The main difficulty was in explaining how he had worked out that Taylor was the corrupt officer, as he couldn’t allude to his relationship with Mike or Pet. He concocted a reasonably believable story that one of the working girls he’d engaged with while undercover had shown him a photo of Taylor with her, describing the image to them in detail. When asked about why he had been speaking to the girl, he claimed that he’d bumped into her in Hackney after he’d gone dark and thought she may have had some information, given she’d worked for the Brankos. She’d as a result told him that one of her clients had been a cop, and she’d shown him the photo, leading to the link being established.

He explained that he’d approached Buster as he felt he was the only person he could truly trust.

Tom found it quite strange that his account was accepted almost without challenge, despite the numerous holes that littered it. Superintendent Milligan was clearly nobody’s fool and, from the look she gave him with her piercing blue eyes, she clearly did not believe he was furnishing them with the whole truth.

Once the discs were sealed Tom asked, ‘So, where are we?’

Milligan regarded him with those intelligent and knowing eyes that seemed to bore into his very core.

‘Are you telling me that Buster hasn’t kept you in the loop?’ she asked, daring him with a half-smile to deny it.

‘He told me a bit. He said that Albrechtsen has rolled-over and squealed, and that the evidence was looking good, but that’s about it; he said he didn’t know details.’

‘That’s about right. Albrechtsen has come on-board as an “assisting offender” and he is singing like a canary about everything but putting all the blame on Taylor, claiming he knew nothing about the plans to murder you or your family. He’s even talked about their time together on SOCA a few years ago and about de-railing a major enquiry. We have damning phone evidence, photos on Taylor’s computer, and we have Taylor messaging your family address to Branko. We also have large amounts of unexplained assets for Taylor and Jones that seem to have no legal basis or source. I can safely say that I’ve rarely had so much evidence against such serious offenders,’ she said.

‘Well, that sounds promising.’

‘They’ve all been charged with conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to kidnap, blackmail, and misconduct in a public office. We’ve already had tentative offers of plea bargains from all parties, such is the strength of the evidence. It’s just a shame that all the Serbians have mysteriously disappeared: the computers all seem to suggest they are back in Serbia.’ She stared her icy stare straight at Tom once again.

Tom’s face remained blank and expressionless.