Eddie sighed. ‘I’d rather just ring Flatnose, Lal. I can’t be doing with all the Old Bill’s questions; I’ve just lost my son, for fuck’s sake. Ain’t there another way we can sort this without involving them? And what about the forensics? Say they discover that the O’Hara’s had been shot? We’ll all be in shit-street then.’

‘Now listen to me, Ed, and listen very carefully. The O’Haras have killed not only your father, but also your son, and if you loved Harry and Ricky as much as I know you did, you wouldn’t want their deaths to be in vain, would you now? What you’ve just told me about Jed murdering your father has literally knocked the stuffing out of me. Harry wasn’t just one of my clients, I classed him as one of my best friends as well. You must honour your dad’s and Ricky’s memories, Ed. Fitzgerald Smythe is the best QC I’ve ever worked with, but even he couldn’t get you out of this one. Even Einstein would falter on a case such as this. Please, just do as I say, Eddie. It’s the only way out this time, I can promise you that. As for the forensics findings, we’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.’

‘OK,’ Ed said ending the phone call. He turned to Gary, Joey and Raymond and repeated the conversation.

‘I can’t drag my brother’s body out of ’ere like a lump of dead meat. You’re gonna have to do that,’ Gary muttered.

Eddie nodded, then turned to Joey. ‘How did you get here?’

‘Dom brought me. I told him to wait five minutes in case yous weren’t here, then drive back to Frankie’s.’

‘You’d better go and check he ain’t still sitting there. If he is, jump in the car and go back to your sister’s. Say nothing, though, Joey, I’ll do all the explaining later.’

‘Nan and Grandad are at Frankie’s an’ all,’ Joey informed him.

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake! You’re just gonna have to try and act normal, boy. I’ll get there as quick as I can.’

When Joey left the building, Eddie tried to stand up, but couldn’t. ‘We need to get rid of everything now, boys. Rope, knives, baseball bats, the gun, the whole fucking caboodle,’ he ordered, as Raymond helped him up.

‘How we gonna do that? Ray, you’ll have to dump all our props somewhere; I can’t drive with this leg,’ Gary replied.