Declan punched Golding in the side of his head, and he watched as the man skidded through the shit that was everywhere, and sprawled on the floor. Then grabbing him back up, he bellowed into his face, ‘Where’s the fucking keys, you fucking piece of shit!’

He was already pulling the man’s jacket off him, and searching his trouser pockets. He finally found a set of keys in the man’s jacket and, calling out Michael’s name, he threw them to him.

As he did so, Jessie let out a long slow breath and opened her eyes. She tried to follow the sound of her father’s voice, as he shouted loudly, ‘Jessie darling, Jessie, it’s me, your dad. Stay with me, love. Please . . .’

Declan screamed at his friend with annoyance, ‘Will you unlock her, Michael? For fuck’s sake! We need to phone a fucking ambulance! Get her some help! Pull yourself together, man. She needs you!’

Michael seemed suddenly to understand what was needed from him. He was visibly shaking as he picked up the keys from the floor and, taking out his mobile phone, he called for an ambulance. He was as coherent as possible, and he gave the address of White Farm, quickly and succinctly. He also explained the seriousness of his daughter’s condition. Then he turned to Declan. ‘It’s not a key we need. He’s fucking screwed these fuckers into place. We need a spanner.’

He turned on Steven Golding then, and, after kicking and punching him to the floor, he grabbed him by his prematurely grey hair and, pulling him back on to his feet, he pushed his face into his and demanded, ‘You shackled her, so you can fucking get her loose.’

Both Michael and Declan watched as Golding dropped to the floor. He then crawled through the filth and, pulling himself up with difficulty, he took a spanner from the windowsill, and he held it out to the men like an offering.

‘It’s too tight, I can’t undo it. Her blood has dried all over it. Now it’s like fucking glue.’

He was still taunting them. Declan moved quickly to stop Michael from attacking him once more. ‘This is like suicide by cop, Michael, but the ambulance will be here soon, remember? Get her free, get her help, and I will keep this cunt on ice, OK? I’ll take him to the scrapyard. You’ve got Branch to smooth your path with the hospital et cetera. He will make sure this doesn’t bite anyone’s arse. All you need to do is get her help, OK?’

Declan watched as Michael did as he was told and, leaving him to it, he dragged Steven Golding out of basement, walked him down the lane, and forced him into the boot of Michael’s Mercedes.