‘Andrew . . .’ Dave paused. He was blushing. ‘Andrew’s a toff. Went to Eton. Good family. Had it all, all his life. Not like me. Grew up rough, I did. Council estate. Started making money selling stuff down the market, took it from there. Now I got restaurants, this club, snooker halls, boxing clubs, and a very expensive wife and kids.’

‘I know that problem,’ said Josh with a wry smile.

‘Jeez, didn’t those two go at it last Sunday?’ Dave almost smiled too. ‘I have to apologize about Phil. She can be a bitch.’

‘It’s forgotten,’ said Josh, although he knew it wasn’t; Shauna never let an insult rest.

‘I got two kids, you know. Love ’em to bits. A girl and boy. Both at private school, going on to great things I hope. So, anyway. Andrew likes a bit of rough, fancies himself a gangster, although he ain’t, not really. It’s a game to him and I keep telling him it’s dangerous, but will he listen? No, he won’t. He keeps a luxury yacht down at Poole and goes over to Spain and Amsterdam, sometimes to Ireland too – as I said, that’s a real soft target – taking the money out to pay for the coke he gets there, loads of it, tons of it. And for some time he’s been dealing in the club and enticing the wrong sort of people in. Makes the decent punters nervous, and they stay away.’

‘So . . . get rid of him. If it’s a personal relationship, end it. Call it a day,’ said Josh.

‘I can’t,’ said Dave.

‘Why not?’

‘Because I had that conversation with him. I said, stop it or it’s over. Go and have your fun elsewhere, I don’t want this kind of trouble.’

‘What did he say?’

‘He said, “I’m not stopping a fucking thing. And if you ask me to again, I’ll tell your wife. I’ll tell Phil how her ever-loving husband likes to take it up the arse from a posh boy.” ’

‘Christ!’ said Josh.

‘Yeah. Which would mean I’d lose a lot. I mean, a lot. Phil would cane me for as much as she could get. I know that woman and, believe me, she can be vindictive. She’d take my kids away from me. Turn them against me, tell them things about me that would make them sick to their stomachs. She would blacken my name around town. Tell everyone I’m an arse-bandit. Ruin me in business.’

‘So you’re in a bind,’ said Josh. He could understand where Dave was coming from; he was a father himself and the thought of anyone trying to take his little boy away from him made him want to tear someone’s head off.