‘Didn’t quite catch that,’ said Porter, the tone of his voice a clear warning to Anderson that he need not bother repeating it.

‘Nothing. Doesn’t matter.’

Porter gave a grim smile then looked over at Styles. ‘OK then. While we’re all together, do you want to give an update on what you found with Locke’s little financial dealings?’

Styles nodded and quickly summed up what he’d uncovered about the various companies Locke had snapped up over the years. He gave an overview of each purchase, mostly from memory, but snuck an occasional glance at the notepad in his lap. The businesses centred around four ports at key locations. Besides London, Locke operated in Grangemouth near Edinburgh, Grimsby on the east coast and Milford Haven nestled in the west, four points on a skewed compass. At each of these hubs, as Styles christened them, Locke had his own storage, his own transportation, and his own private security teams. The other three businesses were nothing to do with that industry: two restaurants in Dartford and a gym near Gravesend.

They all listened intently as he painted a picture of an empire that had grown from a sapling to a network of companies whose reach sprawled across all of mainland Britain. Locke had a knack, it seemed, of snapping up struggling businesses for a fire-sale price, and turning their fortunes around. That wasn’t the only thing that each purchase had in common, though. All three businesses at the hub in Grangemouth had been privately owned by Alastair Reece. The Reece family had sold out to Alexander Locke after Mr Reece was killed in a road accident back in 1999. The east coast arm of the business in Grimsby was purchased after the owner, Martin Murphy, was killed in a hit-and-run after a night out in 1993. Wales was different. George Evans had lost his biggest customer in 1998 after a series of warehouse fires sent their confidence plummeting and his insurance premiums through the roof. Mr Evans’s last known address showed he had stayed in Wales but moved north to Caernarfon after he sold up.

Styles closed his notebook and leant back to signal to his audience that his show and tell was done for now.

‘Brings a whole new meaning to hostile takeover,’ said Porter.

‘How the hell has nobody picked up on this before now?’ asked Whittaker.

‘Don’t care,’ said Porter. ‘What matters is that we have now and it ends here. You two take Murphy and Reece. See if anyone who worked the cases is still around, any of the family we can speak to. Styles and I will take Evans, and I want to have another chat with Mrs Locke, on her own this time.’