I realise after a second she’s talking about Jamie, not Dan. I tell her he’s been out of plaster for a while now, and is showing everyone at school the thick, black hair that’s grown where the cast was. He should be able to start football training again after Easter.

‘Good. But this isn’t about the accident with the cyclist, is it?’

‘No,’ I say, a little surprised.

‘Josh, the people that you have been … associating with have been on our radar for some time. And you,’ she checks some paperwork, then turns to Dana. ‘It’s Dana, isn’t it?’

Dana shuffles uncomfortably.

‘You look familiar, Dana. Have met before?’

‘So you know about Carl? The meetings? The Lions? All of it?’ Dana’s voice is tense and she’s gripping the edge of the table. She wants to change the subject.

Sargant Prangle looks at her for a few seconds, then leans back in her chair. ‘Maybe not all of it. Why don’t you tell me what you know, and I’ll see where it fits with what we do have. The events that we know about. We know, for example, there are regular meetings at the Crown, and there have been some other… instances of other members’ activities.’

I think back to the meeting, Carl’s talk about agitations, the big guy called Barney laughing at what he’d done.

Dana speaks again, quieter this time. ‘Did you know I was… involved?’

‘I’ll have to check. But if you’re not on our records, probably not. Is there a reason you’d be on our records?’

Dana is silent, staring at the table. I see a pulse in her jaw.

Sargant Prangle turns back to me. ‘OK, look. Carl and his Lions are in our sights, and he’s gone quiet recently. I’d like to think it’s because the momentum has gone out of his campaign – or whatever he calls it. But from talking to other forces around the country that’s unfortunately not always the case. Which means he might be planning something.’

‘That’s why we’re here.’ I am more than a little relieved that the hard part of this whole thing – explaining the group and about Carl – has already been done. Dana is picking at the chipped table-top with her thumb nail.

‘We’ve been clocking the meetings for the last eight months, I’d say. Not long after they started. Of course, we were informed when Carl moved back here, his previous offences. But he was quiet to begin with, kept himself out of mischief.’

Dana tightens in her chair. I hear her breathing change, like her throat’s closing up.