‘It’s the route, all right, they always take the same one. The local police know the score, see, they know the procedure for the laydowns. It’s easier than to keep replanning new routes. They’re convinced they have it off pat, and they have. But not for the GOAD, see? If Georgio can get himself removed from the nick then we’re all laughing. Because then there’s only the sweatbox to take care of. We can back and front it, take out the outriders and the police car if necessary. Then it’s just a case of getting the driver out of the vehicle because he’ll have the key to the back doors. Georgio will be cuffed in a cubicle in the sweatbox. We need the door open and the police out as quick as possible. Then we can take your man out of it.’

Alan nodded, thinking deeply.

‘What about the other cars, though?’ he said. ‘There’ll be motors queuing up once we block the road off.’

‘That’s exactly what we want, Alan. One man will take the car keys off the first three or four cars and dump them. That means once it’s all over the Old Bill will have trouble even getting to the scene of the crime, see? We’ll have scrambling bikes and be off over the road to the country lane by then. They’ll have so much to sort out it’ll be pandemonium, and that’ll give us precious minutes. ’

Alan looked at the road as if visualising it all.

Eric lit a cigar and pointed in the direction of their car.

‘I’ll explain it all now, briefly. We’ll be over there waiting in the farm roadway with a skip lorry, right? No one will know we’re there from the road.’ He pointed to the left of him. ‘The Mercedes van will be parked up over there, as if it’s broken down. We’ll have a Police Aware notice on it and everything. In the back of the Merc will be three scrambling bikes.

‘As the sweatbox arrives, the skip lorry will pull out and we’ll pull out at the same time. That’s how we’ll back and front it. There will be two minutes before the Old Bill collect themselves, maybe more, but we’re working on two minutes to be on the safe side. We all pile out with the guns. I’ll take the Armalite and go to the front of the sweatbox. The driver will shit himself once he sees it. I’ll blow two or three holes in the windscreen, then pour in some petrol. I’ll threaten to burn him alive if he doesn’t get out of the van.