Grace went into the bar. ‘Marcus, I know we’re short staffed, but I’ve got to take care of something. Are you okay for half an hour?’

He nodded. ‘Yeah. No problem. It’s quiet tonight anyway.’

Grace took Michael upstairs and asked Jake to finish his homework in his bedroom.

‘What the hell happened to you?’ she asked Michael as she handed him a bowl of warm water and a facecloth.

‘I was on my way here and two lads jumped me,’ he said.

‘Did you know them?’

He shook his head. He was shaking like an addict who needed a hit. Grace could see he was a little beaten up, but she’d heard Michael was as hard as nails – just like his father. She was surprised to see him so affected by the attack.

‘Are you OK?’ she asked as she took the cloth from him and started to clean the wound above his eye.

‘I’m fine,’ he said. ‘But they’re not. I left them both lying in the street. They were in a bad way. What am I going to do, Grace? I’ll go back to prison once they find out it was me. I’ll have to serve my licence and I’ll get done for GBH, or wounding. I’ve got previous for kidnap and wounding. They might life me off this time.’

‘Well that’s only if they catch you, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘And you were here all afternoon working anyway. Marcus and I can vouch for that. I bet some of the customers could too.’

‘Really?’ he said. ‘You’d be my alibi?’

‘’Course I would. You’re my best worker.’ she smiled.

Two days later when the police arrested Michael, Grace, Marcus and six of the regulars from the pub swore that he’d been working in the Rose and Crown that afternoon and therefore couldn’t possibly have been involved in any assault. He was released, after twenty-four hours, without charge, pending further enquiries.

The following evening, Grace and Michael were working behind the bar when Detective Sergeant Tony Webster came in. Grace knew him well and the previous year, when a local drug-dealer had been shot outside the pub, they had come to an arrangement that was mutually beneficial.

‘Pint of bitter, Tony?’ Grace asked.

He nodded in reply.

She handed him his pint.

‘Nasty business, that assault on Edge Lane the other day,’ he said, pursing his lips and shaking his head.

‘Yeah, I heard.’ Grace nodded as Michael hung around in the background pretending not to be eavesdropping.

‘One of them died this afternoon,’ Tony said matter-of-factly.

‘Really?’ Grace asked, trying to keep her tone as nonchalant as possible. She could see Michael from the corner of her eye. He stopped what he was doing and stood still. ‘That’s awful.’