handy with a hammer, isn’t he? ’

Of course he was. Knees a speciality. People crippled while you wait.

Simon smiled. ‘Those days are behind us, officer. Businessmen of our standing in the community would never get involved in anything like that.’

‘Now suppose this was the opening salvo in a drugs war. Wee Hamish wouldn’t like that. He’d think it was bad for Aberdeen. He’d think you should come to an agreement with your rivals that doesn’t end up with any more injuries or deaths.’

‘And if we didn’t? Hypothetically.’

Reuben’s voice was a dark rumble. ‘You end your days as wee dollops of pig shite.’

The smile slid away from Simon’s face. ‘Well, you can tell Wee Hamish there’s sod all we can do about it: no one knows who the other side is. That’s why we’re. . . That’s why a local businessman might be interviewing your Oriental gentlemen.’

‘You don’t know who the new boys are? ’

‘Think they’d still be stealing from me if I did? ’ A shrug. ‘Supposing I had anything these people wanted to steal. Hypothetically.’

Reuben folded his arms across his broad chest. ‘Lucky for you I’m here then, ain’t it? Got someone outside who knows.’

Chapter 42

42

Reuben backed the battered Transit van into the loading bay behind the Turf ’n Track, stopping just shy of the breezeblock loading platform. He hopped down from the driver’s side, lumbered around the back, then hauled open the rear doors.