‘You went alone?’ He cannot disguise his shock.

‘I thought I might take a look. See what I could see.’

‘You’ve got guts, I’ll say that for you. And?’

‘Well, I didn’t… I didn’t stay long. There was a raid. Police. I left long before they arrived, through the back door. The cloakroom attendant told me that they received a warning at the club.’

‘That’s not quite what happened…’

Harriet is surprised. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Never mind. I’m intrigued – tell me about the Angel.’

‘Um. I saw some women sniffing cocaine.’

‘Really? Do you know what that looks like?’

‘I’m not so very naïve,’ she says. ‘They were pushing white powder up their nostrils – that is cocaine, isn’t it?’

‘It is. Anything else?’

‘I saw the man who robbed Enderby’s jewellers with Ruby Mills. Billy Walsh, he’s called. He’s one of the Elephant Boys and a hardened criminal, according to Mr MacKenzie.’

‘Inspector MacKenzie? Of Scotland Yard?’

She colours. ‘Embarrassingly, I know him, too. He’s a friend of my father’s. He says Billy Walsh is a violent man. I saw him shove Cecily Enderby into the street, certainly.’

‘He’s capable of more than that, but he’s a small-time crook, at the moment. I think the Elephants are becoming involved in operations on this side of the river. Illegal betting is usually their thing, racecourses and dog tracks, but I hear they’re trying to involve themselves in the cocaine market.’

‘The men with Billy Walsh, they were more of the Elephant Boys, I discovered. The cloakroom attendant told me. When I walked past, I heard them mention something about taking “goods to Mayfair”. Someone called Mortimer is looking after them. Would that be cocaine as well, do you think?’

He rubs his eyebrow and stares pensively at the notes, talking more to himself than to Harriet. ‘There’s an office not far from the club, a letting agency. That’s Mortimer. I want to speak with him. I know that I can tie Lazenby with the Elephants, and with some of the other crooks around, and, of course, Kimber and the Brummagems might be part of it, but I doubt it, and my real suspicion is that there are Westminster men involved…’

She starts. He looks up.

‘What do you mean, Westminster men?’ she says.

‘Why do you ask?’

‘No reason. I suppose it’s just that, with my father’s connections, I’ve been around Westminster men all my life. They are good men. Upright, decent people. Not drug dealers, certainly.’

‘I’m sure they are. They’re not all bad.’ He pauses. ‘Stay away from Peter Lazenby, Harriet. He’s not a good man. Not at all.’

‘He’s certainly a charmer,’ she says, remembering his stories.