‘Maybe it’s like The Godfather,’ said Price. ‘A lot of people prefer The Godfather II, to the exclusion of The Godfather. Anything else about the DVDs?’

‘I haven’t had a chance to look properly. We’ll start with his head and feet, the rubber boots and the hairnets.’

‘Sounds like a plan.’

‘Pass me a scalpel, Pricey. Let’s get the soles separated from the boots.’

106

6.01 am

The landline phone on Clay’s desk rang out, bringing her out of a shallow slumber. As she awoke, the ringing sounded distant and hollow but with each tone it became swollen and more demanding. She lifted the receiver, shaking off the shackles of sleep, and said, ‘DCI Clay.’

There was complete silence at the other end.

‘Who is this?’

She tried to identify background noise but there was none and she wondered if the caller was in some kind of vacuum.

Stone walked towards her across the incident room and Clay hit speakerphone.

‘I’m going to count to five and then I’m going to hang up.’

Stone sat on the edge of Clay’s desk, pressed record on his iPhone and extended it towards Clay’s landline.

‘DCI Clay?’

‘Yes?’

Silence.

‘You know who I am,’ said Clay. ‘Who are you?’

‘I’ve got something to tell you.’

‘Go on? What do you have to tell me?’ she pressed.

‘You asked me for a list of names…’

‘Daniel, take your time.’

She picked up a pen and poised it over a notepad on her desk, heard the breathing of a man on the verge of tears.

‘You’ve got nothing to be afraid of, Daniel. Just give me the names of people who walked out of Maguire Holdings. I don’t have to tell Norma anything. If you’re worried about your job, and she asks me where I got the names, I’ll tell her I spoke to other estate agents and pieced the information together.’

She sensed that he was about to hang up.

‘I’ve spoken to Lydia. She’s worried to death about you. So are the girls. Go home, Daniel. Whatever’s wrong can be worked out.’

His breathing became more ragged.

‘What made you run away? Why are you so unhappy?’

‘She knew.’

‘Norma? What did she know?’

‘Yes, Norma. About my affair with him. She blamed the affair for him leaving, therefore she blamed me. She threatened to tell Lydia and the girls. She held it over my head for years, like a fucking sword. If I ever left, she’d tell everyone.’

Clay looked at Stone and then at the noticeboard, at the pictures of Norma and her employees down the years, and saw through the falseness of the smiles on their faces, the enforced projection of a great big happy working family.

‘Does she have any material proof of this affair?’

‘No.’

‘Are you on good terms with your ex?’

‘Yes.’