How did anyone even get close enough to kill him that way?

‘They had to have been face-to-face, right?’ Levy asked, pushing aside her disbelief.

‘According to David, yeah. Must have been.’

Hale could only be referring to David Christie, a pathologist who worked closely with Levy’s Major Investigation Team. He had been and gone, Levy now assumed.

Hale continued.

‘No other way the knife could have entered at that angle.’

‘Shit,’ Levy repeated. She turned away from the first sheet. It was already providing too many problems. Maybe the others would be simpler. ‘Who else do we have?’

‘This one we don’t know,’ Hale replied, turning to the sheet nearest Ferris. ‘One of Ferris’s lads, according to the pawnbroker. He doesn’t know the name. The other two, though. We sure as hell know them.’

‘Who are they?’

Hale pointed to the last sheet in what Levy now realised was an almost neat line of three.

‘This one’s Harvey Ellis,’ he said, before turning to the fourth sheet, which was away from the others. Towards the other side of the room. ‘And that’s Kevin Tennant.’

Levy did not answer immediately. The killing of Leon Ferris – the way he had met his end – had bothered her. But she was familiar with the other two as well. Both violent, dangerous men. The idea that all three could be taken out at the same time and on their own turf was absurd.

And yet here they were.

‘This doesn’t make a jot of bloody sense.’

‘What do you mean, ma’am?’

‘I mean that it’s one thing to kill Leon Ferris face on and at close range. Not that I can think of many who could do it. But Tennant and Ellis, too? These are three tough bastards with serious reputations. Who the hell could have done this?’

‘Really? It’s too early to—’

‘I wasn’t looking for an actual answer, Steve. Even the press don’t expect results that fast.’ Levy continued to circle the scene, taking in every detail. ‘Ellis was basically running Ferris’s operation while Ferris was inside, right?’

‘Right.’

‘Which I thought was still the status quo. So when did Ferris get out?’

‘He was released yesterday.’

‘You’re joking?’ Levy was genuinely shocked. ‘This was done to them within twenty-four hours of Ferris getting out?’

‘Closer to twelve hours, according to David. He puts time of death before 10 p.m.’

Levy exhaled heavily. She did not need this right now. With the Longman investigation less than a day old, the timing could not be worse.

‘Any thought on how many it took to kill all four?’

‘We think it was one or two guys.’

She looked up at him sharply. Even four against four sounded unlikely, considering the identities of the victims.

‘Go on.’ Levy made no attempt to hide her scepticism.

‘Look, I know how that sounds,’ Hale began. ‘But everything points towards it. Look around the room. Almost nothing is disturbed. If we’ve got three or four or even five attackers in a room like this, things get messy quickly. Especially considering the bodies are all so close together; the killers would all be getting in each other’s way. Also, to get a bigger number into the room takes away the element of surprise. You have them shuffling through the door, it gives the victims time to react. And yet three of the bodies have no defensive wounds, so they must have been taken by surprise pretty quickly.’