We followed him up a set of steps. The lights were low. The carpets were thick and grey, and the walls were lined with floor-to-ceiling mirrors. Cashier staff were arriving and getting ready for the customers, who would be buying payment chips in an hour or so and hurrying to the lap-dance booths.

Downstairs, it was a warren of corridors with subdued lighting, and this was where Artem had his office. As we entered, I gave the lavish basement room the once-over. In one corner, two plush sofas lay in an L-shape. In another corner, behind a giant desk, the sort you might expect to find in a multi-national oil company, sat a stocky man with thinning hair. He had proud, heavy features and metal-framed glasses, and looked far from delighted to see us. Had I not known differently, he could easily have been Simas’ uncle.

‘Come in, detectives.’ He spoke quietly and made no attempt to get up from his chair. ‘I gather you want to talk to me about my brother.’ His voice was monotonous and only just audible. His manner reminded me of someone who was no stranger to dominance. This was a man who was used to getting exactly what he wanted.

I left Dan to observe and approached Artem’s desk. All the while he remained motionless in his chair, watching my every step. Calm and in control, or so he wanted us to think. In turn, I made sure he saw that I’d clocked the well-stocked drinks cabinet and the framed prints on the walls of grinning Z-list celebrities. This was a man who felt well-connected, even if he wasn’t, and we were about to test his self-importance. ‘We’d like to ask you some questions in relation to the blaze at your brother’s shop yesterday.’

‘If it’s quick.’

‘We now know that it was arson, and sadly we’ve found two bodies in the burnt-out building.’

‘Simas and Indra, presumably?’ The set of his mouth was hard, and he showed no emotion.

‘It’s interesting that you assume that. We are fairly sure that one of them is Simas. We need a family member to formally identify his body. Can you do this for us, please?’

‘I suppose I’ll have to given Indra is—’

‘The other body is female but isn’t Indra.’

‘Oh?’ His expression fell a fraction before he caught it. ‘Who is it then?’

‘We don’t know yet.’ I felt his eyes scrutinising me. He clearly wasn’t relieved Indra was alive. ‘Indra isn’t up to coming to the mortuary. She’s is in hospital, recovering from miscarrying your brother’s child.’ I let the news float and waited for him to comment.

‘I’m sorry to hear that. I had no idea she was pregnant.’