‘Some,’ said Shepherd. ‘Provos mainly.’ Hargrove knew exactly what Shepherd had done in the army, where he’d served and who with.

‘What’s your opinion of the Real IRA?’

‘Like you said. Nutters.’

‘Well trained?’

Shepherd exhaled deeply. ‘Not really. They don’t have the same discipline as the Provos or the training facilities.’

Hargrove nodded. ‘That’s my opinion – and, in fact, most people I’ve spoken to don’t think the Real IRA would be physically capable of mounting an operation like the one at Shelton.’

Shepherd tried to look relaxed. Hargrove was an experienced interrogator so his body language wasn’t necessarily an indication of what was going through his mind.

‘At least we know who Carpenter’s man in the Church was.’

‘Who?’

‘Stan Yates. He drove the Head of Drugs Operations. Carpenter knew about everyone Mackie met outside the office, every phone conversation he had from the car.’

‘Yates is talking?’

‘Yates is dead. At least, we assume he is. He went missing the day after the breakout. Car’s gone too.’

‘He might have done a runner.’

‘His stuff’s in his flat. Passport, money, personal stuff. Carpenter’s had him killed, for sure.’

‘Red faces at the Church, then.’

Hargrove chuckled. ‘Mackie will probably be processing VAT refunds until he retires,’ he said.

‘And Rathbone was Carpenter’s man inside Shelton?’

Hargrove nodded. ‘We’ve arrested Stafford. Gosden has been suspended pending an inquiry. I doubt he’ll ever run a prison again.’

Shepherd had no sympathy for the governor. If he’d done his job properly, Carpenter would never have been able to run his operation from behind bars.

‘You didn’t have any clue that Carpenter was planning to break out?’ asked Hargrove.

Shepherd forced himself to relax. The interrogation was back on. ‘None at all,’ he said.

‘And if you had?’

‘Hypothetically?’

‘Hypothetically,’ said Hargrove.

‘I’d have called the number you gave me. Or gone through the governor.’

‘You wouldn’t call anyone else?’

Shepherd frowned. ‘Such as?’

‘We ran a check on all phone calls made prior to the breakout. There was just one from you. To DC Jimmy Sharpe.’

Shepherd looked at the superintendent, keeping his eyes steady and his breathing regular. No looking away. No fiddling with his hands. No biting his nails. ‘I wanted him to check on Liam.’

‘I can understand that. You were worried about your boy. It’s only natural. Did he go to see him?’

‘I’m not sure. He said he’d write to me.’

‘And he never wrote?’

Shepherd shook his head. ‘It’s water under the bridge now, isn’t it?’

‘It might be,’ said Hargrove.

‘Did you talk to Jimmy?’

‘Oh, sure. He said he was about to call on your in-laws when the shit hit the fan. He never got the chance to see if Liam was okay.’

Shepherd nodded slowly. ‘That sounds about right.’

‘He was a bit vague about the other thing you asked him to do.’

‘What was that?’ asked Shepherd.

Hargrove smiled tightly. ‘Your memory really is giving you problems, isn’t it?’ he said. ‘I hope it’s not early Alzheimer’s.’