Damon Mee was last seen in a blurred security video on the dance floor of a Kirkaldy nightclub. It was a routine missing persons case and it wasn’t even on his patch, but inspector John Rebus said he’d look into it as a favour to the boy’s father, a friend from his school days. The ripples of the investigation widen rapidly. They lead to the club’s greasy owner, to a slightly bent casino croupier, to a drop-dead blonde whose name nobody seems to know, to a Hibs striker with a talent for goals and a weakness for gambling and, finally, to the shadowy men who call the shots in Edinburgh’s underworld. When it’s over, Rebus has repaid a long overdue debt and his boss has received an unexpected but very welcome birthday present