‘Mr Regan, we need to talk. I think you may have taken things a little too far. We want the scum taken off the streets but leaving them dead in an alleyway shows the media we have a more serious problem on our hands. The whole point of having you to help us is to stop the media scrutinizing how we are handling the situation. Leaving two dead dealers for all to see will have the papers crawling all over it.’

‘Hang on a minute. I haven’t killed anyone. I did shake up two deadbeat dealers and put out a warning, but we never fucking killed anyone. What did they look like?’

‘One was a Somalian. The other was a white guy – black trousers and a white shirt. Well, not so much white now. Once we removed the hessian sacks over their heads, we found their faces were left completely annihilated. Look, Mr Regan, we gave you the lead, but now they’re dead.’

‘Right, hold on a fucking minute. You asked me to do a job. If ya are gonna start with accusations, you can forget the whole damn idea. ’Cos the truth is, even talking with you – a cozzer – turns my stomach. So this whole thing ain’t doing my digestive system much good.’

Stoneham felt the full force of Regan’s voice. The intimidating growl made him sit up and be very careful in future over his choice of words. Two months before Mike was released, they’d discovered two dead drug dealers with sacks over their faces, so he wasn’t too surprised to hear Mike deny the murders. ‘Please, Mr Regan, accept my apologies. I jumped to the wrong conclusion. I should not have accused you without establishing the facts. But your threat to their set-up has undoubtedly shaken someone’s tree.’

Once Mike calmed down, his anger diminished, he finished the call and sat there in contemplation. The Pomodorra was Zara’s restaurant, run by Italians, but it was used to sell cocaine to the toffs. It was concerning that this Flakka drug was being sold from a van across the road. Something was definitely not adding up. He wondered about the Lanigans. Were they taking over right under Zara’s nose and supplying her punters? As he understood the situation from Zara, years before the Segals tried to take over, she persuaded the Lanigans to go in and take back her business under their name. She was being paid fifty per cent, and as far as he was aware, the money was piling up in her offshore bank account. However, now she was back, taking control of her business. Perhaps they didn’t like the idea? he thought.

‘Damn!’ he said out loud, to the surprise of Ricky, who jumped and spilled his coffee.

‘What’s up, Dad?’

Mike tutted. ‘Nothing, Son, but I need to go and pay Zara a visit.’

‘Something troubling you, Dad?’