Carol Jackson pulled on her cigarette and said, ‘They’re all weird, mate. We get all sorts - daydreamers who want to sit and smell the leather upholstery and imagine pulling a bird in a nice motor, to old boys who can afford the cars but go back to their Granadas. We don’t keep tabs on the people who look, for Christ’s sake. Most of our working day is spent with people who do just that - look!’

The DI finished his tea. ‘I’ll be off then. Listen, if you get any thoughts, give me a bell, OK?’

As he got to the kitchen door he turned back. ‘By the way, has anyone got it in for your old man, Mrs Brunos? I hear he’s doing a long stretch.’

Donna looked up with frightened eyes. ‘Not that I know of. Everyone liked my Georgio. But I could ask him, I suppose, when I go to see him.’

The DI smiled at her kindly. ‘You do that, love.’ He nodded once more and walked from the room followed by his sidekick, DC Lines.

Richie Richardson felt sorry for Donna Brunos. It had come as a shock to her, a genuine shock. This wasn’t an insurance scam as he had first suspected; there was more to it than met the eye. As he passed through the large entrance hall and took in the antique clock, he shook his head in disbelief.

Crime, it seemed, certainly did pay, and bloody well by the looks of it. He himself had a seventy grand mortgage and his house was worth less than he had paid for it, he had a wife and three kids, and was lucky if he got a week in Bournemouth once every two years.

He banged the front door with a satisfying slam on his way out.

Stephen saw out Davey and Carol and sent Dolly up to bed. In the kitchen he covered Donna’s hand with his own.

‘It sounds to me like vandals, love. Don’t let it get to you.’

Donna sniffed loudly. ‘Why, though? Why would vandals want to do something like that? I know a few years ago we had paint thrown over the motors, that’s kids’ idea of vandalism. This seems . . . Oh, I don’t know, more sinister somehow.’

Stephen smiled a smile he would have sworn he didn’t have in him. ‘Kids are much more aggressive nowadays,’ he told her. ‘From what that woman said it sounded like a ram-raiding vehicle. They’re out-and-out fuckers now, you’ve only got to read the papers.’

Donna was quiet as she listened to him. The silence was getting heavy when she finally spoke.