‘Pat, you’re heading up the Burrell enquiries alongside King. Select two from MIT One. For now Burrell’s our most likely suspect. Go and find me a reason to kick down his door.’

Hale next turned to the final MIT One officer. Natasha Pickett, who was, by common consensus, the unit’s best data analyst.

‘Natasha, I want you on records. I want you to look at every suspected professional hit in the last ten years. Solved and unsolved. There must be some similarities with what we’ve seen here. This guy can’t be a first-timer. DI Wild will assign two of his team to assist.’

Finally, Hale faced the group as a whole.

‘We’re not going to let this slide. We’ve got plenty to go on. We know who stands to gain from this. We know Ferris’s competition. And we know that whoever did this was a serious professional, and that leaves footprints of its own. We’ll find whoever did this. And if that means taking out another pit of murdering bastards when we do, well, I won’t lose any sleep. Now, let’s get going.’

TWENTY-EIGHT

‘And that, members of the jury, is almost all I have to say to you in opening this case. All that’s left are two very important things to remember. One applies to everything you have heard from me today. The other is without question the most important principle in this process; the principle upon which the entire criminal justice system is built. So it is vital that you listen to and understand these final two points, and that you keep them in mind for as long as you sit as a jury in this trial.’

Peter Epstein QC had been speaking for two hours. It was his opening submission, which was how every trial began: with a speech from the prosecuting barrister. Epstein’s had been fair. It had also been captivating.

Michael had expected no less from Senior Treasury Counsel, the Old Bailey’s number-one prosecutor and the closest thing the UK had to a US District Attorney.

Epstein continued to address the jury, covering the general principles they were bound to follow regarding the evidence they would hear, and the fundamentally important principle that the burden of proof rested on the prosecution, with the defence needing to prove nothing. But by now Michael had stopped listening. He had heard every possible version of the recital more times than he could count. His focus was firmly on what was still to come.

The sound of movement as Epstein finished speaking and took his seat brought Michael’s eyes up from his papers and his mind back to the moment.

He looked down the long wooden bench on which all six of the seven barristers sat. At the far end, closest to the judge, was Epstein. Next to him was his junior, Claire Wells. Behind them was the prosecution’s second junior, Martin Maguire. Maguire’s was a lower rank, unique to prosecutors, that was usually reserved for promising but very newly qualified barristers.