His big fear on entering the pawn shop was that he would be required to show ID. Maybe it was because of his smart appearance in Mark’s clothes, or the beat-up face, but he wasn’t asked for any, just swiftly offered a sum of money for the goods, which though obviously too low, he’d accepted anyway.

Feeling much the better for having some cash in hand, he headed for a nearby Tesco and bought a burner phone and some credit. Then he sat in a cafe window seat, with a view of Mark’s building, and watched for any visitors, aware that he might well have missed them in the interim.

His luck was in, however.

While he was enjoying his first coffee of the day, the black van drew up outside. What looked like the same two guys emerged along with the Kommandant, which suggested they’d swallowed his story of McNab’s escape.

McNab smiled as he took photographs of all three entering the building, plus, of course, the number plate of the van.

While he waited for them to come back out, McNab called the station and asked to be put through to Ollie, who sounded verging on the ecstatic to hear his voice.

‘Hey,’ McNab reminded him. ‘This isn’t Maria you’re talking to here.’

‘What do you need, Detective Sergeant?’ Ollie said, the smile still in his voice.

McNab fed him an image of the van’s number plate first. ‘It’s connected with Go Wild in some way. Find out how.’

Next were the twin bruisers. ‘Mutt and Jeff,’ he told Ollie. ‘Jeff’s the one on the right. They’re both heavily tattooed. Mutt likes naked women, probably the only way he gets to touch one. Jeff’s more of a Nazi lover. I would expect both to be somewhere on the system.’

‘The third guy, the Kommandant. He’s the one that let me go. He’s the one I’m interested in.’

None of the images he’d managed to take were face on, but with a super recognizer like Ollie that shouldn’t be a problem.

‘Call me back when you have something.’ McNab cut the call as he spotted the Kommandant and the two stooges re-emerge and climb into the van.

If they’d confirmed he’d been staying there, and it was pretty obvious by the mess, then they’d think there was a chance he would return, unless the Kommandant persuaded them otherwise.

Nevertheless, it looked like the comfy couch and Mark’s whisky were now out of bounds.

McNab finished his coffee and requested another. He would stay here until Ollie came up with the goods, which, judging by his enthusiasm, wouldn’t be that long, on the vehicle front at least.

By the time the call came, he was on his third espresso.