HOGAN: But he was very detailed?

COLQUHOUN: Yes, but it can be that way with obsessives.

HOGAN: There have been books written alleging the same thing Professor Lintz was talking about.

COLQUHOUN: Have there?

HOGAN: Nazis smuggled overseas ... war criminals rescued from the gallows.

COLQUHOUN: Well, yes, but those are just stories. You don’t seriously think ...?

HOGAN: I’m just collecting information, Dr Colquhoun. In my job, we don’t throw anything away.

COLQUHOUN: Yes, I can see that. The problem is, sorting out the wheat from the chaff.

HOGAN: You mean the truths from the lies? Yes, that’s one problem.

COLQUHOUN: I mean, the stories you hear about Bosnia and Croatia slaughterhouses, mass torture, the guilty being spirited away .... It’s hard to know what’s true.

HOGAN: Just before we finish ... any idea what happened to the money?

COLQUHOUN: What money?

HOGAN: The withdrawal Lintz made from his bank. Five thousand pounds in cash.

COLQUHOUN: This is the first I’ve heard of it. Another motive?

HOGAN: Thank you for your time, Dr Colquhoun. It might be necessary for us to talk again. I’m sorry, but you shouldn’t have lied to us, it makes our job that much more difficult.

COLQUHOUN: I’m sorry, Inspector Hogan. I quite understand, but I hope you can comprehend why I did it.

HOGAN: My mum always told me never to lie, sir. Thanks again for your time.

Rebus looked at Hogan. ‘Your mum?’

Hogan shrugged. ‘Maybe it was my granny.’

Rebus drained his coffee. ‘So we know one of Lintz’s mealtime companions.’

‘And we know he was hounding Colquhoun.’

‘Is he a suspect?’

‘I’m not exactly snowed under with them.’

‘Fair point, but all the same ...’

‘You think he’s on the level?’

‘I don’t know, Bobby. He sounded like he had it rehearsed. And he was relieved at the end.’

‘You don’t think I got it all? I could bring him in again.’

Rebus was thinking: stories you hear ... the guilty being spirited array. Not stories you read, but ones you hear ... Who might he have heard them from? Candice? Jake Tarawicz? Hogan rubbed the bridge of his nose.

‘I need a drink.’

Rebus dropped his beaker into a waste-bin. ‘Message received and understood. By the way, any word from Abernethy?’

‘He’s a bloody nuisance,’ Hogan said, turning away.

26

He’s in place,’ Claverhouse said, when Rebus phoned him to ask about Jack Morton. ‘Got him a little one-bedroom shit-hole in Polwarth. Measured him up for his uniform, and he’s now officially a member of on-site security.’

‘Is anyone else in on it?’

‘Just the big boss. His name’s Livingstone. We had a long session with him last night.’

‘Won’t the other security men find it a bit odd, a stranger arriving in their midst?’

‘It’s down to Jack to put them at ease. He was pretty confident.’

‘What’s his cover?’

‘Secret drinker, open gambler, busted marriage.’

‘He doesn’t drink.’

‘Yes, he told me. Doesn’t matter, so long as everyone thinks he does.’