I nodded. I’d broken into a bag of crisps and my mouth was too full for me to speak.

‘Well, they argued for quite a while,’ he went on. ‘Of course, I couldn’t understand a word, and behind them, the other guy …’

‘Igor,’ I muttered, trying not to spray him with shrapnel.

‘Igor stood in silence, like me, doing his hard-man act. And I have to admit,’ he added ruefully, ‘his was a lot better than mine.’

‘But they settled their differences, in the end?’

‘I suppose. Nick handed over a thick envelope of cash. I watched Vlad count it and I reckon there was at least three thousand in there. They seemed happy, even shook hands. Which makes me wonder …’ he tailed off thoughtfully.

‘What?’

‘Why did they come after you?’

I’d been wondering about that myself. ‘I can’t believe they followed me all the way to Tavistock and back. I think I was just unlucky. I don’t know what they were doing on that road, but they must have spotted the van. It’s difficult to miss it. Vlad didn’t like having his photograph taken. I suppose he seized an opportunity to get rid of it.’

‘And to scare you enough to stop you going to the police,’ Paul added.

‘Or get rid of a witness altogether.’ I was still convinced he and Igor would have killed me if Duke hadn’t come to my rescue.

‘They don’t like having witnesses to what they’re up to, that’s for sure. I don’t think they’ll come back,’ he added, putting his empty beer glass down on the bar and helping himself to a crisp, ‘I doubt if they’ll want to deal with Nick again.’ He grinned suddenly, his dark eyes lighting up. ‘They didn’t reckon on Boudica and the Hound of the Baskervilles.’

‘And do we know what they’re up to?’ I asked, pointedly ignoring this unflattering reference. ‘Do we know what Nick was trying to sell for them?’

Paul shook his head. ‘He’s very tight-lipped about that.’ For a few moments, he gazed thoughtfully at our reflections in the mirror behind the bar. I gazed too, and in the reflection, our eyes met. For a moment, we just stared. Then Paul spoke and broke the spell.

‘Just as they were leaving, Vlad spoke to me. I’m stupid, I suppose, but I didn’t realise he could speak English.’

‘It came as a bit of a shock to me,’ I admitted. ‘What did he say?’

‘He came right up close to me, looked me in the eye and asked, “Are you bodyguard?” He smiled in a way that made me want to kill him − derisively, I suppose, and said, “You tough guy, eh?” Then he laughed, the other guy joined in, and they both left.’

‘Did you say anything?’

‘I opted for dignified silence.’