“You think it was personal, guv?” Gerry asked. “Something to do with the owner of the bin?”

“No. As I said, Mrs. Grunwell is eighty-five, and I think we can pretty well rule out a vendetta or gang war involving her. No, I think we need to look elsewhere. And why a rubbish bin?”

“Well,” said Annie, “it might simply have been convenient for someone passing the end of Malden Terrace on the way out of town. I suppose if you had a body in your car and you were after somewhere to dispose of it, a wheelie bin’s as good a place as any.”

Banks nodded. “It would help if we could determine whether it was a warning or a statement,” he went on, “or simply a matter of arbitrary convenience, as you suggest. Could there be some other reason? It’s not as if whoever killed him could hope to conceal the crime for very long by dumping him there.”

“Unless they didn’t know which day was bin collection day,” said Annie.

Banks smiled. “There’s always that. We should be glad they’re not on strike right now, too.”

“Could it be a hate crime?” Gerry suggested.

“It’s a possibility we should keep in mind,” said Banks. “There’s certainly plenty of casual racism. Even Mrs. Grunwell referred to ‘darkies.’ ”

“He could have been dumped as a warning,” Annie suggested.

“Yes. But to whom? And about what? I mean, if his murder and placement in a rubbish bin was a warning of some kind, the person being warned had to be made aware of it, didn’t he? That would surely be the point?”

“Can we be absolutely certain that there’s no connection with Mrs. Grunwell, like Gerry suggested?” Annie asked.

“I very much doubt it,” said Banks. “You’ve talked to her. You know what I mean. I doubt that referring to ‘darkies’ necessarily leads to murder.”

“Even so, guv,” Gerry said. “Maybe she caused some trouble for someone? I mean, old people can be pretty wrong-headed or stubborn sometimes. Cantankerous, even. Maybe somebody wanted to do something and she wouldn’t give way? Does she own her house? Did someone want very badly to buy it?”

“Wouldn’t it have been easier just to get rid of her in that case?” said Banks. “Surely a fragile old woman is far easier to kill than a fit young lad?”

“Less likely to merit an investigation, too,” Annie added. “It wouldn’t be hard to make it seem like she had an accident.”

“I suppose so,” Gerry said. “But I’m only speculating on possibilities. If it’s a warning, it might just be to say to the old lady ‘be careful or this could happen to you.’ ”

“I still don’t get the connection,” said Banks. “A Middle Eastern boy and an elderly woman. And what about the coke?”

“Maybe it’s not relevant,” Annie said. “Just a small amount for personal use, like a packet of cigarettes or a hip flask. And perhaps the warning wasn’t for Mrs. Grunwell specifically, but for someone else on the street. It might have been giving too much away to dump the body in the bin of the person they really wanted to rattle.”