‘So, you’d lost a lot of money, Mark. What did you do next?’

He seemed to be considering what to say. Then he spoke again. ‘You get to hear of folk, folk that’ll lend you a few quid.’ He shrugged. ‘I reckoned if I did some extra shifts, earned some cash I could pay it off.’

‘You borrowed money?’ Clare said.

‘Aye.’

‘Who from?’

Again, he took a few moments before speaking. ‘Just some guy. In a pub. Said he’d see me every Friday and I’d give him the cash.’

Clare said, ‘And did you?’

‘For a bit, aye. Then he said the interest rate was going up and I owed him more than when I’d started. Said I’d have to keep paying.’

‘How much did you borrow?’

‘A grand.’

‘You borrowed a thousand pounds from a moneylender?’

‘Aye.’

‘And… how much did this man say you owed?’

He hesitated then said, ‘Eight grand.’

Clare’s eyes narrowed. ‘You borrowed one thousand pounds and, despite making weekly repayments, you now owe eight thousand pounds?’

‘Aye. Or actually I don’t. Not now.’

Clare sighed. ‘Mark, you could have come to us. We’d have helped.’

He shook his head. ‘I doubt it.’

Chris said, ‘Was there something preventing you coming to us?’

He looked down. ‘Not at first, I suppose. I mean, they’ve got my SIA card…’

Clare frowned and Mark seemed to notice this.

‘Security Industry Authority,’ he explained. ‘I can’t work without it. Took my driving licence, too. Said I’d get one of them back when I’d paid half and the other when I’d paid in full. But the interest…’

Clare’s expression hardened. ‘These people,’ she said. ‘They work it so you never pay the debt off.’

He nodded. ‘Aye, I know that now.’

Chris leaned forward. ‘Mark, you said, not at first. Did something change?’

He looked at Chris for a moment then he gave a slight nod. ‘Aye.’

‘Go on.’

‘Got a phone call. Didn’t know who. But the guy said he had my SIA card and my licence. Said I’d get them back, debt wiped clean. Just had to do him a favour. Sounded too good to be true.’ He shook his head. ‘Turns out, it was.’

‘What was the favour?’ Clare asked.

He took a moment to answer then, with a glance at his solicitor, he said, ‘He told me he’d been doing a bit of digging. Found out I used to be a gamekeeper. Thought I’d be a good shot. And he said – he said, if I did a wee job for him we’d call it quits. No more payments.’

Clare watched him carefully. ‘And the wee job?’