“It may have been an Albanian who thumped him. I don’t know. I wasn’t there. Tommy’s a bit of a racist. I try to talk to him, but you know what it’s like with some people. Attitudes like that, they’re entrenched. We argue all the time. He’s a Leaver, and I’m a Remainer. How’s that for a divided household?”

Banks sipped some whisky. “It must give rise to some pretty lively arguments.”

“You don’t say.”

“Anyway, we think this boy Samir might have been connected with drugs, and as we know Mr. Blaydon is connected with an Albanian drug lord called Leka Gashi, we wondered if you might have run into this fellow, too?”

“Gashi? No. You mentioned him earlier. But then, I can’t say I know any Albanians. Or anything about drugs. As far as I know, Connor’s a property developer. Simple as that.”

“Nothing’s quite as simple as that, Timmy. The Albanians are moving into the drugs trade here in a big way, taking over local supplies, county lines, the lot. They’ve got direct links to the Colombian cartels and the ’Ndrangheta, the Calabrian Mafia.”

“I must say, you sound as if you know your stuff, Mr. Banks. I can tell you’ve done your homework. Then, that’s your job. But this is all way outside my area of expertise.”

“Which is?”

“Why, club management, of course. And the video arcade business.”

“And Tommy?”

“The same. He also handles most of the rental properties.”

“So he’s the one I should talk to about Howard Stokes?”

“I honestly don’t think he would be able to tell you anything more than I can. As I said, we don’t keep tabs on our tenants. They’ve got the houses rent-free until they find alternative accommodation. I can’t say fairer than that.”

“When do they have to be out?”

“We don’t actually have a fixed starting date yet. Just waiting for the final details to fall into place. The sooner the better, though.”

“About that video arcade—we’ve had one or two tips that some of the kids from Eastvale Comprehensive are buying drugs there.”

“If that’s the case,” said Kerrigan, “it’s being done behind my back. I’ll certainly have a word with my staff about the issue, though.”

“Good. Appreciate it. How’s business?”

“What business? Where?”

Banks looked around. “Here,” he said. “The arcade. The properties. You know, in general.”

“It’s difficult times we live in, Mr. Banks. So much uncertainty. And uncertainty’s bad for stability, which is what we’d prefer in our markets. But you go with the flow, swings and roundabouts, slings and arrows. It all works out in the wash. We can ride out the storm. I’m optimistic.”