Hanna nodded. ‘I’m a cop and I’m employed to uphold the law – all of it. I can’t uphold those bits and pieces I approve of and let the rest go. Sure, there are foolish laws and I like them less than the average man because they cause me personal trouble. If I don’t like a law, I have to act like an ordinary citizen – use my vote to get rid of the politician who made it and elect another to change it.’

I said carefully, ‘It seemed to me that the coppers I saw this morning were working on a hair trigger. There was no real violence before they started in on the crowd. It looked to me like what is known in Chicago as a police riot.’

‘You’re right,’ said Hanna tiredly. ‘There are good cops and bad cops. But don’t blame me for it.’

‘I’m not,’ I said. ‘I’m just making light conversation until I find out why the hell I’m sitting here.’

The waiter came with the drinks and I paid him. Hanna said, ‘Joe Hawke.’

‘All right, let’s talk about Joe Hawke. He didn’t seem much to me.’

Hanna smiled sleepily. ‘So he gave you his Harlem soul brother routine. He likes to appear stupid but he’s about as stupid as Albert Einstein. He’s a good lawyer but he doesn’t practise here because he has no local qualifications. He’s a revolutionary – not one of your talk-talk boys, but an activist.’

‘Why don’t you deport him back to the States?’

‘Can’t. He’s a Campanillan citizen. Went to the States when he was eight years old. The State Department tossed him back when he got too troublesome. So I’m stuck with him and I have him on a list.’

‘What’s he done to be on a list?’

‘Not a thing,’ said Hanna, and took a deep draught of cold beer. ‘I have him there on principle.’ He put down the glass. ‘What do you know of our local politics?’

‘I seem to be learning more by the hour. Where is Joe Hawke on the political spectrum?’

‘Look, things have changed since you Brits gave up on the empire. There’s just as much radicalism in the colonies as anywhere else.’

‘Former colonies.’

‘Former colonies,’ he conceded. ‘Hawke is a radical, fiercely anti-government. He joined the People’s Party and went up fast. The PP was pretty radical before, but he’s pushing it towards revolution. That’s why he’s on my list – because revolutions mean blood. Besides,’ he added ironically, ‘they’re against the law.’