The Trident officers were the easiest to spot. They were unfamiliar with the space and had crowded in the far corner of the room. Some of the MIT One operatives were with them.

All seemed part of the same discussion. A discussion Hale needed to hear. He made his way towards them.

‘What have we got?’ Hale asked as he got closer. Near enough to see that DS King had the floor. ‘Dean? What’s the news?’

‘News on Burrell, sir,’ King replied. ‘Might be something we can use.’

‘What is it?’

‘He’s been muscling in.’

‘On who?’

‘On everyone, pretty much. He hasn’t wasted any time. Almost like he knew the opportunity was coming.’

Hale smiled. He had hoped that Burrell would show his hand. But to do so this quickly? That was unexpected.

‘What’s the source, Dean? Anything we can use in court? Or is it just street talk?’

‘Mainly street. But I think we have a few business owners who’ll come forward. People Burrell’s men have visited, looking to take over Ferris’s protection rackets. They wouldn’t have said a word against Ferris but Burrell’s not as frightening as he’d like to think.’

Hale took a moment to think through King’s information.

It’s something. But is it enough?

‘It’s too tenuous.’ Hale was a realist. ‘Word’s out about Ferris. To everyone, not just his killers. Burrell must have known which businesses Ferris was extorting. He might be stepping in fast, but it’s not enough. It doesn’t justify pulling him in.’

‘What about for extortion, guv?’ The question came from DS Dixon. ‘The evidence seems pretty clear on that.’

‘Maybe, but that’s not what we want him for. Trident can bring him in on those charges when we’re done. But if we do it now and then we ask him anything about the murder when we’ve nothing to support it? We’ll end up with a bloody mistrial.’

Dixon seemed to understand Hale’s logic; he did not debate it further.

King had other ideas.

‘What about one of Ferris’s men?’ he asked.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean what if one of Ferris’s men told me that Burrell had approached him? Before the killing. Like, two days before.’

‘And said what?’

Hale felt a flutter in his stomach.

Say the right thing. This might be just what we need.

‘He was told that a change was coming,’ King said. ‘A big change. And that he would be safest if he was on the right side before it happened.’

‘Anything else?’

‘Is that not enough?’

‘It might be. But more is always better.’

‘It’s all we have, guv.’

Hale paused. His mind was racing. The attempt to poach Ferris’s man was not enough. But the talk of a big change was close and the veiled reference to the safety of Ferris’s men took it further.

I think it’s just far enough, he decided.

‘OK. I think we can work with that. But it’s got to be bang on, Dean. Are you absolutely clear on what your man was told? Because anything less than what you just said – even an inch less – and we’re sunk.’