‘There’s no one who springs to mind instantly among the armed robbers who live on the division. To be honest, there are only about ten I know of, and at least half of them are currently in prison. What I can do for you is look through my card index trays and compile a list of criminals in the same age bracket with similar features. But it will take me a day or so and I’m off over the weekend.’

‘That would be very helpful, thank you.’

‘Is there anything else you know about them – what sort of work they do or cars they drive?’

‘Nothing about cars, but there’s a possibility M2 may be connected to the Star Bingo Hall or Grove Snooker Hall opposite the cafe.’

‘Oh yes, the snooker hall opened about six months ago.’

Jane nodded. ‘From what I was told, that ties in with the time the two men started using the cafe.’

‘The bingo hall opens at about midday, and from the description of your M2 I’d say he’s much more likely connected to the snooker hall. Did you notice if the building had an alarm on it?’

‘I didn’t look, to be honest.’

‘Not to worry, let’s have a look in the keyholders’ cards to see if it’s registered.’

He walked over to the index trays.

Jane knew that many businesses were fitted with alarms registered with the local police. The keyholder was usually the owner, or an employee, who could be called out during closing hours, in case of a break-in, and reset the alarm if it went off by accident.

He pulled a card from the tray.

‘The bingo hall’s main keyholder has been the manager for the last two years, the secondary is a woman. There’s two people for the Grove snooker hall. The primary holder is shown as the assistant manager, Aidan O’Reilly, of 94A Seven Sisters Road N7, which is on Wood Green Division, and probably above a shop, as that’s a main road. There’s a phone number for him as well.’

Jane stopped writing in her pocket notebook.

‘Sorry – did you say O’Reilly?’ She recalled Rachel mentioning the name ‘Riley’.

‘Yes.’

He handed her the keyholder’s card. She recorded the details in her pocket notebook.

‘Have you got an Aidan O’Reilly in your criminal index cards?’

He looked through the ‘O’ section and pulled out some cards.

‘There’s five O’Reilly’s, none with the first name Aidan, and two of them are from the same family.’ He pointed to the computer on his desk. ‘I could run a criminal record check on the PNC, but you’ll probably get hundreds of hits from all around the country.’