The Estate Agent's Last Days
Hide and SeekJames Carew’s carefully maintained respectability gives way to fear and suicide after John Rebus recognizes him near the hidden world he frequents.
increasing
Bearing strength in each event
decreasing
Bearing strength in each eventdecreasingA Successful Broker
A Successful Broker
New money in Edinburgh
James Carew speaks confidently about property demand and rising values as wealthy outsiders move north into Edinburgh.
His professional success places him among the city’s beneficiaries, but the narrative’s contrast between public polish and private secrecy makes his confidence uneasy.
A Familiar Face on the Hill
A Familiar Face on the Hill
Recognition
John Rebus sees James Carew in an expensive car on Calton Hill beside a young boy, and Carew quickly drives away.
The encounter links a prominent estate agent to the street’s hidden commerce and leaves Rebus with a suspicion he cannot yet substantiate.
The Suicide Note
The Suicide Note
A polished farewell
James Carew is found dead after an overdose, leaving a carefully written note that sounds both literary and personally addressed to John Rebus.
The apparent suicide deepens the mystery rather than closing it, particularly because Carew had seemed successful and had recently acquired an expensive car.
A Secret Diary
A Secret Diary
Hyde in the margins
Searching James Carew’s flat, John Rebus discovers a private diary with repeated late-night appointments under the name Hyde.
The spare entries connect Carew’s death to Ronnie McGrath’s warning and make the suicide look less isolated, even though the diary does not explain who controlled the meetings.
The Manufactured Ending
The Manufactured Ending
An official story
The public account preserves James Carew’s death as a suicide unconnected to the later scandal, despite John Rebus’s knowledge of the hidden network.
His story becomes another example of how an institution can protect reputations by separating events that are morally and practically linked.
Wednesday lunchtime
Wednesday night
Friday morning
Friday afternoon
After the club is discovered
