‘That girl who was with Claire Milo – Suki. Connor said I was to keep an eye out for both of them, and that’s what I’m doing. I can’t reach him right now on his mobile, and he said it was important, so here I am, giving you an update. Pass it the fuck along, will you?’

‘OK.’ Benedict put the phone down and dialled Connor’s home number. The answering machine kicked in, and he left a message telling Connor what Mad Dog had just told him. As he did so, Aysha came into the Portakabin.

‘Hiya sweetie,’ she said, and listened to what he was saying.

‘Hi, babe,’ said Benedict, kissing her cheek when he’d finished speaking.

She watched as he hung up the phone. ‘Anything exciting happening?’

‘Nope. You know where Connor is?’ He eyed her with concern. She looked distracted and pale. Not herself.

‘No idea. Why?’ Her gaze was still fixed on the phone.

‘Oh, it don’t matter. You OK?’

Aysha seemed to shake herself then. ‘Yeah. I’m fine. Damn. Listen, I forgot something down the shops. I’ll catch you later, all right?’

‘Fine,’ said Benedict, wondering what the fuck was going on with her.

Aysha drove over to Kensington and parked up in a tiny square behind the High Street. She locked the car and walked briskly over to the gardens. She passed the Palace and the statue of Queen Victoria, and walked on, over to the pond.

At first, she couldn’t see Suki. There were people feeding the swans, people jogging, people on bicycles, people walking their dogs, a bloke with a traffic cone set out so that he could practise his fly-fishing technique with rod and line. All the while she was asking herself, Where the fuck is she? Did that moron Cunningham get it wrong?

Her heart was thudding in her chest so hard that it frightened her, but she had to keep a clear head, she had to do this. And then she saw her, sitting on one of the benches, staring out over the water. She was right over the other side of the pond, but she was there. It was her. Aysha quickened her pace.

Connor got home late afternoon and the light on his answer phone was blinking. He clicked play.

‘The girl Suki is walking around the pond in Kensington Gardens,’ said Benedict’s voice. ‘Mad Dog said you wanted to know her movements.’

Connor heard Aysha’s voice in the background. ‘Hiya sweetie,’ she said.

‘He couldn’t reach you, so I’m passing this on,’ said Benedict. The time of the message was three forty-five.

Connor deleted it. So what? He was still reliving his conversation with Mum in her kitchen, the shocking moment she’d shoved the gun toward him.

Fuck me! She’d really expected him to do it.