‘I can’t, Si, my last call is near home, and then I’m off. Come to supper.’

‘OK. Actually, that might be better because I’ll know more by then.’

‘Don’t do this! More about what?’

‘See you later.’

He laughed, and started on his espresso as his phone beeped.

‘You nearby, guv?’

‘What’s happened?’ You could always tell, by the tone of voice, or the expression if they were standing in front of you.

‘Call just came in from West Midlands . . . It’s the Wang family.’

Whatever lightness Serrailler had been feeling disappeared.

‘What about them?’

‘Killed in car crash coming out of service station on the motorway, WM confirmed it was the Wang family, parents and two kids, their car had rolled and caught fire. They didn’t have a chance. Loads of people stopped, they got extinguishers from the filling area, but you can’t get near that sort of blaze.’

‘God almighty. They were running away, weren’t they? Going to his family? That fire in his shop was arson, and Wang knew it wouldn’t stop there, they’d be at his home and family next.’

‘Right.’

‘So he scarpered, he got out. It’s what anyone would have done, he was going to somewhere safe, or safe-r. They could have got lost in the Chinese community, they could have stayed there. ' He banged his fist on the table. ‘And he messed up. What was he thinking, what the hell made him hit the bank? He can’t have been going any speed.’

‘Thing is, guv . . .’

‘What?’

‘Witnesses said they saw the car behind get alongside them, asked him to open the window . . . shot all four of them?’

Serrailler was silent, taking it in. When he spoke again, Denzil could barely hear him.

‘Christ. They’d been following. They guessed what he’d do and where he’d go.’

‘Looks like it.’

Serrailler went to get another strong coffee, his head feeling as if it would explode.

‘You’ve seen everything, but you haven’t, everything has happened and then it happens again.’

‘Sorry, guv.’

‘We’ll never find out exactly what he was doing for them but it would have been under extreme pressure. And for how long? Months?’

‘My guess is longer. Bad drugs have been around forever, but as the county lines have spread and reeled in more and more users, there have been problems with supply. I don’t know much about the chemistry of it, but they get round the problem for a time by mixing the stuff with something else, something they can obtain easily – or people like Wang can.’

‘No evidence of course. The building has gone, so has Wang. Junkies like Payne are dead, they shut everyone else up, one way or another. God, these are evil men. I’m on my way.

‘Finish your coffee first, guv.’