Muirhead could see the witness shifting uneasily. If he was going to get him, it was now. He could have settled for leaving matters where they were, but he had the feeling it was time to chance his arm. For the second time in the case he was about to take a flier.

‘Have you been coerced into changing your evidence?’

The Advocate Depute snapped to his feet.

‘My Lord, in light of the previous questions asked, the thrust of this question must be directed at police officers. I trust my learned friend has some basis for that very serious allegation.’

‘So do I, Mr Depute.’

So do I, thought Muirhead to himself, or the shit you’ve lived in, Mr McPhee, will be nothing compared to the shit I’ll end up in.

Counsel are not permitted to fire off allegations unless there is some evidential basis to support them. Muirhead had a suspicion. That would have to do. The rule was not being broken, just bent a bit.

‘Answer my question, truthfully please.’

Every pair of eyes in the room was now focused upon Sammy. The sand beneath his feet was shifting again. His mouth was dry. He would have taken a drink of water but he knew his hand would shake so much that the glass would have been empty before it reached his lips. He was trying very hard to look straight ahead of him but almost involuntarily his eyes flickered in the direction of the public gallery. He could not make up his mind if he was relieved to see there were no faces he recognised.

‘We’re waiting patiently, Mr McPhee.’

Sammy made one more attempt to stem the tide.

‘I wasn’t so sure at the police station. I was nervous. When I looked at him here I was sure.’

‘Are you nervous today?’

‘Of course I am. You’re making me nervous.’

‘So, what’s the difference?’

‘What difference?’

‘You were nervous at the police station and you weren’t sure. You’re nervous in court and now you are sure. Why? Why Mr McPhee? What has really happened?’

Too late. The ball was well and truly burst.

‘I had to.’

‘Had to do what, Mr McPhee?’

‘Say I was sure. They told me to say I was sure.’

Muirhead asked the question. The judge, the Depute and the jury mouthed the word in unison.

‘Who?’

‘The police. The police told me to say it. When they went over my statement last night, it said that I wasn’t sure about the guy I saw. They told me that was no fucking good, sorry about the language. I must be sure. I had to be sure. They had got the right guy, so why wasn’t I sure? They told me that I had better say I was sure or they would make my life hell.’

‘Did they say how they would make your life hell?’