‘Come through to my office please, Gary,’ he requested.

I followed him to his grand office on the first floor. It was designed to intimidate and impress. A huge mahogany desk at one end beneath an imposing portrait of the original founders of the firm. Every other wall was covered floor to ceiling with law books. I remembered the first time I entered this room when I was interviewed for my current job. Our conversation went something like this:

‘Why do you want to work at Tarrants, Mr Thorn?’

‘Because it’s a well-established firm with an excellent reputation that specializes in the type of cases that interest me.’

‘Bullshit. There are hundreds of firms just like this one looking for staff. What’s the real reason?’

‘No, really, I took a lot of care researching the firm and it seemed like a perfect fit.’

‘Last chance, Mr Thorn, or you are out of here.’

‘I only live five minutes away and it would be really convenient for me.’

‘Good lad, I like you, can you start next Monday?’

‘Yes.’

‘Do you want to pretend you have some questions that you are interested in hearing the answers to?’

‘No.’

‘Good lad, see you next Monday.’

He was in a similar mood today.

‘Listen, Gary, John McCoy, the owner of Cityside Investigations, is a very important client of mine, and as you know, Brendan was one of his favourite employees. Make sure you co-operate with the police.’

‘I’ve spoken to them already. I didn’t have anything useful to tell them. I was only in the pub with Brendan for half an hour. He was fine when he left. I’ll keep you informed if they contact me again.’

‘Don’t bother. I don’t want any conflict of interest arising between this firm and Cityside Investigations. We can’t afford to lose them as a client. Keep this as your problem and not mine. If any conflict arises, I’ll dump you and not John McCoy, do you understand?’

‘Yes, of course, I won’t mention it again.’

‘Correct, and buy yourself a new suit, you look like a carpet salesman.’

I had only been back in my office five minutes when the phone on my desk rang. It was the custody officer at Peckham Police Station. A client of the firm had requested that we attend the station to be present when he is interviewed under caution. The client’s name was Wayne Moore. So, I thought, that was why he wasn’t in the coffee shop this morning.