Tommy tosses the plastic tube and it lands at my feet. I bend down and pick it up to examine its contents. It is definitely the knife from the Grove Tavern, complete with the little chunk of wood missing from the handle. Things seem to be going well. Then Lassoo appears at my feet and proceeds to sniff everyone’s legs in turn.

‘Hi, Gary.’

It’s Grace waddling her way over to us.

‘Sorry, but Lassoo needed to go. Hope you don’t mind me joining you?’

I guess that this is my situation to handle, so I reply: ‘No, not at all, Grace, just having a meeting with these clients. They are interested in developing some houses on the play area.’

‘But where is my Lassoo going to do his dirts? You know fine well this is his favourite spot.’

‘Hello, darling,’ says McCoy. ‘Lovely to see you again. You remember I helped you search your flat for the dongle that you misplaced?’

‘Yes, I do, and I also remember Gary telling me you were a nasty bit of work and an arsehole to boot. You’re not trying to buy this land; you’re up to something dodgy. Do you want me to phone the police, Gary?’

Peterson removes his police badge from his inside pocket and displays it towards Grace.

‘No need to do that, love, I’m a police officer and I would ask you to leave us now as we are on official business.’

‘Do you want me to leave, Gary?’

‘Yes, I’m fine, Grace. Just one thing, though: could you take this knife and tube back to your flat and clean them with bleach, Brillo pads, nail varnish remover – anything you can get your hands on.’

Grace looks at me suspiciously then turns towards Peterson:

‘Show me that badge again.’

He obliges.

‘And are you okay with me cleaning up that knife?’ she asks of Peterson.

‘Absolutely fine. It’s nothing to do with any ongoing enquiries, so if you could toddle off now that would be great.’

‘I’ll get that done, then, Gary. I’ve got some window cleaner with ammonia in it – that should do the trick. And remember the best advice is to keep your trap shut when dealing with the police.’

I give Grace the tube and she slowly makes her way back across the grass to her flat. I half expect Tommy to chase her and retrieve the knife, but he doesn’t. Lassoo stays with us and sits down at my feet. He looks up at me with an expression that suggests, ‘Don’t worry, kid, I’ll look after you.’

‘Come on, Gary, let’s be having the dongle,’ says McCoy.

I hesitate. There are a few things I want to clear up before handing it over.

‘Have you dropped all charges against Wayne and Derek Moore?’