‘So, on the basis that I’m having a pretty crap month,’ he added, his anger waning in face of his agony, ‘I’ll decide who I tell stuff to, and how much stuff I tell. You want him so much, go and find him yourself.’

‘Roy, have you considered that this civvy might have been in on it?’

‘Yeah, sure,’ Shankhill scoffed. ‘And then pissed himself all over the floor. Go up and look, if you don’t believe me. They spared him, and he still pissed himself till he was bone-dry.’

‘What do you mean they spared him?’

‘Well … not only did they not shoot his legs off, they didn’t even take his money … and he actually offered it to them.’

‘He offered it?’

‘Yeah. Like I say, he was pissing himself … was ready to hand it all over. And it was worth pinching, you know … it was a few hundred at least. But they didn’t want it. Told him to keep it. After that, when they left, they took our phones and keys, and locked the place up tight to ensure there’d be no quick escape. But that little shit was so scared he almost tore the place down. Searched the entire building trying to find another way out. Snatched his money up first, of course … money he owed me, even though it was covered in blood. Good luck spending that, you little shit, I thought …’

Shankhill wiped more sweat from his neck and cheeks. He fiddled two pills out of a foil wrapper, and swallowed them, face creasing at the taste.

‘I called to him … much as I was able, half-dead as I was. Agonised, wasn’t I. Needed any help I could get. Don’t know whether he didn’t hear me or just ignored me. Either way, didn’t matter. He just wanted out. Finally found his way upstairs, got some old tools … came back down, broke the front door open, took to his heels. Thankfully, I had a spare mobile down here in the safety room. Almost died getting down the stairs, though. No doubt you’ve seen the mess I left. Finally managed to make a call.’

He relapsed into haggard silence. Just remembering these events had clearly been an ordeal for him.

‘Roy,’ Lucy said quietly, ‘I really need to speak to this civvy.’

‘Forget it. No chance. None whatsoever.’

And on reflection, she supposed that maybe she should have expected that. Whoever, this civvy was, he wouldn’t just be a witness to the robbery, but to Shankhill’s own dodgy dealings. The loan shark would never give him up. As if in confirmation of that, Shankhill hawked and spat a gobbet of yellow spittle on the floor.

Chapter 33

‘Frank?’ Shallicker’s voice said.

‘Yeah.’ McCracken was at the wheel of his Bentley when he took the call.

‘Remember Gentleman Joe … or whatever he called himself?’