Beggars Banquet

‘My mum,’ Janis smiled. ‘She usually pops in around this time. It’s like a railway station around here, hard to find any privacy.’

Then Mrs Playfair walked into the living-room.

‘Hello, Inspector, thought that was your car. Is there any news?’

‘I’m afraid not,’ Rebus said. Janis got to her feet and hugged her mother, the crying starting afresh.

‘There there, pet,’ Mrs Playfair said quietly. ‘There there.’

Rebus walked past the two of them without saying a word.

It was still early when he reached Gaitanos. He had a word with one of the bouncers, who was keeping warm in the lobby until things started getting busy, and the man lumbered off to fetch Charles Mackenzie, aka Charmer. It seemed strange to Rebus: here he was, standing in the very foyer he’d stared at for so long on the video monitor. The camera was high up in one corner with nothing to show whether it was working. Rebus gave it a wave anyway. If he disappeared tonight, it could be his farewell to the world.

‘Inspector Rebus.’ They’d spoken on the phone. The man who came forward to shake Rebus’s hand stood about five feet four and was as thin as a cocktail glass. Rebus placed him in his mid-fifties. He wore a powder-blue suit and an open-necked white shirt with suntan and gold jewellery beneath. His hair was silver and thi

Rebus followed Mackenzie down a carpeted corridor to a gloss-black door with a sign on it saying ‘Private’. There was no door handle. Mackenzie unlocked the door and motioned for Rebus to go in.

‘After you, sir,’ Rebus said. You never knew what could be waiting behind a locked door.

What greeted Rebus this time was an office which seemed to double as a broom-cupboard. Mops and a vacuum cleaner rested against one wall. A bank of screens spread across three filing cabinets showed what was happening inside and outside the club. Unlike the video Rebus had watched, these screens each showed a certain location.

‘Are these recording?’ Rebus asked. Mackenzie shook his head.

‘We’ve got a roaming monitor, and that’s the only recording we get. But this way, if we spot trouble anywhere, we can watch it unfold.’

‘Like that knifing in the alley?’

‘Messed up my Mercedes.’

‘So I heard. Is that when you called the police? When your car stopped being a bystander?’

Mackenzie laughed and wagged a finger, but didn’t answer. Rebus couldn’t see where he’d earned his nickname. The guy had all the charm of sandpaper.

‘I brought back your video.’ Rebus placed it on the desk.

‘All right to record over it now?’

‘I suppose so.’ Rebus handed over the computer-enhanced photograph. ‘The missing person is slightly right of centre, second row.’

‘Is that his doll?’

‘Do you know her?’

‘Wish I did.’

‘You haven’t seen her before.’

‘She doesn’t look the sort I’d forget.’

Rebus took back the picture. ‘Mind if I show this around?’

‘The place is practically empty.’

‘I thought I might stick around.’

Mackenzie frowned and studied the backs of his hands. ‘Well, you know, it’s not that I don’t want to help or anything… ’

‘But?’

‘Well, it’s hardly conducive to a party atmosphere, is it? That’s our slogan – “The best party of your life, every night!” – and I don’t think a police officer mooching around asking questions is going to add to the ambience.’

‘I quite understand, Mr Mackenzie. I was being thoughtless. ’ Mackenzie lifted his hands, palms towards Rebus: no problem, the hands were saying.

‘And you’re quite right,’ Rebus continued. ‘In fact, I’d be a lot quicker if I had some assistance – say, a dozen uniforms. That way, I wouldn’t be “mooching around” for nearly so long. In fact, let’s make it a couple of dozen. We’ll be in and out, quick as a virgin’s first poke. Mind if I use your phone?’

‘Whoah, wait a minute. Look, all I was saying was… Look, how much do you want?’

‘Sorry, sir?’

Mackenzie reached into a desk drawer, lifted out a brick of twenties, pulled about five notes free. ‘Will this do it?’

Rebus sat back. ‘Am I to understand you’re trying to offer me a cash incentive to leave the premises?’

‘Whatever. Just slope off, eh?’

Rebus stood up. ‘To me, Mr Mackenzie, that’s an open invitation to stay.’

So he stayed.

The looks he got from staff made him feel like a football fan trapped on the opposition’s turf. The way they all shook their heads as soon as he held up the photo, he knew word had gone around. He had a little more luck with the punters. A couple of lads had seen the woman before.

‘Last week, was it?’ one asked the other. ‘Maybe the week before.’

‘Not long ago anyway,’ the other agreed. ‘Cracker, isn’t she?’

‘Has she been in since?’

‘Haven’t seen her. Just that one night. Didn’t quite get the nerve up to ask for a dance.’

‘Was she with anyone?’

‘No idea.’

They didn’t recognise Damon Mee though. They said they never paid much attention to blokes.

‘We’re not that way inclined, sweetie.’

The place was still only half full, but the bass was loud enough to make Rebus feel queasy. He managed to order an orange juice at the bar and just sat there, looking at the photo. The woman interested him. The way her head was angled, the way her mouth was open, she could have been saying something to Damon. A minute later, he was gone. Had she said she’d meet him somewhere? Had something happened at that meeting? He’d shown the photo to Damon’s mates from that night. They remembered seeing her, but swore Damon hadn’t introduced himself.

‘She seemed sort of cold,’ one of them had said. ‘You know, like she wanted to be left alone.’

Rebus had studied the video again, watched her progress towards the bar, showing no apparent interest in Damon’s leaving. But then she’d turned and started pushing her way back through the throng, no drink to show for her long wait.

At midnight exactly, she’d left the nightclub. The final shot was of her turning left along the pavement, watched by a few people who were waiting to get in. And now Charles Mackenzie wanted to give Rebus money.

At three quid for an orange juice, maybe he should have taken it.

If the place had been heaving, maybe he wouldn’t have noticed them.

He was finishing his second drink and trying not to feel like a leper in a children’s ward when he recognised one of the doormen. There was another man with him, tall and fat and pale. His idea of clubbing was probably the co

Get it over with, he thought, sliding from his bar stool and walking around the dance floor. There was always the fire exit, but it led on to the alley and, if they were waiting for him there, the only witness would be Mackenzie’s Mercedes. He wanted things kept as public as possible. The street outside would be busy, no shortage of onlookers and possible good Samaritans. Or at the very least, someone to call for an ambulance.

He paused in the foyer and saw that the bouncer was back at his post on the front door. No sign of the fat man. Then he glanced along the corridor towards Mackenzie’s office, and saw the fat man planted outside the door. He had his arms folded in front of him and wasn’t going anywhere.

Rebus walked outside. The air had seldom tasted so good. He tried to calm himself with a few deep breaths. There was a car parked at the kerbside, a gold-coloured Rolls-Royce, with nobody in the driver’s seat. Rebus wasn’t the only one admiring the car, but he was probably alone in memorising its number plate.