Now Tanisha narrowed her eyes accusingly. ‘And you know what really pisses me off?’ she said, wagging a finger. ‘People have known about Uncle for years, but the police always claim not to have resources to investigate. Your intelligence lot are only interested in a tiny number of radicals, while a massive crook sits in the background pulling levers for half of Birmingham.’

James smiled. ‘I’m here to help.’

‘You’re young and idealistic,’ Tanisha said. ‘But the system is rigged against ordinary decent people. I even know what your next question is going to be.’

‘You do?’ James asked.

‘You’re going to ask me if Uncle turned into some crazy radical, and if he’s donating profits to radical groups.’

‘That’s what I need to know,’ James admitted.

Tanisha snorted. ‘Uncle has grandparents, cousins and a half-brother in Pakistan. He sent money to them over the years, enabling them to become quite influential in their region. In 2013 there was an American drone strike close to the family compound. Two of Uncle’s nephews and his eight-year-old goddaughter were killed. I’m also told that some of his cousins were arrested and beaten by Pakistani troops who were hunting for Taliban in the area.’

‘How do you know this?’ James asked. ‘You don’t work for the newspaper any more, do you?’

‘When classified advertising went online, the Echo went under, like most local newspapers,’ Tanisha admitted. ‘I have two office cleaning jobs and I volunteer in a women’s shelter. But I still live in the community and I still hear things.’

‘So your source on this was reliable?’

‘My source was a housekeeper who worked for Uncle’s third wife. I don’t know her well, but she had nothing to gain by lying to me.’

‘So Uncle turned radical?’

Tanisha looked slightly irritated by this comment. ‘Uncle drinks alcohol and holidays in Las Vegas, his latest wife and four of his six children aren’t Muslim. So he’s not about to grow a beard and start living under the principles of Sharia Law. But after the drone strike, he is violently opposed to western interference in the Middle East and North Africa.’

‘And is he active?’ James asked. ‘Does he donate to causes?’

‘Uncle has the morals of a sewer rat. He’s had drivers run over by their own taxis, blackmailed local planning officials, petrol-bombed family businesses that don’t pay his protection fees and beaten two of his ex-wives into the hospital. He now makes four or five trips a year to the Middle East. I have no idea what he’s up to, but if I were you, I’d be looking for something that’s unsavoury and highly profitable.’

21. JUDO