I wouldn’t have thought of a bloody great elephant and several wild animals as pets, but I could see it would get a little tiresome. Meanwhile, something I’d seen earlier was playing on my mind a bit, so I took the opportunity to change the subject completely. ‘I think that’s all I need to ask about the bikes. Like I said, please let me know if you hear of anything. While I’m here, my niece is a huge circus fan. Her folks are bringing her along tomorrow night. Do you have any spare copies of your circus poster she could have for her bedroom wall? I think she’d love that.’

Actually, it wasn’t for my niece at all, and her mum probably wouldn’t let her have posters on the wall anyway – they might make pinholes. No, there was something about the towns on the itinerary that was bugging me.

‘Yeah, sure, we’ve got hundreds of the things. You can have a couple. It’s the kids that keep the circus going, isn’t it? We can put up with all the crap because in the end, it’s the kids who love it and have a good time.’ I didn’t peg him as the sentimental type, so was quite sure it wasn’t all about the kids – publicity speak if I ever heard it. Cynical, I suppose. But judging by how flash the trailer unit was that he lived in, he could put up with the crap because he made a damned good bob out of it. It was all about business. That’s how he could keep lions caged up all day and monkeys imprisoned, miniature ponies and dogs in less than ideal conditions and as for that poor bloody elephant … I was brought up on a farm where animal welfare was paramount. My impression of this place was that welfare was secondary to profits.

The circus had lost its appeal. I’d get out of here, head back to the station, write up the report on this wild goose-chase and then sit and try to figure out why the posters were bugging me so much.

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