Brady went round the desk in a rush and jerked Manton to his feet, one massive hand crushing the silken lapels of the expensive dinner jacket. ‘Don’t give me that kind of crap, Manton. I was outside in the alley. Someone let him in through your private door.’

For a second only, Manton lost control. He glanced at Donner with a frown and Brady laughed harshly. ‘I read you like a book, you pig. Now where is he?’

Manton pulled himself free and backed away. ‘I don’t know what all this is about, but I’d like to see your warrant. If you haven’t got one you’d better get to hell out of here before I call in some real law.’

‘You don’t frighten me,’ Brady said contemptuously.

‘Maybe not,’ Manton told him, ‘but Harry Faulkner will.’

But Brady had already passed over into that area where action is in command of reason. At the best of times, caution had never been one of his virtues.

He glared at Manton, his eyes bloodshot. ‘Ben Garvald’s here, I saw him come in and, by God, I’m going to find him.’

He swung round, shoved Jango to one side with a careless sweep of his arm and went into the corridor. He opened the first door on the left, switched on the light and found himself in the bathroom.

When he turned to walk out, the three men were standing in the corridor watching him. There was a slight, polite smile on Manton’s face. ‘Find anything?’

‘Maybe he thinks we flushed Garvald away,’ Donner said.

Brady ignored both remarks and opened the next door.

‘The sitting room,’ Manton said helpfully. ‘My bedroom next to it.’

Brady checked both of them without success and as he came out of the bedroom, noticed that a door at the other end of the corridor was standing slightly ajar. He moved to it quickly, pulled it open and looked down the stairs to Manton’s private entrance.

He turned, his face suffused with passion. ‘So that’s it.’

‘For Christ’s sake, boss, how long is this farce running for?’ Donner said, turning to Manton. ‘Can’t you give him a couple of fivers or something? Maybe that’s all he came for in the first place.’

A growl of anger erupted from Brady’s throat and he grabbed at Donner’s shoulder, pulling him round. All Donner’s pent-up rage and frustration surged out of him like a dam bursting.