‘Strangulation. With some kind of steel wire. There’s no question that they both suffered. This was an exemplary kind of hit, wasn’t it, Frank?’

He frowned again. ‘A hit?’

‘Let’s not play silly buggers,’ Lucy couldn’t resist saying.

He regarded her coolly.

‘Not only exemplary in that it would teach a lesson to anyone else thinking of taking on the Crew,’ Nehwal said. ‘But also, unintentionally, as a stand-out example of how not to do these things.’

He frowned all the more. ‘If you say so.’

‘What I mean is, Frank … we don’t just have the bodies, we also have a weapon.’

He remained bemused. ‘The steel wire?’

‘No,’ Nehwal said. ‘There was a gun there too. A Taurus .357. It was badly burned, obviously. We’ll not lift any prints off it, but there’s enough of it left for our ballistics lab to give it a good going-over. See if it matches up with any recent shootings we might be investigating.’

‘Like mine, for example.’ He smiled. ‘Now wait a minute, don’t tell me … if that gun is the same gun that fired the shots that downed me and Charlie, you will definitely be coming back to talk to me, and on that occasion, I will need my solicitor.’

‘You seem very relaxed about that,’ Lucy said.

‘And why shouldn’t I be, DC Clayburn? As you yourself have already admitted, I was lying right here. There’d be nothing I’d be able to tell you, under caution or otherwise, that I couldn’t tell you right now.’

‘After you were dumped outside the hospital last night,’ Nehwal said, ‘before you were taken into surgery, you made a statement that you had no clue who the shooter was.’

He nodded. ‘Pretty sure I was hit by the first round. Charlie and I were just getting into the car when someone called my name. I looked, but there wasn’t enough light to see who it was. The next thing though, bang-bang. And we both went down.’

‘He called your name?’ Nehwal said. ‘Not a professional, then?’

‘Not much of one, no.’

‘Or he wanted you to know who was shooting you?’

‘If so, he failed.’

‘So you definitely didn’t see his face?’

‘Do you think I wouldn’t tell you?’

Lucy snorted. ‘You don’t seriously want us to answer that question, do you?’

‘A witness inside the restaurant kitchen says that he only caught a glimpse of what happened through the window, but he could have sworn that someone in your party returned fire,’ Nehwal said. ‘Not a lot. Just a single shot.’

McCracken shrugged. ‘I’m sure you’ll agree that neither me nor Charlie were in any fit state to do that.’

‘You said in your initial statement that you were knocked unconscious instantly, or at least you assume you were, because you weren’t aware of anything else for quite some time.’