‘I’d really love to know why I’ve gone from being ingredients for the meat grinder to VIP status,’ said Abbott. ‘There’s definitely a self-help book in this.’

‘We all have to answer to someone, mate, even me. And that’s the reason you’re alive and sitting in the back of my Range Rover, rather than being fed to the dog. What I need to know is this. You came to Derby looking for revenge. Do you now feel satisfied?

‘What does it matter either way?’

Doyle sniffed. His voice dropped an octave or so. ‘Look, I don’t know why you’ve been called to London. I don’t know what happens next. Whether you stay there or come back to Derby or go wherever the hell you want, I just want to be sure that coming after me isn’t next on your agenda. If it is, say the word and it’s game on. If it’s not then I’ll be honest with you, I’ll sleep a little better at night.’

‘I’ve done in Derby what I came to do,’ he told Doyle, although his thoughts went back to what Sweaty had said. How Doyle liked abusing kids. ‘Sure, yeah, you can sleep easy at night.’

‘That’s all I needed to know,’ said Doyle.

He rang off, leaving Abbott to wonder what might have happened had his answer been different. What was the back-up plan?

‘Are we all pals, then?’ grinned McGregor from the front seat.

‘I think so,’ said Abbott, sitting back. ‘We’ll see, shall we?’

Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

‘Juliet, then,’ said McGregor. They had reached Richmond. They were close now, Abbott could tell. ‘Let’s talk about her, shall we?’

Abbott still in the back seat, feeling better now. ‘I’m on tenterhooks here.’

‘Not many call her Juliet.’

‘OK.’

‘Most people know her as Lady Norton. Name ring a bell?’

Abbott thought. ‘Call it a tinkle.’

‘You’ve heard of Sir Charles Norton, right?’

The penny dropped. ‘Not the recently deceased Sir Charles Norton?’

‘The one and only.’

‘And these guys are involved with Doyle?’ His mind was already working over what he’d learned. Thinking back to what Sweaty had told him about Chris. ‘Or maybe he would have gone to London.’

‘All is about to become clear,’ said McGregor.

Lady Norton’s house – her mansion, to be exact – was hardly visible from the street. You might even walk past it without knowing, hardly noticing the high wall to one side of you. If you stood on the other side of the street, you could see trees and the top level of what looked like a grand home. But that was it. Nothing to advertise what was going on behind that wall.

And what was going on was gasp-inducing.