‘I’m sick of patronising eyes and pursed lips,’ she said, turning to face him. ‘Our blood is the same colour as the pale but that doesn’t matter because our skin is brown and our Prophet is a man not a god. Nowak could acquire that last mantle of privilege and respectability that you and I will never have, that our son can never have, because he was a white Christian man. That is why I killed him. Not because of business – fuck business. Business does not keep you warm at night; business does not bring back the dead. It does not bring you a respect that goes beyond cold, hard cash. No, this was not business, this was personal. He came here thinking he could take what was ours. His privilege brought him here; his arrogance got him killed.

‘I’ve seen who I am and it’s something I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life. But I don’t see why anyone else should.’

She looked away now, waiting for his response, thinking he would be shocked, that he would stand in judgement. But he didn’t. Instead, he got up and kissed her. And she knew that he hadn’t heard a word she had said.

CHAPTER 47

‘We have identified the three other men as members of a crime family from Eastern Europe, known as the Brotherhood,’ the chief of police said. ‘We understand they hired men from outside the city to create tensions and bring disorder to this great city so that they might take advantage of the disruption to conduct illegal drug activities.’

He was speaking at a press conference outside the steps of City Hall. He looked tired as he spoke. The last seven days had been difficult and he was looking forward to going home to his wife tonight. Tomorrow they would take the dogs and head to the moors, without having to worry about what was to come. Jia had made sure of that, and he was relieved. The clean-up operation would begin on Monday. Right now, the press must be dealt with. He wasn’t sure how they would react, but was hoping the questions would be few. He spoke clearly and firmly as he had been trained to do.

‘It is proving to be a difficult investigation,’ he said, ‘since most of the evidence was destroyed in the fire. But we believe the owner of the travel agency was their money launderer and the shooting was the result of an altercation between him and the Brotherhood.’

A week had passed since the day of the riots and Ahad and Elyas no longer felt like guests at Pukhtun House. Jia had also been asked to give a press statement outside the gates of the family home. Father and son watched the events on television from inside. Idris was with them.