The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories

  ‘No?’ Mandelson laughed. A hand landed on Matty’s thigh. ‘You fucked up in London, son. They knew you’d end up taking a croupier’s job somewhere else, it’s the only thing you know how to do. So they phoned around, and eventually they phoned me. I told them I’d never heard of you. That can change, Matty. Want me to talk to them again?’

  ‘I’d tell them you lied to them the first time.’

  Mandelson shrugged. ‘I can live with that. But what do you think they’ll do to you, Matty? They were pretty angry about whatever scheme it was you pulled. I’d say they were furious.’

  Matty felt like he was going to heave. He was sweating, his lungs toxic. ‘He won’t do it,’ he said again.

  ‘Be persuasive, Matty. You’re his friend. Remind him that his tab’s up to three and a half. All he has to do is ease off for one game, and the tab’s history. And Matty, I’ll know if you’ve talked to him or not, so no games, eh? Or you might find yourself with no place left to hide.’

  VIII

  Rebus searched his flat, but came up with only half a dozen snapshots: two of his ex-wife Rhona, posing with Samantha, their daughter, back when Sammy was seven or eight; two further shots of Sammy in her teens; one showing his father as a young man, kissing the woman who would become Rebus’s mother; and a final photograph, a family grouping, showing uncles, aunts and cousins whose names Rebus didn’t know. There were other photographs, of course – at least, there had been – but not here, not in the flat. He guessed Rhona still kept some, maybe his brother Michael had the others. But they could be anywhere. Rebus hadn’t thought of himself as the kind to spend long nights with the family album, using it as a crutch to memory, always with the fear that remembrance would yield to sentiment.

  If I died tonight, he thought, what would I bequeath to the world? Looking around, the answer was: nothing. The thought scared him, and worst of all it made him want a drink, and not just one drink but a dozen.

  Instead of which, he drove north back into Fife. It had been overcast all day, and the evening was warm. He didn’t know what he was doing, knew he had precious little to say to either of Damon’s parents, and yet that’s where he ended up. He’d had the destination in mind all along.

  Brian Mee answered the door, wearing a smart suit and just finishing knotting his tie.

  ‘Sorry, Brian,’ Rebus said. ‘Are you off out?’

  ‘In ten minutes. Come in anyway. Is it Damon?’

  Rebus shook his head and saw the tension in Brian’s face turn to relief. Yes, a visit in person wouldn’t be good news, would it? Good news had to be given immediately by telephone, not by a knock at the door. Rebus should have realised; he’d been the bearer of bad news often enough in his time.

  ‘Sorry, Brian,’ he repeated. They were in the hallway. Janis’s voice came from above, asking who it was.

  ‘It’s Johnny,’ her husband called back. Then to Rebus, ‘It’s all right to call you that?’

  ‘Of course. It’s my name, isn’t it?’ He could have added: again, after all this time. He looked at Brian, remembering the way they’d sometimes mistreated him at school: not that ‘Barney’ had seemed to mind, but who could tell for sure? And then that night of the last school dance … Brian had been there for Mitch. Brian had been there; Rebus had not. He’d been too busy losing Janis, and losing consciousness.

  She was coming downstairs now. ‘I’ll be back in a sec,’ Brian said, heading up past her.

  ‘You look terrific,’ Rebus told her. The blue dress was well-chosen, her make-up highlighting all the right features of her busy face. She managed a smile.

  ‘No news?’

  ‘Sorry,’ he said again. ‘Just thought I’d see how you are.’

  ‘Oh, we’re pining away.’ Another smile, tinged by shame this time. ‘It’s a dinner–dance, we bought the tickets months back. It’s for the Jolly Beggars.’

  ‘Nobody expects you to sit at home every night, Janis.’

  ‘But all the same …’ Her cheeks grew flushed and her eyes sought his. ‘We’re not going to find him, are we?’

  ‘Not easily. Our best bet’s that he’ll get in touch.’

  ‘If he can,’ she said quietly.

  ‘Come on, Janis.’ He put his hands on her shoulders, like they were strangers and about to dance. ‘You might hear from him tomorrow, or it might take months.’

  ‘And meantime life goes on, eh?’

  ‘Something like that.’

  She smiled again, blinking back tears. ‘Why don’t you come with us, John?’

  Rebus dropped his hands from her shoulders. ‘I haven’t danced in years.’

  ‘So you’d be rusty.’

  ‘Thanks, Janis, but not tonight.’

  ‘Know something? I bet they play the same records we used to dance to at school.’

  It was his turn to smile. Brian was coming back downstairs, patting his hair into place.

  ‘You’d be welcome to join us, Johnny,’ he said.

  ‘I’ve another appointment, Brian. Maybe next time, eh?’

  ‘Let’s make that a promise.’

  They went out to their cars together. Janis pecked him on the cheek, Brian shook his hand. He watched them drive off then headed to the cemetery.

  It was dark, and the gates were locked, so Rebus sat in his car and smoked a cigarette. He thought about his parents and the rest of his family and remembered stories about Bowhill, stories which seemed inextricable from family history: mining tragedies; a girl found drowned in the River Ore; a holiday car crash which had erased an entire family. Then there was Johnny Thomson, Celtic goalkeeper, injured during an ‘Old Firm’ match. He was in his early twenties when he died, and was buried behind those gates, not far from Rebus’s parents. Not Dead, But at Rest in the Arms of the Lord.

  The Lord had to be a bodybuilder.

  From family he turned to friends and tried recalling a dozen names to put to faces he remembered from schooldays. Other friends: people he’d known in the army, the SAS. All the people he’d dealt with during his career in the police. Villains he’d put away, some who’d slipped through his fingers. People he’d interviewed, suspected, questioned, broken the worst kind of news to. Acquaintances from the Oxford Bar and all the other pubs where he’d ever been a regular. Local shopkeepers. Jesus, the list was endless. All these people who’d played a part in his life, in shaping who he was and how he acted, how he felt about things. All of them, out there somewhere and nowhere, gathered together only inside his head. And chief among them tonight, Brian and Janis.

  That night of the school dance … It was true he’d been drunk – elated. He’d felt he could do anything, be anything. Because he’d come to a decision that day – he wouldn’t join the army, he’d stay in Bowhill with Janis, apply for a job at the dockyard. His dad had told him not to be so stupid – ‘short-sighted’ was the word he’d used. But what did parents know about their children’s desires? So he’d drunk some beer and headed off to the dance, his thoughts only of Janis. Tonight he’d tell her. And Mitch, of course. He’d have to tell Mitch, tell him he’d be heading into the army alone. But Mitch wouldn’t mind, he’d understand, as best friends had to.

  But while Rebus had been outside with Janis, his friend Mitch was being cornered by four teenagers who considered themselves his enemies. This was their last chance for revenge, and they’d gone in hard, kicking and punching. Four against one … until Barney had waded in, shrugging off blows, and dragged Mitch to safety. But one kick had done the damage, dislodging a retina. Mitch’s vision stayed fuzzy in that eye for a few days, then disappeared. And where had Rebus been? Out cold on the concrete by the bike sheds.

  And why had he never thanked Barney Mee?

  He blinked now and sniffed, wondering if he was coming down with a cold. He’d had this idea when he came back to Bowhill that the place would seem beyond redemption, that he’d be able to tell himself it had lost its sense of community, become just another town for him to pass through. Maybe h
e’d wanted to put it behind him. Well, it hadn’t worked. He got out of the car and looked around. The street was dead. He reached up and hauled himself over the iron railings and walked a circuit of the cemetery for an hour or so, and felt strangely at peace.

  IX

  ‘So what’s the panic, Matty?’

  After a home draw with Rangers, Stevie was ready for a night on the town. One–one, and of course he’d scored his team’s only goal. The reporters would be busy filing their copy, saying for the umpteenth time that he was his side’s hero, that without him they were a very ordinary team indeed. Rangers had known that: Stevie’s marker had been out for blood, sliding studs-first into tackles which Stevie had done his damnedest to avoid. He’d come out of the game with a couple of fresh bruises and grazes, a nick on one knee but, to his manager’s all too palpable relief, fit to play again midweek.

  ‘I said what’s the panic?’

  Matty had worried himself sleepless. He knew he had several options. Speak to Stevie, that was one of them. Another was not to speak to him, but tell Mandelson he had. Then it would be down to whether or not Mandelson believed him. Option three: do a runner; only Mandelson was right about that – he was running out of places to hide. With two casino bosses out for his blood, how could he ever pick up another croupier’s job?

  If he spoke with Stevie, he’d lose a new-found friend. But to stay silent … well, there was very little percentage in it. So here he was in Stevie’s flat, having demanded to see him. In the corner, a TV was replaying a tape of the afternoon’s match. There was no commentary, just the sounds of the terraces and the dug-outs.

  ‘No panic,’ he said now, playing for time.

  Stevie stared at him. ‘You all right? Want a drink or something?’

  ‘Maybe a vodka.’

  ‘Anything in it?’

  ‘I’ll take it as it comes.’

  Stevie poured him a drink. Matty had been here half an hour now, and they still hadn’t talked. The telephone had hardly stopped: reporters’ questions, family and friends offering congratulations. Stevie had shrugged off the superlatives.

  Matty took the drink, swallowed it, wondering if he could still walk away. Then he remembered Malibu, and saw shadows falling.

  ‘Thing is, Stevie,’ he said. ‘You know my boss at the Morvena, Mr Mandelson?’

  ‘I owe him money, of course I know him.’

  ‘He says we could do something about that.’

  ‘What? My tab?’ Stevie was checking himself in the mirror, having changed into his on-the-town clothes. ‘I don’t get it,’ he said.

  Well, Stevie, Matty thought, it was nice knowing you, pal. ‘All you have to do is ease off next Saturday.’

  Stevie frowned and turned from the mirror. ‘Away to Raith?’ He came and sat down opposite Matty. ‘He told you to tell me?’ He waited till Matty nodded. ‘That bastard. What’s in it for him?’

  Matty wriggled on the leather sofa. ‘I’ve been thinking about it. Raith are going through a bad patch, but you know yourself that if you’re taken out of the equation …’

  ‘Then they’d be up against not very much. My boss has told everybody to get the ball to me. If they spend the whole game doing that and I don’t do anything with it …’

  Matty nodded. ‘What I think is, the odds will be on you scoring. Nobody’ll be expecting Raith to put one in the net.’

  ‘So Mandelson’s cash will be on a goalless draw?’

  ‘And he’ll get odds, spread a lot of small bets around …’

  ‘Bastard,’ Stevie said again. ‘How did he get you into this, Matty?’

  Matty shifted again. ‘Something I did in London.’

  ‘Secrets, eh? Hard things to keep.’ Stevie got up, went to the mirror again, and just stood there, hands by his sides, staring into it. There was no emotion in his voice when he spoke.

  ‘Tell him he can fuck himself.’

  Matty had to choke out the words. ‘You sure that’s the message?’

  ‘Cheerio, Matty.’

  Matty rose shakily to his feet. ‘What am I going to do?’

  ‘Cheerio, Matty.’

  Stevie was as still as a statue as Matty walked to the door and let himself out.

  Mandelson sat at his desk, playing with a Cartier pen he’d taken from a punter that day. The man was overdue on a payment. The pen was by way of a gift.

  ‘So?’ he asked Matty.

  Matty sat on the chair and licked his lips. There was no offer of a drink today; this was just business. Malibu stood by the door. Matty took a deep breath – the last act of a drowning man.

  ‘It’s on,’ he said.

  Mandelson looked up at him. ‘Stevie went for it?’

  ‘Eventually,’ Matty said.

  ‘You’re sure?’

  ‘As sure as I can be.’

  ‘Well, that better be watertight, or you might find yourself going for a swim with heavy legs. Know what I mean?’

  Matty held the dark gaze and nodded.

  Mandelson glanced towards Malibu, both of them were smiling. Then he picked up the telephone. ‘You know, Matty,’ he said, pushing numbers. ‘I’m doing you a favour. You’re doing yourself a favour.’ He listened to the receiver. ‘Mr Hamilton, please.’ Then, to Matty, ‘See, what you’re doing here is saving your job. I overstretched myself, Matty. I wouldn’t like that to get around, but I’m trusting you. If this comes off – and it better – then you’ve earned that trust.’ He tapped the receiver. ‘It wasn’t all my own money either. But this will keep the Morvena alive and kicking.’ He motioned for Matty to leave. Malibu tapped his shoulder as an incentive.

  ‘Topper?’ Mandelson was saying as Matty left the room. ‘It’s locked up. How much are you in for?’

  Matty bided his time and waited till his shift was over. He walked out of the smart New Town building like a latterday Lazarus, and found the nearest payphone, then had to fumble through all the rubbish in his pockets, stuff that must have meant something once upon a time, until he found the card.

  The card with a phone number on it.

  The following Saturday, Stevie Scoular scored his team’s only goal in their 1–0 win over Raith Rovers, and Mandelson sat alone in his office, his eyes on the Teletext results.

  His hand rested on the telephone receiver. He was expecting a call from Topper Hamilton. He couldn’t seem to stop blinking, like there was a grain of sand in either eye. He buzzed the reception desk, told them to tell Malibu he was wanted. Mandelson didn’t know how much time he had, but he knew he would make it count. A word with Stevie Scoular, see if Matty really had put the proposition to him. Then Matty himself … Matty was a definite, no matter what. Matty was about to be put out of the game.

  The knock at the door had to be Malibu. Mandelson barked for him to come in. But when the door opened, two strangers sauntered in like they owned the place. Mandelson sat back in his chair, hands on the desk. He was almost relieved when they introduced themselves as police officers.

  ‘I’m Detective Inspector Rebus,’ the younger one said, ‘this is Chief Superintendent Watson.’

  ‘And you’ve come about the Benevolent Fund, right?’

  Rebus sat down unasked, his eyes drifting to the TV screen and the results posted there. ‘Looks like you just lost a packet. I’m sorry to hear it. Did Topper take a beating, too?’

  Mandelson made fists of his hands. ‘That wee bastard!’

  Rebus was shaking his head. ‘Matty did his best, only there was something he didn’t know. Seems you didn’t know either. Topper will be doubly disappointed.’

  ‘What?’

  Farmer Watson, still standing, provided the answer. ‘Ever heard of Big Ger Cafferty?’

  Mandelson nodded. ‘He’s been in Barlinnie a while.’

  ‘Used to be the biggest gangster on the east coast. Probably still is. And he’s a fan of Stevie’s, gets videotapes of all his games. He almost sends him love letters.’

  Mandelson frowned. ‘So?’ r />
  ‘So Stevie’s covered,’ Rebus said. ‘Try fucking with him, you’re asking Big Ger to bend over. Your little proposal has probably already made it back to Cafferty.’

  Mandelson swallowed and felt suddenly dry-mouthed.

  ‘There was no way Stevie was going to throw that game,’ Rebus said quietly.

  ‘Matty …’ Mandelson choked the sentence off.

  ‘Told you it was fixed? He was scared turdless, what else was he going to say? But Matty’s mine. You don’t touch him.’

  ‘Not that you’d get the chance,’ the Farmer added. ‘Not with Topper and Cafferty after your blood. Malibu will be a big help, the way he took off five minutes ago in the Roller.’ Watson walked up to the desk, looming over Mandelson like a mountain. ‘You’ve got two choices, son. You can talk, or you can run.’

  ‘You’ve got nothing.’

  ‘I saw you that night at Gaitanos,’ Rebus said. ‘If you’re going to lay out big bets, where better than Fife? Optimistic Raith fans might have bet on a goalless draw. You got Charmer Mackenzie to place the bets locally, spreading them around. That way it looked less suspicious.’

  Which was why Mackenzie had wanted Rebus out of there, whatever the price: he’d been about to do some business …

  ‘Besides,’ Rebus continued, ‘when it comes down to it, what choice do you have?’

  ‘You either talk to us …’ the Farmer said.

  ‘Or you disappear. People do it all the time.’

  And it never stops, Rebus could have added. Because it’s part of the dance – shifting partners, people you shared the floor with, it all changed. And it only ended when you disappeared from the hall.

  And sometimes … sometimes, it didn’t even end there.

  ‘All right,’ Mandelson said at last, the way they’d known he would, all colour gone from his face, his voice hollow, ‘what do you want to know?’

  ‘Let’s start with Topper Hamilton,’ the Farmer said, sounding like a kid unwrapping his birthday present.