‘No wonder Marta’s angry. The trafficking thing is bad enough but to be betrayed by fellow Lithuanians?’ What an awful time the two of them had had. ‘Is there any link with Tomasz Feldman?’

‘At the moment, no, apart from the fact he’s her employer. What happened at the flat when they arrived?’

‘There was some hurried talking between the two sisters in Lithuanian. Tomasz clocked me, made out it was a common occurrence that he dropped Marta home, and made a swift departure.’

‘Definitely an item then.’ Dan laughed.

‘Back in a sec.’ I nipped over to the toilets to fetch my jacket and was carrying it back when I saw that Dan was waving the landline receiver in the air.

‘Maya, quick,’ he bellowed across the office. ‘Someone on the blower. Insists on speaking to you.’

‘Who is it?’ I dumped my jacket down.

‘Someone’s found a petrol can and a bag in their back garden. She’s seen you on the appeals.’

I felt a lurch of excitement. ‘Can you track the call?’

‘I’ll have a go.’

‘What’s her name?’

‘She wouldn’t say. Husband found them.’

I had to be quick before she rang off. I grabbed the receiver, took a deep breath to calm my voice and released the mute button. ‘You’re through to the incident room at Limehouse Police Station, DI Rahman speaking. I gather you’ve found something in your garden?’

‘Yes, um . . . hello.’ The woman’s voice was shaky. ‘I saw the press thingy on the news earlier. It’s about the fire at the old bagel place in Brick Lane. . . Well, I think it might be.’

I tucked the receiver under my ear and reached for my notepad. Looked at Dan to see how he was getting on. ‘Go on.’

‘It might be nothing, but my Sid’s just locked up the shop and was having a smoke in the back garden. He spotted one of them jerry cans. Stinks of petrol, he says. We’re on the same side of the road as the soup place, three shops along. The off-licence. There’s a bag too, one of them canvas hold-all things. It’s all over-grown with weeds and whatnot out back, so we didn’t see them before now. He reckons someone must’ve lobbed them over the fence. D’you think it’s got anything to do with the fire?’

*

Fifteen minutes later, Dan and I were back in Brick Lane, on tenterhooks in the alley behind the shops while the CSI team picked over every inch of the Walkers’ back garden for evidence.

‘You don’t have to stay,’ I said to Dan. ‘There’s no point us both being shattered tomorrow.’ My body ached with exhaustion.

‘Nah. You’re alright. They might need someone to deliver samples to the lab. Speed things up.’