‘The woman at Alchemia, Monika Waglowa, has asked her husband to send their front CCTV over. Hopefully, that’ll show who scored the Star of David outside Rosa’s shop.’ Dan was studying the image of the soup shop in all its glory on opening day. Blue tape to match the door. Cake. A huddle of friends and family, all laughing and smiling. Indra and Simas were shaking a bottle of fizz, faces glowing with pride. ‘Are we to take it that Simas and Indra are Jewish?’

‘I’ve wondered that,’ I said. ‘A quick call to Indra will confirm one way or the other. I’d assumed they were Catholic. Most of the Jewish communities which survived the Holocaust suffered dreadfully under Soviet atheist policy. But Indra and Simas are from Vilnius, and there’s been a re-birth of Judaism there.’

‘And the Star of David above their shop?’

‘It’s a confident statement, isn’t it? It was previously a Jewish shop, so they may have left it in place. If they put it up, my guess is they’re Jewish and proud of it.’ I was adding to my list of tasks as we spoke. ‘OK. Going back to the fire on the soup shop, might any of our suspects have a motive for torching Rosa’s newsagent’s?’ I pointed to the board we’d used so extensively the last few days.

‘I can only think of motives, Boss, not people,’ Shen piped up. ‘Maybe someone wants to get their hands on the shop lease for development. Didn’t Rosa say her freeholders were pressurising her to sell to them?’

‘Yes, she did.’ I wrote Solomon Stein’s name on the board.

‘Racism?’ Alexej took the board marker from my hand and created a second list for motives. ‘Anti-Semitism?’

‘Definitely possible – although that could apply equally to the soup shop.’

‘It’s hard to see how Rosa’s shop competes with anyone’s business. Her turnover must be very low.’ Shen had grabbed hold of the new focus and I appreciated her positivity.

‘I don’t think competition is likely either,’ said Dan. ‘But she must be struggling to cover her bills, let’s face it. What if she wanted the shop damaged so she can claim on her insurance?’