Bailey banged her fist on the table angrily. Frank and Dale both recoiled, looking shocked, almost a little scared.

‘Look at the picture!’ she said, punching her finger at it.

‘I am!’ said Frank.

‘What’s that wiggly thing?’ Dale asked.

‘It’s his pet snake. Mister Snigiss had a pet cobra called Sid.’

Frank and Dale swapped glances in a way two people might do if they thought they were dealing with someone who was mentally unhinged.

Bailey huffed in annoyance. ‘I’m serious!’

Frank was shaking his head incredulously. ‘So you’re saying that because your sister’s invisible friend wore a fedora hat, it must have been him who planted the car bomb?’

Dale spoke up. ‘Bailey, are you suggesting that we put this picture in front of seasoned murder detectives? You met those two – Adam and Joseph. Can you imagine how they’d react? They’d laugh you out of the room. You’d never live it down.’

Bailey sighed in frustration. She could see how crazy it must have looked to them. She folded the picture and put it back in her purse.

‘Look,’ she said, in a more reasonable tone. ‘All I’m saying is that I think I’m onto something. I’m not sure what, yet. But I’ll find out eventually.’

Frank evinced an expression of concern. ‘Look, I know how important your sister is to you, Bailey, but I don’t want you getting side-tracked. Your priority is to focus on the guns. Okay?’

He fixed her with a stern expression.

She rolled her eyes. ‘Okay, Frank. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure the guns take top priority over anything else.’

He nodded, apparently mollified, but he didn’t look like he entirely believed her.

‘Just leave it with us, Bailey,’ said Dale. ‘I’ll make sure this sex tape finds its way to the murder investigation team and I’ll keep you posted on what they find out. Okay?’

She sighed. She guessed it would have to be okay. For the time being.

40

Nancy Molloy glared at the group of Asian youths hanging around near the entrance to The Admiral. This area really had gone down the toilet, she thought. She pushed past them haughtily and entered the reassuring warmth and security of the pub.

She bestowed a warm smile on the slim young bartender.

‘Hello, Ronnie, how are you?’ she said.

‘I’m fine, thank you, Mrs Molloy. They’re waiting for you in the back room.’

She nodded and made her way past the side of the bar through to the soundproofed back room. As expected, Rick was sitting there, along with Shane and Archie on his right and Stephen on his left. The core crew.

Her son had called her to this meeting, but she didn’t know what it was about, but then it was his wise habit never to explain anything in any detail over the phone. She did have a feeling it was important though as he’d told her it was urgent and they only really ever met here in this room when they had super-confidential things to discuss.