‘He said he was told to, but he didn’t know why. It happens. I tried to stop him.’

‘And that’s how you got that cut on your hand?’

Tyrone touched the wound self-consciously and nodded.

‘Who told him to do it?’

‘Dunno.’

For the first time, Kelly didn’t believe him.

‘When you say “it happens”, do you mean that Jason often kills or maims to order?’

Tyrone looked at Jackson. ‘She means does Jason take orders and carry them out?’

Jackson turned to Kelly and said that he did.

‘Who else?’

‘Adam, his brother.’

‘What about Ella Watson?’

Jackson and Tyrone exchanged glances.

‘We don’t know nuffin’ about that one,’ Tyrone said.

‘That one? It sounds like they were both contracts. Is that the case?’

‘Could be,’ Tyrone said.

‘Why, though? We can’t find any reason to take out Ella. There simply is no motive, unless…’ Kelly fell silent and looked at Jackson. ‘Unless it was a mistake.’

Jackson moved his head almost imperceptibly up and down, but Kelly saw it and she locked eyes with him.

‘They had to take out somebody but took her out by mistake, thinking they were doing the right thing, to make it look like a senseless killing. Did Jason do that too?’

‘I think it was his brother. Adam’s a loose cannon. Jason beat him half to death for something and I think that’s what it was. On Wednesday afternoon, I saw Adam and he was stoned. He was with another guy and they looked like they were wound up, you know? Buzzing about something.’

‘That still doesn’t tell me why they were looking for someone to stab. When you say Adam’s a loose cannon, do you mean he’s killed randomly before?’

Jackson thought about it. ‘I never heard him attack no one for no reason; it was always a rival, for drugs or a girl.’

‘None of that applies to Mrs Watson. Why are you telling me all this? You’re both guilty of withholding information, and Tyrone, you were party to murder.’

‘We thought we could make a deal.’ Jackson spoke quietly and Kelly understood how hard this was for him to admit. He was a young man who’d got away with his life on so many occasions, toeing the line and informing police, but now he was in too deep. The error – if she could prove it – in killing Ella Watson was causing calamitous ripples for the whole Cotton network on the Beacon Estate. But these two men trusted her and she felt deep remorse that she might not be able to protect them. If Ormond took her off the case, anything could happen.

‘Tyrone, tell me what happened on Thursday morning.’