Roker looked at me in wonder. ‘Well, for Christ’s sake!’ he said softly. ‘A goddamn knight in shining armour. It makes no difference. I can have you pulled out of here.’

I walked across the room, picked up the telephone and dumped it in front of him. ‘You’ll be just in time to catch the London office before it closes.’

He looked at the telephone but made no move to pick it up. ‘Jesus!’ he said. ‘I can have you fired, you know.’

‘There’s the telephone – try it. Go back to Cardew Street and tell the gang it hasn’t worked. Now, will you leave by the door or do I have to toss you out of the window?’

Roker wasn’t scared, I’ll say that for him. ‘You’re nuts,’ he said. ‘A crazy man – a genuine crazy man. Don’t you know we can have you deported?’

I smiled. ‘I wouldn’t do that. You can tell Conyers that we have some very good newspapers back in the United Kingdom. A Prime Minister suppressing an investigation into the possible murder of the leader of the opposition would be just their meat. I’m surprised they haven’t got on to it already. And when they get their teeth into a thing like this, they spend money like water and put a really big team on to it. They’d roast Conyers alive, and you can bet those people in the street would get to hear of it. You’d get a few burns too.’

Roker stood up. ‘You’re a guy who can think fast on his feet,’ he conceded. ‘But why you’re being so hard-nosed about it I don’t know.’

‘If you don’t know now you’ll never know,’ I said.

He paused at the door, twirling his hat in his hand. ‘Be reasonable, Kemp. Okay, maybe I’ve gone about this the wrong way. But suppose I said we could do something for you? Suppose that something was the offer of a good job at maybe double your present freelance rate?’

‘Since it’s a supposition I’ll pretend you didn’t say it. Because if you did say it, I’d be inclined to break your bloody neck. Now get out.’

He shook his head and opened the door. ‘They’ll never believe this.’

‘Wait a minute,’ I said, and he turned back eagerly. ‘Did you or your Cardew Street boys instigate Salton’s murder?’

He flinched. ‘Christ!’ he said. ‘You’re a really dangerous man. You’d better watch it.’ The door slammed.

I stood there looking at the closed door then slowly lifted my hands and found they were trembling. I picked up the telephone and put it back where it lived and then, on impulse, picked up the handset and rang Negrini.

‘Anything for me?’

His voice was pained. ‘Give me time.’