‘Did I miss anything?’ Epstein asked Claire Wells in a whisper.

‘Not a thing,’ Wells replied. ‘Brilliant opening.’

‘Thank you.’

Their voices were low, but Michael’s hearing was acute and he could not close out the sound of the exchange. It made him smile; it was reassuring that even barristers as successful as Epstein still second-guess themselves.

‘Well, members of the jury, that’s that as far as guidance goes. Mr Epstein has set out the Crown’s case very clearly and very well, so if I . . .’

The voice of His Honour Judge John Levitt QC filled the courtroom as he now addressed the jury, to remind them of their duties and obligations as trial jurors.

Michael tuned him out, too. Another speech he had heard a thousand times. They never changed. And if the unthinkable happened and they did, Draper was busy taking full notes of every word.

Michael had other things on his mind. Or, more accurately, one thing: the safety of Simon Kash.

The bruise on Kash’s head had concerned Michael. But it was Kash’s demeanour that worried him most. The boy was absolutely terrified. Of O’Driscoll. Of others. Of going back to Wandsworth Prison that night. So scared that he would not risk sitting in the same room as his lawyers in case it was perceived as in some way ‘grassing’, Michael had realised.

Kash was helpless, and it was Michael’s natural instinct to protect anyone in that position. But how? What could he do when intervening was against his client’s instructions? How could he help Kash to help himself without violating the strict rules of his profession?

Distracted though Michael was, his ear remained attuned enough to know that His Honour Judge Levitt QC was bringing his brief address to an end.

‘And on that happy note, members of the jury, I am going to let you go. Please be in the building and ready to start by 10.30 a.m. tomorrow morning, when the Crown will call its first witness.’

Levitt sat back against his high-back wooden chair. An antique from the earliest days of the court. Maybe a century old. From here Levitt could see into the dock, which was raised to the same level as his seat. Considerably higher than the jury box that sat against the north wall and the barristers’ benches that sat against the south.

The jurors were escorted from the court without a word by the court usher. The courtroom itself remained equally silent as they left. The sound of the door to the jury area clicking closed behind them was the signal that the jurors could no longer hear the courtroom, which was the cue for the lawyers to resume their work.

‘Is there anything else we need to deal with this afternoon?’ Levitt’s question was to all three QCs.

Michael’s mind raced. The thoughts that had concerned him were still bubbling to the surface. He knew the step he needed to take to protect Kash. The step he wanted to take. He also knew he should not. Kash could not have been clearer.