Jeff still wasn’t buying it. ‘No. There’s something else. Some other reason why he didn’t want us to even know what’s going on. It’s as if … I dunno, as if he was under pressure to hide it from us for some reason.’

‘We’ve no proof of that, Jeff.’

‘I’ve known him a long time.’

‘But you’re still just shooting in the dark. Like, if this is about Grace, then what’s he doing heading off to London? That’s five hundred miles from where she lives. Answer me that.’

Jeff frowned, thinking. ‘Might not be going to London. Might just’ve told us that, to put us off the track.’

‘Ben would never lie to us. You know that.’

‘But what if he did?’

‘Then we’d have even less of a clue.’

Jeff said nothing for a moment, then slammed down his mug of coffee and stood up. ‘You’re right. What we need here are facts. So let’s go and see if we can’t find some. I’m going up to his room.’

Jeff led the way upstairs, flipping on lights with Tuesday following in his wake. Ben was the only one of the three whose personal quarters were within the main house. Jeff lived across the yard in a former outbuilding that had been converted into a small, cosy cottage, while Tuesday occupied a static caravan in the woods, complete with an outdoor barbecue smoker and a hammock for those lazy summer days that reminded him of life in Jamaica. As close friends as the three were, each man’s private space within the Le Val compound was hallowed ground and generally off-limits to the others, except by invitation. Jeff hadn’t been inside Ben’s simple quarters for a while, but he didn’t expect much to have changed. Tuesday looked uneasy as Jeff reached Ben’s door and pushed inside the room. Ben had left without turning off the light.

‘He wouldn’t want us poking around in here,’ Tuesday said.

‘Then stay out. I’ll do it on my own.’

Tuesday sighed, then stepped into the room after him. Jeff was already searching for clues. And there were plenty of those waiting to be found.

The first thing they noticed was the broken mirror on the wall. The next was the collection of items lying on the bed. A Springfield XD pistol with several loaded magazines. Two passports. A slim black Apple iPhone. A plain brown envelope. Jeff walked around the side of the bed and peered inside the wall safe that was hanging open. Then he turned back towards the bed. ‘There’s fresh blood on the duvet.’

Tuesday pointed at the broken mirror. ‘Now we know how he cut his hand. Who takes a swing at a mirror like that?’

‘The elephant man?’

‘Don’t be facetious.’

‘I don’t know, mate. You’re the psychologist.’