Earlier that day, in the pebble-dashed house, the owner had reflected on the previous day’s work.

Killing Simeon Ali had been easier than expected, although the owner had never killed anyone before. Simeon was the first. It was not something that the owner could even have contemplated until recently, but needs must, and Simeon had betrayed the owner. He had brought his demise upon himself. He had been given fair warning.

Luring Simeon to the house had been easy. Passing Simeon a glass of water laced with Rohypnol and watching him drink it had been easy. Suffocating Simeon with cling film while he was passed out on the owner’s sofa had been draining, leaving the owner exhausted. There was no physical reaction of significance – Simeon’s body went limp quickly. But the owner had nearly fainted from the rush of adrenaline.

Killing Alexia Elias had been even more satisfying. Again, the owner had been amazed at how easy it had been to entice the fraud to leave her London residence alone and scurry north to her former home. How ridiculously naive! There, the murder had produced a rush that surpassed that which he had experienced when killing Simeon. It appeared that killing someone while they remained conscious was a far more intense experience. It had taken all the owner’s strength to finish the job.

The owner had spent many months considering the best way to kill a person. Considering first, that the most efficient way would be to tie wire to a fixed point, loop it around the victim’s neck and pull it tight, severing the head with one hard tug. The Indonesian gangsters had perfected that technique in the massacre of communists in 1965, but the concept presented too many logistical complications for the owner, not least of which included the amount of blood and mess that would be made.

In the end, the owner had settled on asphyxia. What better way to destroy a body than to starve it of its most basic necessity, oxygen? The soul is extinguished in the same way that fire is. Although killing had only been the start of the fraud’s punishment.

Initially, Simeon’s decision not to participate in the exposure of Alexia had been a disappointment. On reflection, the alternative plan was far more fulfilling and had given the owner the opportunity to put into practice the results of months of research and, to tell the truth, the owner may have secretly wanted things to have played out this way.

They would find her soon. The lawyer had purportedly found the picture of Julian standing in front of the old house and would surely make visiting the property a priority. It was important that the lawyer made the discovery. The owner wanted him to see what happens to fraudsters and traitors, dispositions that he was only one step away from. But then, surely he already knew?