Michael looked around him. He was aware that there was no way this man could escape from the scrapyard’s premises. There was a very high brick wall surrounding the place for a start, and the barbed wire that had been placed on the top of it years before had always been a very good deterrent. The gates were electric, and they too were very high. The nightwatchman had a large German Shepherd who wasn’t that enamoured of new people. There were also three other large dogs – two Dobermans and a Rottweiler bitch, which roamed the grounds during the daytime. The people who owned them worked there. It suited everyone to let the animals run free. There were people who came in ostensibly to look for a specific part for a specific car, who were quite capable of going on the rob. The hounds made sure they didn’t feel the urge to come back later, when it was dark.

He looked once more at Steven Golding; it was patently obvious that the man wasn’t going to climb out of the boot by himself. Michael laughed again, this was a fucking joke.

‘Do you know something, Steven? I never knew there was anyone in your house that night. I really believed it was empty. I wasn’t happy about burning people’s possessions, you know? But it was for Patrick Costello, and I wanted to prove myself to him. I wanted to make something of myself. I wanted to be able to give my mum a few quid, make her life that bit easier. She had brought me up all on her own since I was a baby. I never would have dreamt of harming anyone. It was Patrick Costello who wanted that. He could be a very petty man, a very vicious man.’

Steven Golding was still lying in the boot of Michael’s Mercedes. It was a fucking big boot, and Steven Golding was more than comfortable it seemed.

‘If you had just come to me, if you had fucking had the sense to call me out, confront me, I would have done anything to make amends – I swear that to you. I’ve never really got over it. Even now I still wake up sweating. But I did learn how to put it aside. If I hadn’t managed to do that, I would have ended up as big a fucking headcase as you are.’