‘Did he get caught for something?’ she asked, seeking to establish how a member of one of the city’s top crime families had crossed to the side of the law.

Dale shook his head. ‘Unusually, he was a walk-in.’

Criminals most often turned informant after being caught as a way to get out of being charged for their offence or to lessen the sentence that they ultimately received. However, some of them volunteered their services for motives of their own, as appeared to be the case here.

‘And that’s why I wanted to give you a bit of background on the family,’ he said. ‘Because that’s who Adrian was stitching up. His own family. His own brother, to be precise.’

Bailey shook her head in wonderment. But then perhaps she shouldn’t have been too surprised. After all, she herself was only too well acquainted with how illogical and dysfunctional families could be, but at least hers weren’t criminals.

Dale continued. ‘He’d developed a real chip on his shoulder about Rick being put in control of the family. Adrian thought he was the one who should have been boss, being older, and he really resented the fact that he wasn’t. And this was his way of getting back at his younger brother.’

‘And that suited us very well,’ said Frank with a wry smirk. ‘We’ve been trying to crack the Molloys for years. I’ve got a huge file on them, which I’ll let you have a look at, and you’ll be able to see the scale of the things they get away with.’

Dale nodded in agreement. ‘That’s why Adrian was graded as one of our highest-level informants. Because of the information he was able to provide. We’re not talking dinky little street corner busts here. We’re talking about transactions of a very significant nature, the kind of thing the Molloys specialise in.’

‘Like what?’ Bailey asked.

‘Well, for example, just before he got blown up, he told us the Molloys are planning to smuggle a load of ecstasy pills into an airstrip in Essex on the third of February. We passed that information to Essex police and Customs and they’re now in the process of putting together an operation to swoop on the drugs as soon as they arrive.’

‘But the drugs aren’t why you’re here,’ Frank intervened. ‘You’re here for something that I personally regard as much more serious.’

Bailey felt a prickle of anticipation and leaned forward in her chair.

Dale spoke up. ‘Adrian told me that Rick had secured a large quantity of firearms. Automatic and semi-automatic weapons. And that he was looking for a buyer. As you well know, this type of scenario presents the ideal opportunity for infiltration by an undercover police officer to catch him in a bust. As soon as I heard about it, I knew we had to act.’

Frank nodded gravely. ‘The quantities are significant. A hundred and twenty CZ 805 BREN assault rifles, and a hundred and forty K100 pistols, along with seventy silencers and a hundred and thirty thousand rounds of assorted ammunition. That’s five hundred bullets for each weapon. And did I mention, it’s all brand new. Totally clean. This is one major arsenal we’re talking about.’