Quickly Rat slid the stone into his pocket, eyes gleaming. ‘Well all right, it’s like this. You didn’t hear nothin’ from me, OK, ’member—’

‘Now.’

‘Well, it’s like this. I was runnin’ an errand fer Tim this mornin’ an’ ’e were doin’ some talkin’. Well, Tim’s always talkin’. Or else ’e’s talking ’bout his talkin’, but anyway. So it’s like this. Tim was talkin’ to someone who was talkin’ to someone who was talkin’ to one of them guys who got attacked, and that guy, ’e reckoned he mighta seen a familiar face in there.’

‘He recognized someone? Who?’

The sly look was back in the boy’s eyes. ‘Well, from what I heard, it weren’t just someone. It were John Rafferty.’

Colby started forward, grabbing the boy by the shoulders. ‘Rafferty? Did you say Rafferty?’

‘Aye,’ said the boy, shrugging off Colby’s hands.

‘Are you lying to us, lad?’

‘No I ain’t! No point bein’ a snitch if yer gonna lie, are yer? Then yer jus’ get stuck in the middle! No, it were John Rafferty all right, an’ the guy knew, cause Rafferty owed ’im fer dice. That’s what I heard, anyway.’

Albert frowned. There was something familiar about that name, Rafferty. Where had he heard it? Then he remembered. Rafferty was the man Castor had been talking about back at Father’s tent, the captain of the force who had disappeared after the attack—or ‘fiasco’ as Castor had called it. He looked up. Colby was talking to Rat. ‘So you’re saying John Rafferty is working for Renegades now?’

‘No, ’e ain’t.’

‘You’re lying now, boy. You just said it was Renegades that attacked—’

‘Aye, an’ it was! But, way I heard it, wasn’t ’im workin’ for them. They was workin’ for ’im.’

Colby and his men looked at each other, then Colby shook his head. ‘No, it doesn’t add up. Why would Renegades work for—’

‘Well, I dunno, but that’s what Tim said they said—that ’em guys that attacked ’em was takin’ orders from Rafferty.’

‘Why would they? Rafferty isn’t a Renegade boss!’

‘Go ask ’im that! I dunno. But that’s how it happened, that ’em guys got attacked, and then one of ’em recognized Rafferty and Rafferty saw ’im an’ said, “Consider this payment,” an’ then the Renegades asked ’im whether they should kill ’em an’ ’e was like no, ’e didn’t shoot ’im in the knee to kill ’im later an’ if ’e wanted to kill ’im ’e’d just have shot ’im through the eye …’

‘If it were Rafferty, then that’s true,’ said Kieran. ‘Best deadeye in the force, John Rafferty.’

‘Whatever,’ said Rat rudely. ‘Anyway then Rafferty says no, let ’em live an’ remember that the rest of their lives are a gift from Lord John Rafferty, newest underboss on the block.’

Joe grunted. ‘That sounds like Rafferty all right.’