Lee Hill was suspended from the roof at the far end, hanging from a meat hook that was buried in the underside of his jaw. He had been a large man, and the metal roof sagged and creaked with the weight of his body.

I felt the bile rise up in me and even after I fought it under control, I could taste it in my mouth. It was more than shock. It was the bitter tang of guilt.

We all stared at the body of Lee Hill.

My boss broke the silence.

‘We’re going to need another driver,’ DCI Whitestone said.

22

‘Slip and rip,’ Fred said, his face between the pads he held on his hands in a high guard.

I threw a jab against his left pad, moved my head out of the path of his right cross, threw a right upper cut against his right pad, slipped his big right. We repeated the drill endlessly, until the only thing in my head was Fred’s mantra – slip and rip, slip and rip – until your body knew exactly what to do even before it received the order from your brain, embedding the knowledge in blood and bone and muscle.

Then I banged the bags.

Three minutes on the speed bag followed by ten burpies and ten press-ups in the minute break and then straight on to the heavy bag.

‘Good,’ said Fred, nodding with approval.

I worked until the air was gone from me and I pushed through that invisible barrier to find the air that was on the other side, the air that the body stores for emergencies. And I worked until my eyes stung, blinded by sweat, and muscles in my legs and arms twitched with involuntary spasms and the sickness came, the feeling that you get on the edge of genuine exhaustion.

But I could still see him.

I could still see Lee Hill.

He was still there hanging on the end of that meat hook, the metal roof moaning and sagging in protest.

A buzzer sounded.

‘Time,’ said Fred. ‘Have a drink and then do your stretching.’

Nesha Novak walked past carrying a load of white towels for the washing machine.

After that first night, he had taken to living at the gym, his sleeping bag unfurled on top of a couple of yoga mats, paying his way during the day by doing whatever was needed to keep Smithfield ABC running smoothly.

He nodded at me as I was stretching my abductors, one leg flat on a bench and the other on the floor, feeling the hamstring lengthen and relax.

‘There’s a man to see you, Max,’ Nesha told me.