In the silence that followed, Peter stared at each of the men in turn and the tension in the room grew. The only sound was the repeated tapping of the coaster hitting the table.

‘For fuck’s sake, put the bastard thing down!’ Peter ordered.

David slammed the coaster down hard on to the table top. ‘What you having a go at me for?’ he demanded.

‘Because it’s you that’s making that fuckin’ awful noise,’ Peter barked back.

‘Fuck this shit!’ cursed David, getting up. He then slammed his chair under the table and headed towards the door. ‘Let me know when you find out who it was,’ he said before he departed.

‘Wait, I haven’t finished yet!’ Peter shouted, but he was wasting his time. David kept going until he was out of the apartment.

Peter gazed at the other three men. ‘Well, any of you know who it might be?’ he asked.

The men shrugged and shook their heads. Peter’s interrogation was now half-hearted. He knew none of them would admit it, but someone knew something and he needed to find out who.

‘OK, you might as well go,’ he said.

The three men got up to go but Peter stopped Glynn. ‘Can I have a word, Glynn?’ he asked.

‘Sure, go ahead,’ said Glynn.

Peter watched the other two men leave the room and waited until he heard the sound of the latch clicking on the front door. ‘Hang on a minute,’ he said. Then he walked down the hall and peeped through his spyhole to check Sam and Mickey had walked away. He returned to the room and poured both Glynn and himself liberal measures of brandy into crystal tumblers.

‘It’s about David,’ he said, sitting back down at the table.

Glynn nodded.

‘I’m worried about him. He’s getting a bit too fuckin’ trigger-happy for my liking. And cocky, too. It’s ever since he started doing coke.’

‘I know what you mean,’ said Glynn. ‘There was no need for him to use the gun on that last job.’

‘I fuckin’ know it. He’s becoming a liability, and he’s getting fuckin’ worse. I might have to let him go. I can’t risk having the cops breathing down my neck. But I know the shit will hit the fan once I do it. You saw what he was like.’

‘Yeah, doesn’t like being put on the spot, does he?’

‘Dead right. But there’s more,’ said Peter, his voice dropping. ‘I almost don’t even want to say this but… I think it’s him.’

‘What, you mean…?’

‘Double-crossing me, yeah.’

‘Shit!’

‘I know. I can’t fuckin’ believe it after everything we’ve been through together. I’ve known him since we were kids. I can’t believe he’d betray me.’