Tooth & Nail

Bare bones. He looked around him. An embarrassed looking couple were trying to hush their two vociferous children. Don't, thought Rebus, don't stifle them, let them live. Who could know what might happen tomorrow? They might be killed. The parents might be killed. His own daughter was here in London somewhere, living in a flat with his ex-wife. He should get in touch. He would get in touch. A businessman at a corner table rustled his tabloid noisily, drawing Rebus's attention towards the front cover.

WOLFMAN BITES AGAIN

Ah, that was more like it. Rebus reached for a final half-slice of toast, only to find that he'd run out of butter. A hand landed heavily on his shoulder from behind, causing him to drop the toast. Startled, he turned to see George Flight standing there.

`Morning, John.'

`Hello, George. Sleep okay?'

Flight pulled out the chair across from Rebus and sat down heavily, hands in his lap.

`Not really. What about you?'

`I managed a few hours.' Rebus was about to turn his near-arrest on Shaftesbury Avenue into a morning anecdote, but decided to save it. There might come a time when they would need a funny story. `Do you want some coffee?'

Flight shook his head. He examined the food on display. `Some orange juice wouldn't go amiss though.' Rebus was about to rise, but Flight waved him down and rose himself to fetch a glassful, which he promptly downed. He squeezed his eyelids' together. `Tastes like powdered,' he said. `Better give me some of that coffee after all.'

Rebus poured another cup. `Seen that?' he said, nodding towards the corner table. Flight glanced at the tabloid and smiled.

`Well, it's their story now as much as ours. Only difference is, we'll keep things in perspective.'

`I'm not sure just what that perspective is.'

Flight stared at Rebus, but said nothing. He sipped at the coffee. `There's a conference, in the Murder Room at eleven o'clock. I didn't think we'd be able to make it, so I left Laine in charge. He likes being in charge.'

`And what are we going to be doing?'

`Well, we could go up to the Lea and check on the house-to-house. Or we could visit Mrs Cooper's place of employment.' Rebus didn't look enthusiastic. `Or I could give you a tour of the other three murder scenes.' Rebus perked up. `Okay,' said Flight, `the scenic route it is. Drink up, Inspector. There's a long day ahead.'

Just one thing,' said Rebus, lifting the cup halfway to his mouth. `Why the nursemaid treatment? I'd have thought you'd have better things to do with your time than act as my chauffeur?'

Flight examined Rebus closely. Should he tell Rebus the real reason, or invent some story? He opted for invention and shrugged. `Just easing you into the case, that's all.'

Rebus nodded slowly, but Flight knew he didn't wholly believe him.

Out at the car, Rebus glanced in through the back window, seeking the teddy bear.

`I killed it,' Flight said, unlocking the driver's door. `The perfect murder.''

`So what's Edinburgh like?'

Rebus knew Flight wasn't talking about the tourist Edinburgh, home to the Festival and the Castle. He was talking about criminal Edinburgh, which was another city altogether. .

`Well,' he replied, `we've still got a drug problem, and loan sharks seem to be making a comeback, but other than that things are fairly quiet at the moment.'

`But,' Flight reminded him, `you did have that child killer a few years back.'

Rebus nodded.

`And you solved it.' Rebus made no reply to this. They'd managed to keep out of the media the fact that it had been personal, had not exactly been `serial'.

`Thousands of man hours solved it,' he said casually.

`That's not what the chiefs think,' said Flight. `They think you're some kind of serial killer guru.'

`They're wrong,' said Rebus. `I'm just a copper, the same as you are. So who exactly are the chiefs? Whose idea was it?'

But Flight shook his head. `I'm not exactly sure. I mean, I know who the chiefs are—Laine, Chief Superintendent Pearson—but not which one of them is responsible for your being here.'

`It was Laine's name on the letter,' said Rebus, knowing this didn't really mean anything.

Then he watched the midday pedestrians scurrying along the pavements. The traffic was at a standstill. He and Flight had come just over three miles in the best part of half an hour. Roadworks, double (and triple) parking, a succession of traffic lights and pedestrian crossings and some maddening tactics from selfish drivers had reduced their progress to a crawl. Flight seemed to read his mind.

`We'll be out of this in a couple of minutes,' he said. He was thinking over what Rebus had said, just a copper, the same as you are. But Rebus had caught the child killer, hadn't he? The files on the case credited him with the collar, a collar which had earned him the rank of Inspector. No, Rebus was just being modest, that was it. And you had to admire him for that.