Back in my flat I immediately take the cover off the plug socket in my living room to check for a listening device. I don’t know exactly what I’m meant to be looking for but as soon as I remove the cover it’s apparent that this is not a standard household socket. There is an incongruous little electronic unit with a SIM card slot and a very advanced-looking attitude inside. McCoy had been telling the truth; Emily was not knowingly working for them.

I need to see her and ask forgiveness for my grubby suspicions. I want to make sure she’s safe. I have to find her. My first thought is that she will either be at McCoy’s office or Tommy’s flat in Walworth. I pick up my car keys and run out of the flat, down the stairwell and over to the parking bays. DS Marks is nowhere to be seen but his mobile mechanic’s van is still parked up. I drive myself straight over to Emily’s flat on the Grange estate. There is no sign of Tommy’s BMW, so I chance it and climb the stairwell to the front door of her flat. I bang on the door and shout her name through the letterbox but there is no response. I go back down to my car and rest my back against its bonnet, hoping to come up with a better idea of where she might be. A squirrel appears under the cherry tree next to the car and sits up on its hind legs to have a chat.

‘Whoa, look at you, mate, all confused and agitated. You got a dilemma that needs attention?’ I ask on his behalf.

‘Yeah, a big one as it happens. I think Tommy’s taken my girlfriend and is holding her somewhere against her will.’

‘ “Girlfriend”, is it? Is that official or just a fantasy?’

‘You’re right to ask. It’s nothing official, at least for the time being.’

‘Against her will, you say? Have you thought around whether she is quite happy enough to be where she is?’

‘Well, from what’s been said to me it sounds like she’s somewhere she doesn’t want to be. That’s my dilemma; I won’t know either way until I find her.’

‘Why don’t you leave it to the police? Let them do the legwork. Have you thought around how much more suited to the job they are than you?’

‘Yes, and they might even have her already, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try. I can’t really rest until I know.’

‘I think you need to get more motivated about resting up, mate, let things take their natural course. Have you thought around the fact that most of the moves you make tend to work out towards the shit?’

‘Yeah, I know, but there must be something I can do?’