‘So from her perspective, you’re an obvious candidate,’ I said. ‘I’ll attempt to disabuse her of the notion. In case you were wondering, my little man is silent about you. You had too much to lose.’

‘You’re an impressive man,’ said Negrini. ‘Do you know that? I have a feeling about you. I have a feeling that you’re a really hard-nosed bastard; that if you thought I’d killed David Salton you’d stop at nothing to pin it on me. Con-sequently, I’m glad you think otherwise. And you’ll have my thanks if you put it right with Jill. I value our friendship.’

I liked Negrini – I liked him very much – but I had to ask out of purely personal curiosity. ‘One last question,’ I said. ‘Are you really a front man for the Mafia?’

He smiled genially. ‘If I were, would you really want to know?’

I grinned. It was an answer of sorts, and more than I had expected to get.

IV

It was going to be a long night: I drove Jill Salton back to El Cerco. I’d expected Negrini to offer her transport but he didn’t, so I was left with the job of chauffeur, a service which she blandly accepted as of right. It was a hell of a long way to El Cerco and back and I felt decidedly sour.

We talked very little during the drive. I was busy going over what Negrini had told me and she seemed to be wrapped up in her own thoughts. It was only when I stopped the car outside the gates of El Cerco and waited for a sleepy guard to open them that I said, ‘That conclusion you jumped to on the drive out.’

‘What about it?’

‘You can scratch Mr Black.’

‘Are you certain?’

‘Positive. He’s quite a man, isn’t he?’

‘I’ve always liked him. He and David were good friends.’

I drove through the gateway. ‘Is he married?’

‘To the eyeballs,’ she said. ‘A wife and six children.’

Most uxorious. It seemed funny to think of a Mafia chief living in domestic bliss, bringing up a string of little Negrinis and worrying about their education, just like any bowler-hatted City nine-to-fiver. Still, people don’t actually live in casinos, do they?

I drove down to the little quay. As the car stopped, a man was already in the launch and starting the engine. Jill got out of the car and, after a moment’s hesitation, so did I. She called out to the servant in the launch, ‘I’ll take her across.’ He nodded and climbed up on to the quay.

She turned to me and said, ‘You don’t have to go back to San Martin, Bill. It’s a long drive and you must be tired.’

‘I must admit I wasn’t looking forward to it,’ I said.