Elton nodded.

‘Both big black marks against him being our man,’ he said.

‘I thought the same,’ Sarah replied, ‘so I checked Hirst’s prison record with my contact in Wandsworth. Hirst’s last prison.’

‘And?’

‘It was impeccable. In Wandsworth and everywhere before. No violence. No insubordination. Hirst was the perfect prisoner. He did his courses. He got himself qualified in a whole host of different subjects. Criminology. Biology. Philosophy. Forensics. The guy’s got degrees and diplomas coming out of his ears. But nothing on there to suggest any violent streak.’

‘Still, the fact is it’s unusual to be paroled from a life sentence on a first application, however good the track record,’ Elton observed. ‘Does your guy in Wandsworth have any idea what might have swung it?’

‘He did, yeah. Hirst was targeted while he was in Wandsworth. He caught the eye of one of the main players there and ended up being used as a plaything. Beaten. Abused. You get the picture.’

‘Did he give you a name?’

‘No,’ Sarah replied. ‘He’d just said it was pretty much the big fish.’

‘Was nothing done to stop it?’

‘Not a thing.’

‘Why not?’

‘A combination of factors. For one thing, Hirst never complained, never once. And he also never fought back, so there was never an actual incident for any guards to deal with. Seems he just let it happen.’

‘But the prison knew about it? Enough for the guy to tell you?’

‘They knew, yeah. Unofficially. But the other factor mattered, too. The guy behind it was a special case. He had most of the guards paid off; hell, he probably had my guy, too, hence he wouldn’t spill on who this man was. So there was no way anyone was stepping up. Especially when Hirst hadn’t asked for any help.’

Elton shook his head.

‘But it found its way onto Hirst’s record?’

‘Unofficially. But enough that the Parole Board would be given the gist. My theory is that this swung it. That the board will have taken the view that Hirst had been punished above and beyond, due to what he’d suffered. And they figured that his lack of a violent response was absolute proof that he was no longer a danger. That he was no longer violent. It would also explain why Michael’s contact at the Parole Board didn’t inform him that Hirst had been released. This was one they’d want to see just slip under the radar.’

‘Seems a fair conclusion to reach,’ Elton observed. ‘And pretty bloody compelling. So what makes you think they were wrong? That he is still a psycho?’

‘I don’t think they were wrong, necessarily,’ Sarah replied. ‘But I do think he’s worth tracking down. He’s the only name we have right now, without access to Longman’s case files. It may come to nothing – it’ll probably come to nothing – but until Levy is ready to share I think Hirst’s worth a look.’

Elton said nothing.

Sarah had made her case. Hirst ticked a lot of boxes, but she knew that there were compelling arguments against him. Her best point, though? What the hell else did they have?