Locke scowled but gave a slight nod of agreement. ‘I want you to speak to Finch. He was close to Oliver. See if he remembers anything.’

Bolton grunted in acknowledgement. He’d do it – he always did what Locke asked – but was fairly sure it was a waste of time. Finch had crawled inside a bottle of single malt when his wife left him a decade ago, and had rarely come up for air since. Bolton was more than capable of filling in the blanks for Locke himself, but he wasn’t likely to do that any time soon. That would mean admitting he’d had ears on Davies for years, bugging his house, keeping one step ahead of him in the battle to be Locke’s right-hand man. He’d heard a great many things of interest from titbits of gossip about business Davies had on the side. He had been quite the chatterbox in the safety of his own home. He’d chattered still more that night when Bolton’s shadow had risen up from its hiding place in the back seat of his car. Chatty right up to the end, bargaining for his life, right up to the point when the loop of wire arced over his head, slicing through his neck like cheese wire through a wheel of cheddar, not long after the mess with Natasha.

It had been part business, part personal. Bolton hadn’t wanted any competition for the number two slot. Not that Davies had been real competition, but Bolton wasn’t one to leave things to chance, and he genuinely didn’t like the man. This situation with Natasha Barclay was as if Davies was getting his own back. Stirring trouble from beyond the grave. He genuinely had no idea that Davies had stashed her hand in the freezer. As it turned out, a single finger was all they had needed to send her father a message. Stupid bastard should have gotten rid of the rest straight afterwards. The irony was not lost on him that, in killing his rival, he’d caused the hand to stay there all these years instead of being disposed of.

He grunted a goodbye to Locke and headed out to find Finch. He’d sort it. God knows he’d sorted worse than this. If he was honest with himself, and he had to do it over, he’d still get rid of Olly Davies, and to hell with the consequences.