‘Evening, Mr Lambrianu.’

Tony looked up to see the detective reaching out his hand to shake his. Mr Lambrianu? Tony couldn’t believe his ears. Tony shook his hand, and for the sake of something to say, asked him if he was enjoying himself.

The detective nodded and took a large gulp of his whisky. Seeing that his glass was nearly empty, Tony raised his hand to a member of the bar staff to fetch a fresh one, then stopped the detective when he saw he was going to take out his wallet.

‘This one’s on the house,’ he said.

‘Thanks.’ The detective looked around. ‘Nice club, Mr Lambrianu, it looks very different to the last time I was here.’ He looked directly at Tony. They both knew that the last time the detective was there was after he had been anonymously tipped off that the stolen diamonds were in the bossman’s safe. ‘You have a very distinctive voice; I’d recognise those dulcet tones of yours anywhere.’

Tony had made a point of disguising his voice, so that the detective wouldn’t recognise him, but it seemed his plan had failed. He raised his glass to Tony and winked; he clearly knew it was him that had made the call that day.

Thankfully, Julie Gold, now very tipsy, interrupted their chat. ‘Time for photos, boys,’ she said. Julie had got the local newspapers to come and take photos of the opening of this new West End club, with its elite customers. Tony and Jake stood side by side with Julie and Ralph and smiled. Tony noticed the detective shied away from the photo shoot and stood off to one side.

‘What’s wrong with you, Jake?’ asked Tony, when he noticed Jake staring into the crowd. He was trying to follow his eyeline but couldn’t understand what was mesmerising him.

‘Look, Tony,’ said Jake, not turning his eyes away. ‘That lot, over there, are some of the actors and singers from the West End shows; I’ve seen them on the television. Over there, those are models I’ve seen in Sharon’s magazines. I can’t take my eyes off them. Do you think I would look stupid if I asked them for an autograph?’ Jake was star-struck.

‘Don’t you dare! If anyone’s giving out autographs tonight, it’s going to be you and me. Don’t even think about it,’ said Tony. The last thing he wanted was Jake looking like an amateur.

‘Sorry, Tony, I can’t help it. I’ve never seen so many famous people.’

‘I must say, though, I think I might just go over there and introduce myself to some of those models. Very nice indeed.’ Tony put on his most charming smile, straightened his tie and went over to join a group of young women. Their long hair was flowing and their make-up was immaculate. Their designer dresses had the labels on the outside, so that people would know whose clothes they wore. They posed for photos, and Jake could see they were very impressed by this handsome, blond club owner, who oozed charm.