‘He was determined the get off the gear. Took him a good two years but he decided to go cold turkey. After that he touted for a job as a labourer on various building sites. Said he’d work a day for no pay, and if they didn’t want to pay him, they didn’t have to. Manor House Developments offered him a job halfway through the day. He spent the next few years grafting, kept out of trouble, worked his way up, and earned people’s respect and trust. When he got the sub-foreman job, he was really thrilled. He felt he’d finally managed to put the past behind him.’

‘Is there any chance he was involved with anything illegal recently?’

‘Personally, I think it’s unlikely, but I can’t say for definite. Last time I saw him, he was over the moon to have made a success of this job and he’d started some volunteering that he was enjoying. Youth centres round here are busy places, and he was giving talks at them about the dangers of drugs. I can’t see him wanting to risk all that and end up where he was all over again. He said to me that you can’t get much lower or desperate than being a coke and heroin addict and living on the streets. But – he also said that shit was only ever a snort, smoke or syringe away.’ She looked towards the door and the stairs. ‘Can I see him?’

‘Of course. There will be a post-mortem first. We will let you know when that’s possible.’ He glanced round the room. ‘We know that it wasn’t suicide. Can you tell me whether Patrick had any enemies? Or whether he’d had any barneys with anyone recently?’

‘Not that I know of but I’m not the best person to ask. He was very cagey with me. He knew how much distress he had caused us, and he was keen to see his daughter. She worshipped him. But it meant that there were things he didn’t tell me.’

‘A few final questions – did Patrick have any links with Brick Lane?’

‘He knows the area. We all do. We’d go out there occasionally for a curry. I can’t think of much more than that.’

‘Did he know any people there?’

‘Yeah. Of course. He knew people all over London.’

‘Before I go, has anything unusual occurred in the last few weeks?’ Dan focussed his attention on Nicola’s face.

‘Not that I can think of.’

‘He didn’t mention that anything was bothering him?’

She frowned. ‘He did say there’d been some unpleasantness recently but as soon as he told me, he realised he’d freaked me out, and he clammed up.’