Hanna shook his head tolerantly. ‘Conspiracy Act, 1965,’ he quoted. ‘The consent of the Attorney-General is necessary for proceedings, but this shall not prevent an arrest.’ He thought for a moment, then added, ‘Not that it makes any difference here.’

‘I certainly won’t consent to any proceedings,’ said Shillabeer savagely. He stopped and looked at Hanna uncertainly. ‘What do you mean, it makes no difference here?’

Hanna put his head back and looked at the ceiling. ‘Conspiracy Act, 1965; Section 4. In the event of a High Court warrant made out by the Chief Justice, proceedings shall be taken automatically.’ He lowered his head. ‘You’ll have to talk to Chief Justice Micklethwaite.’

Shillabeer was taken aback. ‘Micklethwaite made out a High Court warrant for the arrest of Barstow?’ he whispered.

‘I was very worried last night,’ said Hanna matter-of-factly. ‘If I had to catch Barstow I had to catch him in the act, as it were – I had to catch him in the presence of the four men and in his own home. I tried to reach you but you were not available, Mr Shillabeer. I telephoned several times from about eight o’clock onwards.’

Shillabeer’s eyes narrowed. ‘I was away from home.’

‘At about ten o’clock I happened to look out of this window and saw Chief Justice Micklethwaite going into his club – the Albemarle, just across the road – do you know it? I was unhappy about arresting Commissioner Barstow on my own account so I popped over there and asked Micklethwaite’s advice. I told him I was worried Commissioner Barstow might try to get the men out of his house overnight so he suggested that he make out a court warrant for Barstow’s arrest. I don’t mind telling you, Mr Shillabeer, I was much relieved.’

I nearly laughed aloud. Hanna sounded about as relieved as a shark that has just bitten off a swimmer’s leg. He said, ‘Fortunately, no time was wasted as the Court House is next door to the Albemarle.’

Shillabeer licked his lips; his face had gone grey. ‘You damned fool, Hanna,’ he said. He stood up suddenly, knocking the chair over. ‘You’ll hear more of this.’ He went out even more quickly than he had come in.

Hanna righted the chair and closed the office door, then came up to the one-way glass and straightened his tie in the mirror. ‘You can come out now, Mr Kemp,’ he said.

I joined him in his office. ‘Is that right what you said about the court warrant? That proceedings will have to be taken?’