They assembled around his screen once more and watched as he played a video posted by a social media account belonging to somebody called @Sasha4, late Sunday night. It showed two girls, barely eighteen, if they were even that old, walking across the gravel towards the entrance of Laurie Fell house. They weren’t trying to hide, indicating they were supposed to be there, unlike the other videos. Their faces were smothered in make-up and they wore sparkly earrings and furry coats. The video was taken as a selfie and it wobbled with the taker’s unsteady hand. Each girl could be seen to be carrying a large bottle of what appeared to be alcohol, and both smoked cigarettes. They beamed into the camera. The strapline read: ‘Going at it hard. $$$Bills’.

It was crass, cringe-worthy, immature and off-putting, but that wasn’t the point. It was evidence that at least two people were invited to the grounds of the Laurie Fell estate on Sunday night. And they weren’t pilots or politicians.

Chapter 37

The not-so-young activist who’d thrown the egg at Lord Reilly was a professional troublemaker. The report on Neil Hardy’s background revealed that he’d started his protesting career in the nineties with the poll tax riots. Since then he’d been arrested at football matches, various industrial strikes at the Barrow shipyard, and a car plant in Essex, making his way steadily up to hunt sabotaging. There was a wealth of information on him, and he’d been arrested for affray and assault a total of fifteen times. His arrest for egging Lord Reilly would likely land him a prison sentence.

A small group of journalists had got wind of the video online and had begun the trial by public opinion, which always ended badly. They jumped on the egg-thrower outside the station and he’d arrived pleased with himself that he’d got attention for his cause. He was cocky and reckless.

Two detective constables were tasked with his interview held in a station in the centre of Manchester. Kelly watched by video link, and had the ability to direct the questioning. Her job was to watch him and interfere as little as she could, giving her an impression of the man who’d caused Lord Reilly the very open and widely reported embarrassment during the conference. Whether or not the same man could have been involved somehow in the bringing down of the aircraft remained to be seen.