He glanced down to my left arm, also now removed from under its towel. Would I ever get used to that? Probably not. But at least he was now looking at a real living hand rather than a plastic-and-steel doppelgänger, not that I would have ever brought those delicate electronics into such a humid atmosphere as this.

‘So do you want to hear it or not?’ I asked again.

‘I ’ave absolutely no idea what you’re talkin’ about, Mr ’alley.’ He began to stand up. ‘If you’ll excuse me, I ’ave to go now.’

The man beyond him also stood up. He went over and leaned against the inward-opening door. He grinned at me.

‘My friend Chico, here, is a black belt at judo,’ I said. ‘I assure you, he’s very good. Unless you want yourself thrown over his shoulder onto this rather hard-looking floor, Mr Valance, I suggest you sit down again.’

For the first time he looked slightly concerned. And he sat down.

‘There, that’s much better,’ I said.

Chico remained leaning on the door, holding it shut. We didn’t want any interruptions.

‘Now,’ I said with some menace. ‘I have a message for you too, Anton. If you ever send your two friends to see me again at my house, or anywhere else for that matter, I will lay everything I know before the police and the racing authorities. Do you understand?’

He just waved a dismissive hand.

‘I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.’

‘In that case,’ I said. ‘Let me tell you.’

I felt uneasy about telling him the facts I already knew, but I had to give him something substantial for him to realise that I had enough to cause him significant trouble, otherwise he would simply ignore my warning to keep his goons away from me and my family. But, equally, I was wary of placing him in a position where he felt that his only option was to cut and run, turning in Marcus Capes to the BHA and sending the video of Jimmy Shilstone’s sex antics off to both the police and his girlfriend.

A subtle middle path was what was clearly needed.

‘Let us talk about Gary Bremner,’ I said.

‘What about ’im? Terrible business.’

‘Yes, indeed. Terrible,’ I agreed. ‘Not only did someone burn down his stable yard but they also murdered him.’

‘I ’eard that the fire was an accident, due to a careless cigarette being dropped in his ’ay store, and I think you’ll find that the police are treating ’is death as suicide. Apparently, ’e left a note.’

‘Let’s discuss that suicide note, shall we? It was not written out with pen and paper but typed into his iPhone.’

‘So I believe.’