‘You going in then?’ Wilson asked.

‘Not much point, Henry. Telford will already be in a bedroom or somebody’s suite. If he’s doing business, it’ll be behind closed doors.’

‘So that was Tommy Telford?’

‘You’ve heard of him?’

‘I’m a taxi driver, we hear things. He’s after Big Ger’s cab business.’

Wilson paused. ‘Not that Big Ger has a cab business, you understand.’

‘Any idea how Telford plans to wrest it away from Cafferty?’

‘Scare off the drivers, or get them to switch sides.’

‘What about your company, Henry?’

‘Honest, legal and decent, Mr Rebus.’

‘No approach by Telford?’

‘Not yet.’

‘Here they come again.’

They watched as the two Range Rovers turned back into the street. There was no sign of the warden. A couple of minutes later, Telford emerged from the hotel, bringing with him a Japanese man with spiky hair and a shiny aquamarine suit. He carried a briefcase but didn’t look like a businessman. Maybe it was the sunglasses, worn in late-afternoon twilight; maybe it was the cigarette slouching from the corner of the downturned mouth. Both men got into the back of the lead car. The Japanese leaned forward and ruffled the teddy bear’s ears, making some joke. Telford didn’t look amused.

‘Do we follow them?’ Wilson asked. He saw the look on Rebus’s face, turned the key in the ignition.

They were heading west out of town. Rebus already had an inkling of their ultimate destination, but he wanted to know what route they’d take. Turned out it was much the same route he’d taken with Candice. She hadn’t recognised anything until juniper Green, but it wasn’t as if there were many landmarks. On Slateford Road the back car signalled that it was pulling over.

‘What do I do?’ Wilson asked.

‘Keep going. Make the first left you can, and turn the cab round. We’ll wait for them to go past us.’

Haddow had gone into a newspaper shop. Same story as with Candice. Strange, during what was a business trip, that Telford would allow a stop. And what about the building which, according to Candice, he’d seemed so interested in? There it was: an anonymous brick edifice. A warehouse maybe? Rebus could think of reasons why a warehouse might be of interest to Tommy Telford. Haddow stayed in the shop three minutes - Rebus timed him. No one else came out, so it wasn’t as if he’d had to queue. Back into the car, and the little convoy set off again. They were heading for juniper Green, and after that Poyntinghame Country Club. Little point in tagging along: the further they got out of town, the more conspicuous the cab would be. Rebus told Henry to turn around.

He got the cabbie to drop him off at the Oxford Bar. Wilson slid down his window as he was about to move off.

‘Are we square now?’ he called.

‘Till next time, Henry.’

Rebus pushed open the door and walked into the pub.

Perched on a stool, daytime TV and Margaret the barmaid for company, Rebus ordered a mug of coffee and a corned beef and beetroot roll. For his main course Margaret suggested a bridie.