Anthony McCall

Anthony McCall was an officer in the Lothian and Borders police. He was born in Pilmuir, Edinburgh, and had a bruising childhood with his brother Tommy, where they were wild children who wreaked havoc on their neighbours. He moved out of Pilmuir and got a mortgage on a house where he lived with his wife Sheila. He had a son, Craig, in 1976, and a daughter Isobel in 1979.

Tony lost touch with his brother since roughly 1975, only seeing him when he was drunk and turned up at the house. Tony resented his brother, but one night Tommy took him to Hyde's club as Tony was growing increasingly tired of his domestic life. He witnessed the illegal boxing fights, and was photographed by someone working for Finlay Andrews when there. Andrews then used this photo as leverage to coerce Tony into doing favours: and when Ronnie McGrath was poisoned, Tony was told to plant a packet of pure heroin on his body in exchange for a membership to Finlay's Club (which would have led to social and career advancement).

He broke into Ronnie's flat in Pilmuir, moved his body downstairs and planted the drugs. He then went out drinking in remorse for his actions, had a late night and consequently was hungover and late the next morning for work. Therefore Rebus was the one to discover the body, meeting McCall later in the Sutherland bar. The next day he has the day off, so to get out of the house he wandered to Pilmuir and bumped into Rebus again. They both search several flats for a resident named Charlie, then return to Great London Road Station to listen to the tape Rebus had made of his call from Tracy, a witness to the death.

The next day McCall responds to a domestic abuse call in Pilmuir and finds Tracy has just had a fight with Charlie, and Rebus is already on the scene. They explore Charlie's flat and Tony finds a packet of cannabis in a sleeping bag (information possibly provided by Andrews in order to get Charlie out of the picture). They find Ronnie's camera upstairs, and Tony picks it up in case any of his fingerprints were already on it. Then he leaves with Rebus and they go for dinner. When Rebus leaves, Tony stays behind drinking and gets a patrol car to drop him off at Ronnie's flat. He meets Rebus again, and the two of them go to the Bridge of Sighs pub. They play pool and Rebus puts Tony in a taxi home.

Two days later, on the friday, McCall goes to the scene of James Carew's suicide. He works round the scene with Rebus, but decides that it is a simple suicide. He then goes back to the station and is appointed by Chief Superintendent Watson to field the press's questions, after Rebus had been suspended. Then later that evening he is having a night in at home when Rebus arrives with his brother Tommy, drunk. Rebus leaves and Tony lets Tommy sleep on the sofa.

The next day Rebus approaches him, having discovered the secret of Hyde's Club, and asks for his assistance in bringing it down. Tony then cracks and admits his involvement in it to Rebus, and then agrees to help him anyway. That evening, along with officers Brian Holmes, Neil McGrath and Harry Todd he poses as a drunk Dundonian attempting to force entry into Finlay's Club. They provide the required distraction for Rebus, and then they were turned away. Later that night McCall went to Rebus's flat and was given the incriminating photo of him, taken by Rebus from Andrews's office. McCall destroys the photo, then bids Rebus farewell saying he would 'see him in court'.

McCall was set to be tried along with the other punters of Hyde's Club, but Malcolm Lanyon and Finlay Andrews both died unable to name him. It is unknown whether he carried on working in the police after the incident.