Rebus paused again. ‘How’s it sounding, Brian?’

Pretty-Boy had finished reading. His arms were folded again, eyes on Rebus.

‘We’ve yet to see any evidence, Inspector,’ the lawyer said.

Rebus shrugged. ‘I don’t need evidence. See, the same file you’ve got there, I delivered a copy to a Mr Sakiji Shoda at the Caledonian Hotel.’

Rebus watched Pretty-Boy’s eyelids flutter. ‘Now, the way I see it, Mr Shoda is going to be a bit pissed off. I mean, he’s already pissed off, that’s why he was here. He’d seen Telford screw up, and wanted to see if he could do anything right. I don’t suppose the raid on Maclean’s will have given him any renewed sense of confidence. But he was also here to find out why one of his men had been killed, and who was responsible. This report tells him Tarawicz was behind it, and if he chooses to believe that, he’ll go after Tarawicz. In fact, he checked out of his hotel yesterday evening - seems he was in a bit of a rush. I’m wondering if he was on his way home via Newcastle. Doesn’t matter. What matters is that he’ll still be pissed off at Telford for letting it happen. And meantime Jake Tarawicz is going to be wondering who shopped him to Shoda. The Yakuza are not nice people, Brian. You lot are nursery school by comparison.’

Rebus sat back in his chair.

‘One last point,’ he said. ‘Tarawicz’s base is Newcastle. I’m betting he had eyes and ears here in Edinburgh. In fact, I know he did. I’ve just been having a chat with Dr Colquhoun. You remember him, Brian? You’d heard about him from Lintz. Then when Tarawicz offered East Europeans as working girls, you reckoned maybe Tommy should have a few foreign phrases to hand. Colquhoun did the teaching. You told him stories about Tarawicz, about Bosnia. Catch was, he’s the only person round these parts who knew the subject, so when we picked up Candice, we ended up using him, too. Colquhoun sussed straight off what was happening. He wasn’t sure if he had anything to fear: he’d never met her, and her answers were reassuringly vague or he kept them that way. All the same, he came to you. Your solution: ship Candice to Fife, then snatch her, and take Colquhoun out of the game till the heat died.’

Rebus smiled. ‘He told you about Fife. Yet it was Tarawicz who got Candice. I think Tommy will find that a bit odd, don’t you? So, here we sit. And I can tell you that the minute you walk out of here, you’re going to be a marked man. Could be the Yakuza, could be Cafferty, could be your own boss or Tarawicz himself. You haven’t got any friends, and nowhere’s safe any more.’

Rebus paused. ‘Unless me help you. I’ve talked to Chief Superintendent Watson, and he’s agreeing to witness protection, new identity, whatever you want. There may be a short sentence to serve - just so it looks right - but it’ll be a soft option, room of your own, no other prisoners allowed near. And afterwards, you’ll be home and dry. That’s a big commitment on our part, and we’ll need a big commitment from you. We’ll want everything.’