Bailey paused the video on the man’s face and studied it in more detail. Who was he exactly? The more she looked at him, the more she realised there was something familiar about him. She’d seen him somewhere before, she was sure of it. But he wasn’t someone she’d met personally. She must have seen him on TV somewhere.

And then it was with a powerful jolt that she recognised him. She’d seen him on the news one night when she’d been unable to sleep.

It was Lewis Ballantyne, the prospective Conservative candidate for Mayor of London.

39

The three of them huddled around her laptop on the table in the temporary HQ above the kebab shop.

Bailey wryly observed Frank and Dale as they watched the video play on the small screen. At first they both looked a bit taken aback at the graphic nature of what they were seeing. Dale seemed somewhat bemused and Frank had gone a bit red.

‘This was in Adrian’s possession when he was blown up,’ explained Bailey.

As the two women and the man writhed around on the bed, Bailey waited with bated breath for either Frank or Dale to recognise Lewis Ballantyne, but neither of them did. Either they didn’t keep track of the news or their attention was too taken up by the women.

Instead, Dale nodded at the screen and said, ‘You know that’s Tiffany, right?’

Bailey frowned and peered at the blonde woman. ‘The one who got blown up with Adrian?’

‘One and the same.’

Bailey nodded to herself with interest. Pieces were starting to fall into place…

‘I thought she was just Adrian’s floozy,’ said Frank.

‘She was some kind of model apparently,’ Dale clarified. ‘According to the murder investigation team.’

‘Model?’ said Bailey. ‘Hooker more like. Watching the video, you can see that they’re professionals.’

She leant forward and tapped on the laptop to pause the video on the man’s face.

‘I’m surprised you haven’t recognised him,’ she said.

They both looked at her blankly.

‘He’s just some rich older bloke,’ said Dale. ‘Presumably he’d have to be pretty wealthy to get two babes like that to sleep with him.’

‘He’s no ordinary older bloke,’ Bailey replied. ‘He’s Lewis Ballantyne.’

Dale’s eyes widened as he gaped at the screen. Frank bore much the same expression.

‘Holy shit!’ exclaimed Dale. ‘You’re right. It is.’

Frank and Dale lapsed into stunned silence as they absorbed the potential ramifications of what they were watching.

‘The Met’s golden boy,’ murmured Frank. ‘This isn’t going to do much for his political career.’

‘This is a blackmail tape if ever I saw one,’ said Dale.

‘Do you think Adrian had a plan to try and blackmail him?’ asked Bailey.

Dale raised his eyebrows. ‘I knew he had various schemes running secretly on the side, though I never had any idea he was into anything this heavy.’

‘He was holding that memory stick in his hand when he was blown up,’ said Bailey, explaining how she’d acquired it from Dave Boakes. ‘Seeing as Tiffany is the girl in the tape, I think she gave this memory stick to Adrian just before he got blown up. I reckon that it belonged to her. It’s my belief that the reason Adrian and Tiffany were together that evening wasn’t because they were on a date; it was so that she could meet him and give him this. But clearly someone else had other plans for them.’