‘Why don’t you ring your mum, Raymondo? She only lives a spit’s throw away and you know how nosy she is,’ Ricky suggested.

Raymond shook his head. ‘Me dad’s moved back there now and I don’t want him getting wind that we knew anything about this. You know how righteous he is.’

‘What about Pat Murphy? He’s virtually O’Hara’s neighbour, ain’t he? Can’t you pretend you’re ringing him about something else and see if he says anything?’ Gary asked his father.

‘No, that’s way too risky. Murphy’s a pal of Jimmy’s and he’s bound to smell a rat if I ring him up. We’re just gonna have to wait until some bastard rings us and tells us what’s happened. Then we act shocked.’

‘So what did Baldwin say about Jimmy? Didn’t he chase after him or anything?’ Ricky asked.

‘He didn’t really see Jimmy, but he said he was in the passenger seat. Be funny if he’s killed him an’ all, won’t it? Actually, I’ll take that back, because I’m determined to have that bastard for meself and I intend to torture him for hours before I end his useless fucking life.’

Gary chuckled. ‘What about that old pal of yours, Doug? Can’t you ring him, he lives near O’Hara, don’t he?’

‘Dougie recently moved to Hutton Mount. I barely hear from him these days, to be honest. Vicki was Jessica’s pal, weren’t she? And when Jess died, Dougie seemed to give me a wide berth afterwards. Never mind, who needs friends like him when I’ve got my ole mucker, Stu?’ Ed chuckled, playfully punching his lodger on the arm.

‘So, how did you leave it with Baldwin? I take it you ain’t having no more contact with him now, are ya?’ Raymond enquired.

Eddie took a gulp of his drink and prepared himself for the torrent of abuse that was bound to fly his way. ‘Actually, I offered him a job. He won’t be starting yet like, we’ll let all this die down first.’

Gary and Ricky looked at their father in astonishment. ‘Ha, ha, very funny. You’re winding us up, right?’ Gary jeered.

‘No, I ain’t, actually. Listen, if we take on another pair of hands we can cover more ground. Not only that, when Gina has the baby, I don’t wanna be working me nuts off, day in, day out. I was hardly ever at home when yous two were little or when Frankie and Joey were young and I ain’t making the same mistake again. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna retire, I just wanna ease off a bit, if you know what I mean?’