“Too true,” Kate agreed.

“What about Lee Herdman? Did you know him?”

She met Rebus’s stare, then nodded slowly. “I went out with him once.” She paused. “I mean, I went out on his boat. A bunch of us did. We thought waterskiing would be glamorous, but it was too much like hard work, and he scared the shit out of me.”

“In what way?”

“If you were on the skis, he tried to freak you out, pointing the boat towards one of the bridge supports or Inch Garvie Island. You know it?”

“The one that looks like a fortress?” Siobhan guessed.

“I suppose they must have had guns there during the war, cannons or something to stop anyone coming up the Forth.”

“So Herdman tried scaring you?” Rebus asked, steering the conversation back on course.

“I think it was some sort of trial, to see if your nerve held. We all thought he was a maniac.” She stopped abruptly, hearing her own words. Some of the color left her already pale face. “I mean, I never thought he’d…”

“Nobody did, Kate,” Siobhan reassured her.

It took the young woman a few seconds to regain her composure. “They’re saying he was in the army, maybe even a spy.” Rebus didn’t know where she was headed, but nodded anyway. She looked down at the cat, who now lay with eyes closed, purring loudly. “This is going to sound crazy…”

Rebus leaned forwards. “What is it, Kate?”

“Well, it’s just… the first thing that went through my mind when I heard…”

“What?”

She looked from Rebus to Siobhan and then back again. “No, it’s just too stupid.”

“Then I’m your man,” Rebus said, giving her a smile. She almost smiled back, then took a deep breath.

“Derek was in a car smash a year back. He was okay, but the other kid, the one who was driving…”

“He died?” Siobhan guessed. Kate nodded.

“Neither of them had a license, and they’d both been drinking. Derek felt really guilty about it. Not that there was a court case or anything…”