They’re in the stop-start traffic of the arse end of the day. From Enfield, Lee takes the Lea Valley Road, passing between two reservoirs and crossing the River Lea. It’s leafier on the other side, where the streets rise gently towards Chingford. Lee isn’t normally in the business of playing cabbie to his clients. More used to driving alone, he has got into the habit, now and then, of imagining that he is running over pedestrians, the way he used to do accidentally when playing an old computer game called Vette!, short for Corvette. ‘Boom,’ he might say, ‘boom, boom,’ at the moment of imagined impact. With Kemp in the car, though, he keeps his serious face on. ‘And why’ve they asked you to come in?’

‘Why do you think? I’ve committed a crime.’

‘Are you sure you want to say that?’

‘I’ll say it to you. I did it.’

Lee screws up his face, lifts a hand to rub his forehead. ‘What I mean is, Darren, what do they have on you?’

‘Kid’s in hospital, isn’t he.’

‘A kid? What for?’

‘Overdose. Eighteen, same age as me.’

Eighteen. That means it’s been three years – Kemp was fifteen the last time he defended him. Lee looks across, gauging his bulk, the size of him in his shirt.

‘But this is the thing,’ Kemp goes on to say, ‘I’ve got to plead not guilty.’

‘You just told me you did it. I have a duty to the court.’ Seeing what’s become of Kemp, Lee is determined to stay firm. He isn’t going to make the same mistake as last time.

‘No, listen. You’re my lawyer. It’s what I say it is, isn’t it. You have to say what I tell you.’

The words come quickly, compulsively, as if of their own accord. At a set of lights he turns to look hard at his client. Dilated pupils, twitching jaw, jerky movements – he’s on the shoulder of a high, still affected by the drug.

Great. They’re not far from the station. Speaking clearly and carefully, Lee says, ‘Darren, if that’s what you’ve done I’ve got an obligation to disclose it. When you told me you did it, didn’t you know that’s what it meant, that you’d have to plead guilty?’

‘I take it back.’

Lee sighs and spins the wheel as he turns a corner. ‘You’ll have to get rid of me.’

‘What?’

‘Fire me. Get yourself another lawyer. I’m not doing this for you, Darren, not this time. I won’t instruct your barrister to enter a not guilty plea. I can’t, after you’ve gone and admitted it. Do you understand?’ He still has a moral compass, albeit a battered one. He can’t help Kemp by cleaning up his mess again.

‘I haven’t admitted it, you stupid fucking fuck.’