Robin looked mildly surprised. "Aye, OK," he said, closing the file and getting to his feet.
They agreed on a small pub on the outskirts of Kirkcaldy, a short journey home for both of them afterward. The place was buzzing, a thrum of conversation battling the selection of Christmas hits that seemed inescapable at that time of year. Strands of tinsel festooned the gantry and a garish fiber-optic Christmas tree leaned drunkenly at one end of the bar. As Wizzard wished it could be Christmas every day, Lawson bought a couple of pints and whiskey chasers while Robin found a relatively quiet table in the furthest corner of the room. Robin looked faintly startled at the two drinks in front of him. "Thanks, sir," he said cautiously.
"Forget the rank, Robin. Just for tonight, eh?" Lawson took a long draft of his beer. "To tell you the truth, I was glad to see you sitting there. I wanted a drink tonight, and I didn't want to drink alone." He eyed him curiously. "You know what today is?"
Robin's face suddenly grew cautious. "It's the sixteenth of December."
"I think you can do better than that."
Robin picked up his whiskey and knocked it back in one. "It's twenty-five years since Rosie Duff was murdered. Is that what you want me to say?"
"I thought you'd know." Neither could think of what to say next, so they drank in uneasy silence for a few minutes.
"How's Karen getting on with it?" Robin asked.
"I thought you'd know better than me. The boss is always the last to know, isn't that how it goes?"
Robin gave a wry smile. "Not in this case. Karen's hardly been in the office lately. She seems to spend all her time down at the property store. And when she is at her desk, I'm the last person she wants to talk to. Like everybody else, she's embarrassed to talk about Barney's big failure." He swallowed the last of his pint and got to his feet. "Same again?"
Lawson nodded. When Robin returned, he said, "Is that how you see it? Barney's big failure?"
Robin shook his head impatiently. "That's how Barney saw it. I remember that Christmas. I'd never seen him like that. Beating himself up. He blamed himself for the fact that there hadn't been an arrest. He was convinced he was missing something obvious, something vital. It was eating him alive."
"I remember he took it very personally."
"You could say that." Robin stared into his whiskey. "I wanted to help. I only ever went into the police because Barney was like a god to me. I wanted to be like him. I asked for a transfer to St. Andrews to get on the squad. But he put the black on it." He sighed. "I can't help thinking that maybe if I'd been there?
"You couldn't have saved him, Robin," Lawson said.
Robin threw his second whiskey back. "I know. But I can't help wondering."
Lawson nodded. "Barney was a great cop. A hard act to follow. And the way he died, it made me sick to my stomach. I always thought we should have charged Davey Kerr."
Robin looked up, puzzled. "Charged him? What with? Attempting suicide's not a crime."
Lawson looked startled. "But?Right enough, Robin. What was I thinking about?" he stammered. "Forget what I said."
Robin leaned forward. "Tell me what you were going to say."
"Nothing, really. Nothing." Lawson tried to cover his confusion by taking a drink. He coughed and choked, spluttering whiskey down his chin.
"You were going to say something about the way Barney died." Robin's eyes pinned Lawson to the seat.
Lawson wiped his mouth and sighed. "I thought you knew."
"Knew what?"
"Culpable homicide, that's what the charge sheet against Davey Kerr should have read."
Robin frowned. "That would never have stood up in court. Kerr didn't mean to go over the edge, it was an accident. He was just drawing attention to himself, not seriously trying to commit suicide."
Lawson looked uncomfortable. He pushed his chair back and said, "You need another whiskey." This time, he came back with a double. He sat down and eyed Robin. "Christ," he said softly. "I know we decided to keep it quiet, but I was sure you would have heard."
"I still don't know what you're talking about," Robin said, his face intense with interest. "But I think I deserve an explanation."
"I was the front man on the rope," Lawson said. "I saw it with my own eyes. When we were pulling them back up the cliff, Kerr panicked and kicked Barney off him."