Jude shrugged. “Fear? He was terrified of his father. They both were. You couldn’t tell what that man’s reaction would be. He’d have turned on Bob or Derek – one of them would have got it in the neck. And their mother wasn’t well. Bob said at some stage that she had early onset dementia, but I don’t know if that was ever diagnosed.”

“Was that why Bob decided to set up the charity that he did?” he asked.

Jude snorted. “That’s what he said. But then Bob could always spin a tale, turn circumstances to his own advantage. After the accident, the twins decided to stick together, and not mention the roof they shouldn’t have been climbing on. And they’ve done that ever since. I was the only other person who knew.”

“You knew Bob Jameson as an adult too,” Molloy said. “Tell me about the bank.”

Jude looked down at the carpet for a few seconds. His daughters were watching him like hawks, I noticed. I wondered how much of this they knew, Sue particularly.

He straightened himself, steeling himself for the next part of the story. “A few years after I qualified, I took a job in London. Bob got me a job with the investment bank he was with. Say what you like about Bob Jameson, but he was always successful, knew how to press the flesh and charm people. He was on the board of that bank. He was still trying to keep me onside. I don’t know why. Maybe because the old bastard of a father of theirs was still alive.”

His gaze flickered past Molloy to the wall behind. “It was a mistake taking that job. Possibly the worst mistake I ever made after saying hello to the twins on the first day of school. Bob could never keep his worse nature in check.”

“Go on,” Molloy said.

“Bob wanted a fall guy. That’s all I was to him. A stooge. He got me in deep, made me risk my professional reputation and then used me as a scapegoat when the bank got into trouble. Criminal proceedings were threatened against the bank and the board and they used the old line – it’s all the accountant’s fault.”

“And was it?” Molloy asked.

Jude met his gaze again. “In a way. In that I allowed myself to be bullied by Bob, do whatever he told me to do. At that stage things had taken a downturn in the City.” He looked at his daughters and grandson again. “We were living the high life, big house, high mortgage in a very expensive city. I had two daughters so I couldn’t afford to lose my job.”

He shot a glance at Sue, the meaning of which was impossible to miss. He was looking for permission.

“Tell him,” she said.