“And underneath the rustic veneer?”

“Drugs, guns, prostitution, murder.”

“Sounds like him and Blaydon would make perfect bedfellows. Where is your Farmer these days?”

“Inside,” said Banks. “One of my success stories.”

“Well, on the surface of it, Blaydon’s a property developer. A dodgy property developer.”

“Is there any other kind?”

“Yes, well, Mr. Blaydon has certainly earned the title. Some of his fixer-uppers make Rachman’s look like the Ritz.”

“Rachman? I would have thought he was well before your time.” Peter Rachman was a famous slum landlord of 1960s London, mostly the Notting Hill area. His empire consisted of over a hundred mansion blocks, which he subdivided into flats the size of cupboards and filled with recent immigrants, who were unlikely to complain about the living conditions in the days when signs such as NO BLACKS OR IRISH NEED APPLY were stuck in so many rental property windows.

“I did History at uni. Contemporary social history is a hobby of mine. The whole twentieth century, really, but more specifically post-World War Two up to . . . well, the present day, I suppose. Besides, the name came up in my research. That’s why they call us Criminal Intelligence, you know.”

Banks smiled. “I always thought there was another reason altogether. Anyway, this Blaydon is what? A Rachman figure?”

“Sort of. On a larger scale. He started out small but now he’s nationwide. North, south, east and west. Worth millions. He buys up old properties—houses, offices, pubs, even hotels and clubs, you name it—does them up on the cheap and sells them for a huge profit, or if location is the main draw, he clears the site and gets a builder to slap up a few cheap prefabs. He’s also in the buy-to-rent market. Says he’s creating affordable housing, of course, so the council and the government just look the other way. It has also been whispered that one or two members of said councils haven’t been shy of taking a bob or two from him. And if they can’t be bought they can usually be blackmailed or bullied. Same result for Blaydon, however he gets it. Carte blanche. Loads of money.”

“But that’s what property developers and councillors do, isn’t it? Flout the rules.”

“Cynic.”

“Why would he take such risks committing real crimes when he’s already made more than most of us would earn in a lifetime from his development business?”

“He’s already in the kind of business that attracts the adventurer type. You know, always on the go with some scheme or other, uninterested in the feelings of others, lacks empathy, needs excitement to thrive. Elements of the classic psychopathic personality. I think he may also be motivated by greed, a sense of entitlement and invulnerability, maybe a feeling of being above or beyond the law. And perhaps the risk-taking appeals, too. He’s also a gambler, a high roller. Likes to think of himself as a major player. In with the big boys. Who knows? When it comes to the alpha male in full flight . . . well, all bets are off.”