‘I thought not,’ Slack said. ‘So here goes. I believe you’ve sussed already that this was all about revenge. It was never about stopping the task force from probing my affairs. I just started with that to make it more interesting. No, this was me getting my own back on you lot for what you did to my son, my wife, my dad and my unborn grandchild.’

It felt like a fist was clenching my heart, squeezing it tight. I thought about the baby I’d lost and wanted to tell him. But I didn’t because I knew he’d be pleased that he’d done to me what the police had done to his son’s girlfriend.

So I bit down on my lip and listened to the bastard try to justify his actions.

‘The Old Bill fucked up my life good and proper,’ he went on. ‘When I was told I only had months to live I decided to make you pay. I knew I had nothing to lose so I reckoned it could be my swansong.’

He pointed to the envelopes on the table in front of him.

‘One of them contains my suicide note which spells it all out. When you read it you’ll understand why I hate you all so much. The other envelope contains a little surprise for you guys.’

‘Please put the gun down, Roy,’ Drummond said. ‘Let’s have a proper conversation. You don’t want to take your own life. Surely.’

‘But I do. I thought I’d just made that clear. I’ve got fuck all to live for. I was only delaying this moment so that I could punish you lot of parasites and I’m satisfied that I’ve done just that.’

With his free hand he picked up the photo frame that had been lying on his lap.

‘It’s time I was reunited with my Julie,’ he said.

He looked at the picture and his nostrils flared like he’d picked up a scent.

I was sure I wasn’t the only one who considered rushing across the room to wrest the gun from him. But he was a good five metres away and that made it too risky.

Tramlines gathered on his forehead and he said, ‘There’s one other thing I want you to know. That copper who murdered my boy Terry is dead. I killed him myself. I don’t know where the lads dumped his body and even if I did I wouldn’t tell you.’

He then held the photo frame to his chest and it struck me that the expression that came over his face was one of pure contentment.

The last thing he did before pulling the trigger was to close his eyes and smile.

The bullet blew a hole through his head, shattering his brain before exiting through the top of his skull and slamming into the ceiling where it left a big red mark.