‘If you’re in prison for a long term, or you’re A grade, you are treated like a subversive - and of course eventually that is what you become. You live your whole life trying to get the better of the system. It’s an Us and Them situation. So naturally we have to use this to our advantage. If, for example, a man on the SSB wing decided to organise a work strike, or better still a riot, then the prison Governor could have him removed from the premises at his discretion. That means your husband, dear lady, would be moved with only a sweatbox and probably one Rover car to supervise it. Exactly what we need. The best way to guarantee the out is to accost the Governor. That’s where “shitting up the Governor” comes in.’

Alan nodded. ‘I’ve done it myself, Donna. You save your big jobs up for a week, until it’s nice and watery, and then you offload the bucketful over the Governor when he comes to visit the Wing. If we can get Georgio to cause a disturbance, he can be the main culprit and can do the business on the old man, and they’ll have him out as soon as possible.’

‘If he does the dirty before lunchtime,’ Eric went on, ‘then they’ll move him in the afternoon. All we’ll need is a joey on a mobile at the ferry terminal to say whether or not the sweatbox goes on it. If it does, we’re off.’

Donna frowned. ‘What if they don’t move him until the night, though?’

Eric shrugged. ‘Same thing. I’d prefer the daylight obviously, but it don’t really make that much difference. As long as he hasn’t got the big entourage. Also the local police will not be able to get too organised.’

Donna was confused. ‘But why would they move Georgio out so quick if he’s A Grade?’

‘Think about it, love,’ Anthony told her. ‘They want the ringleader out to defuse the situation. While he’s there the men he’s got behind him will want to carry on, won’t they? He’s got to wind them up, ain’t he? Be the big man. The prison authorities won’t want him there, and if he wasn’t going on the trot they’d take him from the laydown to another nick and segregate him for a few months. There’s nothing like three or four months on the block - solitary to you, love - to get people to crack up.’

Eric poured out more vodka for everyone except Donna.