Philip Tooting mulled over the information he’d been given on Kelly Porter. She was like a terrier: fierce and loyal. She had a reputation for not giving up. But she also suffered the malfunctions of the midget canine: rashness and stubbornness born from a romantic sense of entitlement. He’d had several terriers himself, and they were good pets. He had come to the conclusion that Kelly Porter would fight to the death, but she’d also probably be stupidly brave. She could be tricked.

His heels clacked on the tiles as he was shown to a private dining room. Slater and Dansford were waiting for him, and the Colonel looked as though he was inebriated already, despite it being only mid-morning. Christopher rolled his eyes.

‘Gentlemen. We have a problem.’ Philip didn’t even sit down before beginning to speak. He nodded to a waiter, who scuttled off to fetch a cigar and his favourite brandy; if Churchill could do it, then so could he. He couldn’t smoke the cigar inside the room, but the balcony was welcoming and comfortable. No one complained if a whiff of smoke came in with a breeze. Things had been much easier when Alan was alive: George would do anything for him. But with the old man out of the way, George had been left vulnerable.

‘This is getting too hot for me, Philip,’ Christopher interrupted. ‘I never signed up to be exposed to this level of invasion. I’ve had the Permanent Under-Secretary asking me about my membership. It’s technically none of her business, but when pushed on how the information came to her attention, she was cagey and evasive. Someone’s talking and I don’t know if it’s the police or Sebastian himself. If your buffoon of a soldier had handled things better, Benji, we wouldn’t be in this mess.’

The Colonel took a large sip from the glass of red wine that had arrived on a silver platter. ‘Now, now, gentlemen, we can all point the finger. Yes, Cumbria was handled badly, but that can’t be undone. Using scum always has its disadvantages, but we also know that our options are limited when dealing with the matter of dirtying one’s hands. We had a problem and that was eliminated. Unfortunately it was messy and one got away. It simply means that we now have another problem, but it’s not insurmountable. The stakes just got higher. I want to talk about making life difficult for a few members of the police force.’

‘You can’t play that game, Philip,’ Slater said, the colour draining from his face. ‘We should cut our losses, tie up the loose ends, tidy up after ourselves and get a good solicitor. This will be my last time at the club. I have to put some distance between myself and certain familiar faces. I’m withdrawing. I’ve always made absolutely sure that nothing leads to me directly.’