‘I’m sorry, but I ain’t saying nothing. All I can guarantee you is that I have it all stashed away safe as houses. You listen to this. Wilson was going to take your cut, he was. It was only the Old Bill turning up like they did, and my quick thinking, that even saved the dough. I’d had it on me toes with it within minutes of the robbery. I had a feeling something was going down. Wilson was like a cat with a rat hanging on its arse, and the driver was practically a fucking geriatric. I oversaw that blag, and I oversaw it for you! Because you was me mate. And now I have to keep information from you in case you top me, so no one but me knows where the fuck the money is. I ain’t enjoying all this, you know,’ Georgio said hotly. ‘I got eighteen fucking years, remember - eighteen years on the say-so of fucking Wilson. The same Wilson who had help this morning to top himself. So knowing you like I do, I have to have a bit of insurance. If you torture me and I talk, you still won’t know if what I tell you is correct. And the way I feel, you could torture me till the cows come home and you’ll get nothing out of me. Even Big Harry outside don’t scare me. Eighteen years scares me, Lewis. I don’t want to do it and if I don’t get parole I might top meself anyway!’

Lewis sat back in his seat. He acknowledged that Georgio was trying to save himself; he accepted that. He also knew Georgio had had every intention of keeping a large portion of Lewis’s money himself. What riled him was that Georgio now had the whole pack of cards, even the jokers. Because Lewis knew, in his heart of hearts, that everything Georgio said was true. Only he knew where the money was, and that was his insurance.

Donald Lewis, his eyes alight with malice, smiled and said: ‘Georgio, we’re friends. Friends shouldn’t argue, especially not over money. I admit I’ve been a bit hard on you. I’m overwrought. But I’m sure that me and you can sort something out. You keep your peace, I accept your logic. But if, and I mean if, you get your parole and leave here, you’ll be accompanied by a friend of mine until what I own is in a safe place. If you lose your appeal,’ he laughed gently, ‘then I’m afraid we’ll have to reassess the situation.’