Leon smiled. ‘You’re sure we won’t get blown up by a USAF drone strike if we visit his flat?’

‘Screw you,’ Oli said, giving the finger with his muddy hand. ‘I’ve nicked stuff before and he buys it. And a few times I’ve done jobs for Trey, like bricks through windows and shit.’

This sounded pretty far-fetched and Daniel snorted. ‘Why does Trey want you to put bricks through windows?’

‘He runs a protection racket,’ Oli said, folding his arms furiously when he saw the expressions on the twins’ faces. ‘That’s god’s honest truth, you assholes. If you don’t believe me, we’ll go see him.’

Leon decided to call Oli’s bluff. ‘Now?’

Oli scraped up the last few chips and stood up. ‘Number eighty-four bus. Ten-minute ride. You coming?’

The trio kept a wary eye out for cops as they waited for the bus and got off by a stop under a railway arch. A cobbled alleyway took them past Asian taxi drivers standing in a noisy circle alongside their parked Priuses and into a cab office under a railway arch.

The receptionist behind the Plexiglas screen looked suspicious when Oli asked to see Trey.

‘He knows me,’ Oli explained.

‘He’s in a meeting,’ the woman said, as a cynical eyebrow flickered beneath her headscarf. ‘Have a seat.’

An old-fashioned bottled gas heater gave off a sweet smell as the boys squished together on a knackered sofa. Leon flicked through an ancient copy of FourFourTwo magazine, while Daniel played with his phone, texting James to let him know what was occurring.

‘Just in case there’s any argument,’ Oli said, as he slid a Samsung Galaxy with a pink cover out of his pocket. ‘Everything is split three ways, but the money from this is mine.’

‘Where’d you get that?’ Leon asked.

‘Remember that snivelling girl who I locked in the shower?’

‘Abigail,’ Leon said.

Oli nodded. ‘Gotta pick a pocket or two, eh?’

‘Her mother died and you ripped off her phone?’ Daniel said incredulously.

Oli shrugged and smirked. ‘Life’s a bitch, then you die.’

A flimsy door by the service counter came open, and a haze of cigarette smoke along with it.

‘Trey’s ready,’ an old dude in carpet slippers said. All three boys stood up, but he pointed at Oli. ‘Just you.’

As Oli vanished inside with the wheeled case, Daniel looked at Leon, shook his head and spoke in a whisper. ‘Who robs a girl whose mother just died?’

Leon nodded in agreement. ‘Before we go back to campus, I’m gonna bundle Oli into one of the shower rooms at Nurtrust and give him such a beating.’

‘It’s a nice thought, but they’ll kick our asses out of CHERUB if we do that.’

‘Who’s gonna tell ’em?’ Leon asked. ‘James is cool.’

The pair played with their phones and clock watched. Five. Five fifteen. Five twenty-five.