In a small symbolic gesture of gratitude, he made an effort on her birthday and every Christmas to get her a new Royal Worcester porcelain figurine to add to her ample collection in the glass-fronted display cabinet which stood in one corner of the living room, for it had been one of these figurines that he’d been clutching in his hand the very first time they met.

‘So please tell me you have good news, Stephen,’ she said.

It had been several days since she’d sent Stephen out on a mission to investigate Mister Snigiss and she was itching to know what he’d discovered.

‘I followed up on Ophidia,’ he began. ‘Ophidia is the name of a high-end, very exclusive escort service. They’re so exclusive that they operate by word of mouth only. So it wasn’t easy to find out information about them. But I asked around here and there – some of Adrian’s former acquaintances. And I eventually managed to track down a few of the girls. But when I mentioned the name Mister Snigiss, they clammed up pretty quickly. From what I gathered though, none of them has ever met him in the flesh.’

She nodded with interest. ‘This Mister Snigiss really likes to keep a low profile, doesn’t he?’

Nancy had mulled long and hard over what Marcus had said about Mister Snigiss, for she didn’t just accept everything she was told at face value. Eventually, though, she’d decided that he’d probably been telling them as much as he honestly knew – torture had that effect on people. What had impressed her most from his account was just how anonymous this Mister Snigiss had managed to remain, and it surprised her that, given his aspirations, this blackmailing pimp hadn’t come to her attention sooner. In any other circumstances, she might almost have been impressed by his ability to stay out of reach, but he’d made the big mistake of killing her son, and for that reason she wasn’t prepared to afford him any kind of esteem whatsoever.

‘But I don’t give up that easily,’ said Stephen. ‘So I’ve been asking around elsewhere. Various underworld contacts. To see what the rumour mill threw out.’

‘And…?’

‘Well, despite the low profile, he’s still managed to leave behind him a distinct trail of death, disfigurement and disappearances. Rival pimps and madams, prostitutes who’ve crossed him, and just about anyone else who’s gotten in his way.’

‘Like Adrian…’ she muttered. ‘So what’s he playing at? What’s his game?’

‘Good question. To just call him a pimp is perhaps reductive. I get the impression he’s aiming for more than that. He’s got ambition. These hookers, this escort service, they’re really just a means for him to gain power and control.’

‘Through these blackmail sex videos?’

Stephen nodded. ‘He’s using them to gain leverage over the right people, which in turn allows him to conduct his criminal activities more freely and consolidate his position in the underworld. He’s kind of like a hidden puppetmaster, pulling the strings from behind the scenes.’