Tom glared at him, feeling nothing but cold anger. It came as no surprise to him that the spook knew about his exit from Afghanistan – but how much? ‘Let’s just get this done, okay?’

Woolf sighed, with an air of defeat uncharacteristic for someone in his line of work. These people were used to calling the shots. ‘Okay.’ He took a deep breath. ‘From the top?’

‘From the top.’

‘The shooting in Walthamstow. We think it connects to Invicta.’

‘How?’

Woolf looked at Phoebe but she was still studying her nails. ‘Our suspect is on their payroll.’

‘Who is he?’

Woolf hesitated. Tom laid his hands flat on the table. ‘Come on! You’ve fucked me around enough.’

Woolf swallowed. ‘His name’s Vestey.’

Tom laughed. ‘No way.’

Woolf’s eyes widened. ‘You know him?’

‘I saw him in action today. He’s not your man. His sniper days are over.’

Woolf reddened. ‘His brother’s a commander in SCO19. He was on duty that night.’

‘Take it from me. Vestey could not have been your shooter. He’s past it.’ Tom gazed at Woolf as he digested this news. ‘Is that it?’

Woolf blew out a long breath. ‘All right. We don’t have much to go on, even less now you’ve . . . enlightened us about Vestey. And I’m grateful you did. There are plenty in the Service who would happily see me fall flat on my face on this one.’ He leaned back and gripped the edge of the table.

‘This shooting of a blameless respected Muslim – set up to look like it was done by the police – has, in my opinion, all the hallmarks of a deliberate act of provocation. Remember what happened after Stockwell and Duggan? The outrage. Only this time the cops did not do it. So who was it? Our focus has been on Muslim extremists and returnees from Syria. But why would they? They may have the motivation to do harm, but do they genuinely have the capability to carry out an attack with this kind of precision? You and I both know that’s highly unlikely. My colleagues in the security services are looking in the wrong direction.’

He blinked as he waited for Tom to respond.

Tom knew what he thought. A returnee might have the motivation and have done a bit of time in a training camp, but you didn’t learn to be a sniper pissing about in a war zone shooting off an AK at anything that moved. However, he wasn’t in any mood to give Woolf the benefit of his wisdom. ‘You’re the spook: you tell me.’

‘Well, the key question is motivation. The killing has brought Muslims out onto the streets and, in turn, all those who hate them. Someone is deliberately trying to polarize the two sides. To push us beyond the limits – perhaps even to the edge of civil war.’