Rebus nodded. ‘We’ve had a couple of talks.’

‘Religious belief is no defence, you see. Look at Bosnia, plenty of Catholics involved in the fighting, plenty of good Muslims, too. “Good” in that they are believers. And what they believe is that their faith gives them the right to kill.’

Bosnia: Rebus saw a sharp image of Candice escaping the terror, only to end up more terrified still, and more trapped than ever.

Lintz was stuffing the large white handkerchief into the pocket of his baggy brown cord trousers. In the outfit - green rubber overshoes, green woollen jersey, tweed jacket - he did look like a gardener. Little wonder he attracted so little attention in the cemetery. He blended in. Rebus wondered how artful it was, how deeply he’d learned the skill of invisibility. - ‘You look impatient, Inspector Abernethy. You’re not a man for theories, am I right?’

‘I wouldn’t know about that, sir.’

‘In that case, you must not know very much. Now Inspector Rebus, he listens to what I have to say. More than that, he looks interested. Whether he is or not, I can’t judge, but his performance if performance it be - is exemplary.’

Lintz always spoke like this, like he’d been rehearsing each line. ‘Last time he visited my home, we discussed human duality. Would you have any opinion on that, Inspector Abernethy?’

The look on Abernethy’s face was cold. ‘No, sir.’

Lintz shrugged: case against the Londoner proven. ‘Atrocities, Inspector, occur by an effort of the collective will.’

Spelling it out; sounding like the lecturer he had once been. ‘Because sometimes all it takes to turn us into devils is the fear of being an outsider.’

Abernethy sniffed, hands in pockets. ‘Sounds like you’re justifying war crimes, sir. Sounds to me like you might even have been there yourself.’

‘Do I need to be a spaceman to imagine Mars?’

He turned to Rebus, gave him the fraction of a smile.

‘Well, maybe I’m just a bit too simple, sir,’ Abernethy said. ‘I’m also a bit parky. Let’s walk back to the car and carry on our discussion there, all right?’

While Lintz packed his few small tools into a canvas bag, Rebus looked around, saw movement in the distance, between headstones. The crouched figure of a man. Split-second glimpse of a face he recognised.

‘What is it?’

Abernethy asked.

Rebus shook his head. ‘Nothing.’

The three men walked in silence back to the Saab. Rebus opened the back door for Lintz. To his surprise, Abernethy got into the back, too. Rebus took the driver’s seat, felt warmth returning slowly to his toes. Abernethy had his arm along the back of the seat, his body twisted towards Lintz.

‘Now, Herr Lintz, my role in all this is quite straightforward. I’m collating all the information on this latest outbreak of alleged old Nazis. You understand that with allegations such as these, very serious allegations, we have a duty to investigate?’

‘Spurious allegations rather than “serious” ones.’