‘Before they locked me away, one of them – the big one – asked me if I knew why I was being punished. This made another very angry and he slapped the side of the lorry, calling for silence. They were trying not to talk. And then they locked me in and left me and all three of them returned to their vehicle. I heard it drive away.’

‘Wait a minute,’ I said. ‘Three of them locked you up? So there was another one that remained in the cab?’

‘No. They all came to lock me away.’

‘So you’re saying there were only three of them?’ I said.

Abu Din nodded. ‘The two who took me and the one who was driving.’

Edie and I exchanged a look.

‘Then where was the fourth man?’ I said.

‘Maybe he was driving the change vehicle,’ Edie said. ‘It was the smart move to switch vehicles and burn the kidnap van.’

‘But he would still need a ride, wouldn’t he? After the first vehicle was torched.’ I turned back to Abu Din.

‘Did you see their faces?’ I asked him. ‘Did they remove their masks? Did you hear voices? Did they say any names?’

‘You asked me this already. I saw their white hands. I smelled their lack of faith. They were kuffars – unbelievers. Like you.’

‘Any tattoos or distinguishing features on their hands? Did they say anything at all?’

He did not answer me.

‘You’re very lucky to be alive,’ Edie said. ‘You know that, don’t you?’

He knew.

Abu Din gripped his right hand with the left, but still he could not stop it shaking. But he was playing the big man for the followers who were out in the street and who had crammed into the large council house in Wembley. We could hear them stomping around upstairs while we conducted our interview. And it crossed my mind that perhaps he truly believed that it was some god who had saved him today.

‘It was not my time for jannah,’ he said.

‘Jannah is paradise, right?’ I said.

He said nothing, unimpressed by my sketchy knowledge of Arabic. ‘London cops know fifty words in fifty languages,’ I said, smiling at him.

No response.

‘Mr Din, we are going to give you an Osman Warning,’ I said. ‘It’s an official warning that we believe your life is in mortal danger and we are offering you police protection.’

His thin-lipped mouth twisted into a smile.

‘Do you think I need the protection of unbelievers?’

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘And we’ll talk again.’

We closed our notebooks.