‘No problem at all, Gary,’ replied Cowley. They both took out little black wallets from their pockets. The cover of the wallet was embossed with the Metropolitan Police crest and inside had a plastic photo ID insert. The names and photos were both present and correct. They looked like the real deal.

‘Thank you both. So, did you want to speak to me about something?’

‘We just wondered if you’d thought of anything new that might be pertinent to our enquiries, Gary. You seem like a deep thinker. Maybe something has popped into your mind?’ asked Cowley.

‘Yeah, there were a couple of things that I thought you should know but I didn’t have your phone number. You didn’t leave me your card.’

‘Oh, sorry about that, Gary. How remiss of me. But we’re here now, so fire away. What can you tell us?’

‘Well, firstly, for some reason I dialled Brendan’s telephone number when I was in the pub last night – you know, just one last time before I deleted his name – and someone answered it. I’m guessing it was the police but the person on the other end didn’t say a word.’

‘I can assure you that if it was a police officer, they would have spoken to you, and if you remember, we didn’t find any phones on Brendan’s person. Do you have your phone on you?’ asked Cowley.

‘Yes, I do.’

‘Well, why don’t you try the number again, Gary? This could be important,’ instructed Wilmott.

I dialled the number and got the message: ‘The telephone number you have dialled is no longer in service.’ They didn’t seem surprised.

‘Well, thank you for that information, Gary. Now, what was the other thing that you wanted to tell us?’ asked Cowley.

‘It was just that I went into work yesterday and remembered that we were holding some important documents on behalf of Brendan – his will, his title deeds, pension details, that sort of thing.’

‘Did you have a look at them, Gary?’ asked Cowley.

‘Yes, they were just in an envelope in the deed box in my office. Nothing that seemed significant, but I thought you should probably know.’

‘Thank you, Gary, we will look into that, get your firm’s permission to take a look. Was there anything else in the envelope of interest? You know – computer discs, diaries, tape recordings, that sort of thing?’ asked Cowley with a sudden neediness in his voice.

‘No, just the normal documents that anyone might deposit with their solicitor.’