‘That doesn’t mean anything . . .’

‘If they were addressed to him, then he must have known about them. He had visited Sri Lanka just before, Donna. If you look through these books, all the children are foreign - either Indian-looking or Thai. Now Stephen’s going out there, isn’t he, after you get a fax saying they’re stopping the shipping?’

Donna stared at Dolly, trying to take in what the older woman was saying. As the meaning hit her she began to shake her head.

‘Never, not in a million years, no way. Not my Georgio. It’s that piece of slime, Stephen. Stephen the woman-seller, the pimp, that’s who’s behind this little lot, Dolly. My Georgio hates anything to do with sex-offenders. Remember how he used to carry on about them, and rapists as well? He wouldn’t be caught up in all this, I know he wouldn’t. He never even so much as had a blue film in our home. I can’t, won’t believe he knew anything about this.’

Dolly sighed and lit herself another cigarette from the butt of her previous one.

‘Well, Donna, it came from somewhere. If the police had found these . . .’ She left the sentence unfinished.

Donna stood up and paced the kitchen floor.

‘That’s it! Maybe Georgio knew nothing. Perhaps Big Paddy was just using this place as a pick-up point. The dirty bastard! Bringing that filth into my home!’

Dolly watched Donna for a few moments before she said, ‘But Paddy has no interests in Sri Lanka or in Thailand, as far as we know anyway. Lewis and Georgio were in that partnership, and knowing Lewis like I do, this doesn’t surprise me about him at all. To be honest, I’m not so sure it surprises me about Georgio either. Not now.’

Donna turned on Dolly like a vixen.

‘Don’t you dare cast aspersions on my husband like that, Dolly. I will not have it, do you hear me? Georgio is a sod, God knows I’ve had to accept that myself over the last year, but this! Never. I’d stake the next ten years of my life on that.’

She stopped her pacing and lit a cigarette.

‘Did you say computer discs earlier? There were boxes of discs?’

Dolly nodded.

Donna closed her eyes.

‘They’re still at it, Dolly,’ she said in a voice that shook. ‘It is Stephen.’

She ran from the room to Georgio’s office and grabbed the floppy disc she had slipped out of the box in the car lot.

‘They’re still at it, even now, and Davey Jackson is involved as well.’

She laughed with relief.

‘It’s not my Georgio. I knew it couldn’t be. I knew even he would never stoop that low.’

Then she cried.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Five