‘Are you having a laugh, mate? You’re tied up and you’re trying to tell me what to do? If I were you, I’d wind my neck in and keep quiet. Don’t make this any worse than it is already.’

Anthony made a snorting sound, bringing phlegm into his mouth. He smirked, then spat straight at Alfie whose face curled up in disgust. Wiping the spit off his blue cashmere top, Alfie sneered.

‘You’ve really made a mistake now.’ He brought his fist back, then struck Anthony hard across his face, causing his nose to pop and blood spurt out. Alfie pulled up a chair next to Anthony, straddling it backwards and sitting down to light a cigarette. He stared, full of hatred, blowing the smoke into Anthony’s face.

‘I want some answers, Anthony, because I’m not here to talk, I’m here to listen. So, come on then, tell me everything you know about where I can find Barry.’

‘I’m not telling you anything, so you can sing for all I care.’

Alfie smiled nastily then grabbed Anthony’s hair, pulling his head up higher, forcing him to look. ‘I think by the end of the day, it’ll be you singing.’

‘Piss off!’

Alfie laughed though his eyes were cold. ‘It must be a northern thing that makes you lot so stupid, ain’t that right, Sally?’

Alfie glanced at the woman who began to screech with anger, ‘Fuck off! You heard what my husband said – we haven’t got anything to say to you because we don’t know anything. So, you can do anything you like to us, you still won’t learn anything new.’

‘Is that right?’

Sally nodded defiantly. ‘Yes, it bloody well is!’

Alfie, finishing off his cigarette, stubbed it out on the carpet. He looked around the small flat. It was tidy and clean. Flowered wallpaper adorned the room and the blue leather couch was strewn with large velvet cushions. The polished wooden floor was semi-covered with a thick cream rug, and the fake fireplace bounced with flames. And whether it was because he knew what sort of people Sally and Anthony were, he thought the whole place with its spotless, dust-free shelves and furniture held a sinister air.

‘So, you’re saying whatever I do, you won’t talk.’

‘That’s right.’

‘Okay.’

Alfie stood up. He winked at Franny who sat in a chair holding the toddler who had gone back to sleep, then Alfie made eye contact with Sally again. He grinned as he pulled out his belt from his jeans. ‘As in anything I do, Sally?’

The confidence in Sally’s voice seemed to disappear. ‘Yeah … yeah … that’s what I said, isn’t it?’

‘Even this, Sally?’

Taking Anthony by surprise, Alfie looped the belt around Anthony’s neck and began to pull it tight. ‘How about now?’