‘I don’t think so. His parents have shipped him off to some nutty monastic retreat in the Pyrenees. Actually, I was going to call you. We’re pretty sure now that the perpetrators of your flat break-in are the French family.’

‘They sound like something out of the Krays.’

‘Yeah, well, they’d probably like to think they are. They’re a nasty little lot, running a protection racket in London Bridge; they don’t like all the yuppies taking over. They’ve got various illegal gaming-rooms going on and they resent the buildings being snapped up by all and sundry.’

‘Yuppies?’ I was offended. ‘I’m not a yuppy.’

‘Okay, you’re not a yuppy. But they are two-bit thugs and the turnover of your place smacks of their style – or lack of it. The trouble is, there ain’t a fingerprint in your flat which we don’t recognise as one of yours, or your,’ he cleared his throat, ‘your various blokes.’

‘Various blokes?’ I spluttered.

‘You know what I mean. Your mates. The real point is, Maggie, I’m up to my eyes in all this terror stuff in town – and with the Christmas bomb threat, and bleeding hoaxes coming out of our ears, I just ain’t got the manpower to post someone to watch over you. We’ve upped the plod presence on your patch anyway – but I think you’ll be all right now the Frenches know we’re on to them. Just stay in touch, okay?’ He was ready to hang up.

‘Well, actually –’ I stopped. For some reason I felt a bit daft. ‘It’s just – I think, I’m sure I did mention these texts before, quite nasty ones, and now, if you say Joseph is out of the picture –’

‘Yeah, we were looking into the texts, weren’t we?’ It was definitely a sigh this time. ‘You got another one?’

‘Yes. I mean, it is just a kind of vague threat.’ It sounded a little pathetic out loud. ‘“You’re cornered”, this one says.’

‘And you’re quite sure it’s nothing to do with that charmer I met the other day?’

There was a long pause.

‘Maggie?’

‘You mean Alex?’ I thought about Bel’s words on the phone from Thailand. ‘I dunno. I really hope it isn’t, anyway.’

‘You do know he’s got a record, don’t you, mate?’

‘Yes, DI Fox, I do know.’

‘Yeah, of course you do. Well, give me the number they’re coming from and I’ll see if we can trace it.’

Before I left the office I emailed Alex back.

Alex