‘I know he’s going back home, and I know when.’ I pointed to the letter. ‘Now I know why.’

‘This is getting worse and worse with every day.’

‘Has Ben had any other interesting mail?’

‘Not particularly.’ She took a bundle of envelopes from her handbag held together with an elastic band. She pulled the band off and began to leaf through them. ‘Do you want to see them?’

I held a hand up, not wanting to intrude any more than I already had. She put the envelopes back in her handbag and we sat in silence for a moment, Beth sniffing gently and dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. The playground wasn’t busy. Six kids and five adults. Four women, one man, none of whom looked the thug-for-hire type. A man walking a dog near the car park.

‘There’s something else, actually,’ I said.

‘Yes?’

‘What else can you remember about Alex Kolnik’s visit to your house last week?’

She seemed thrown by the abrupt change of tack.

‘Who?’

‘Alex Kolnik. The man who worked for Ben, then set up on his own and went bust. He came to your house with a couple of his mates last week. Did you remember anything else about him?’

‘No, not much, they weren’t there very long. They talked to Ben on the doorstep for a minute or so, there was some shouting, then they were gone.’

‘What did Ben say about it?’

‘That if they effing came back again he’d effing shoot them.’

‘And what about their car?’

She shrugged.

‘A Range Rover.’

‘With tinted windows?’

She looked at me, frowning.

‘Dark windows, yes. How did you know that?’

I felt a buzz like electric current snapping through my veins.

‘Beth, don’t turn around when I tell you this, OK?’

‘Tell me what?’

‘There’s a black Range Rover with tinted windows in the car park right now.’

Chapter 63

63

She started to turn in her seat and I put a hand on her arm to stop her.

‘Beth?’

She stopped, turned back to look at me, fear slackening her face.

‘What now?’ she breathed.

‘They pulled in a few minutes ago. Let’s not spook them, OK?’

‘OK,’ she said, her eyes wide. Her hands were clenched into tight fists on her knees ‘Can you see the driver?’

I squinted over her shoulder, not moving my head. I assumed they were watching through a camera or binoculars. The Range Rover was parked at a diagonal to us, almost side-on, perhaps thirty metres away. It sat like a huge black beetle on the asphalt, solid and unmoving.

‘The glass is too dark.’

She stared rigidly forward, unwilling to chance a look to her right towards the Range Rover.

‘What do we do now?’

‘Let’s just wait a minute. I don’t think they’ll stay.’

‘Why not?’