Shaking off his gloom, he went up in the lift and tapped on the door. Ludo opened it and Terry stepped into the grandly appointed apartment. It was flashy in the extreme, he’d always thought – typical Charlie and Nula. Huge Osborne & Little cream damask drapes at the floor-to-ceiling windows, massive white couches, vast tan-and-white cow skins on the floor, enormous cream and chocolate brown lamps all over the place. It shouted wealth and that was them, all right. Their money was always highly visible, like it comforted them after their poor childhoods to see it all out on display. Now, what had that all amounted to? Harlan would soon redecorate in the spare, minimalist style he favoured, which struck Terry as cold, just like him. Cold as ice.

The only person in the big open-plan room was Ludo, one of Harlan’s chief boys, a blank-eyed dandy always togged up in designer suits, his dark skin gleaming, flashy gold chains draped around his neck. Ludo invariably smelled as perfumed as a tart’s boudoir and he was neat as a new pin.

‘Harlan here?’ Terry asked. Maybe he was in one of the four bedrooms. Harlan liked to make people wait. Put in a late, grand appearance.

‘On his way right now,’ said Ludo.

‘So what’s the meet for?’ asked Terry.

‘You’ll see. When Harlan gets here.’

There was something in Ludo’s eyes. Something bad.

Terry felt his heartbeat pick up, felt light sweat break out on his brow.

‘I need to make a call,’ he said, finding that he needed to swallow hard to get his voice working.

‘Sure,’ said Ludo, indicating the phone by the couch.

‘It’s private.’

Ludo shrugged and displayed a rack of gleaming white teeth. ‘We got no secrets from each other, bro. Anything you say, these ears can hear.’

Terry went and picked up the phone. Dialled the number. Waited. It was a damned long time, but finally, she picked up.

‘Hi babe,’ he said, keeping his voice even. There was a lot he wanted to say right now.

‘Oh! Hi baby.’

There was strain in her voice. Irritation.

‘What’s the matter?’ he said, anxious.

‘Bloody Harlan’s just pulled up on the drive,’ she said. ‘Stopped right outside. Oh, and there’s another car too . . . yeah, that’s Nipper’s.’

But I’m meant to be meeting Harlan here.

Terry felt a moment’s gut-churning panic, then he calmed himself. Breathed. If he could do nothing else, he could help his wife. Help Belle. By the sound of it, it was too late for the run code.

He watched Ludo moving around the room, picking up this, putting it down, moving along, moving around . . . now he was behind him, out of Terry’s eyeline.

Christ.

There was very little time.

He said: ‘The bag I left in the hall, is my pen in there?’