‘Not strictly speaking. Not in the short term, anyway, but it’s a front, all right: a front for Frankie’s public perception, and it’s money-laundering inasmuch as it’s all part of the process of turning his dirty-money past into a clean-money future.’

‘An investment kind of thing?’

‘That’s the strategy now for these guys. Make your money in drugs and other scams, then buy your way into the legitimate game. Some of them miss being the big man, but once they reach a certain age, they can’t be doing with the hassle. They just want the cash and the kudos: the new kudos of being a respectable man of means. They’ve already had the kudos of the notoriety trip, and the smart ones don’t kick the arse out of it. Frankie here laid down a lot of money to renovate the Bay Tree, then ran it at a loss for a couple of years.’

‘Tax write-down?’

‘For sure, but that was just a fringe benefit. The real pay-off was what you’re seeing now. An ordinary Tuesday night and every table is full. It’s always mobbed. He took a hit to keep the prices down and the quality high until it became the place for an evening out or a lunch-time meeting in what is a very salubrious wee part of the world.’

‘And once you’ve established that kind of popularity, you can invert the ratios, eh?’

‘Not to mention branching out. He owns two other restaurants now, but he’s also got a catering supplies and ancillary services company: Top Table. They supply breads, pizza bases, pastry and other sundries to restaurants all over the place, and they’ve got a laundry sideline that collects and cleans all the tableware as well.’

‘I’d imagine he’s been very resourceful and competitive in tendering for contracts, though. Buy your bread from us or we’ll burn your restaurant doon. Let us wash your napkins or you’ll be using them to mop up your own blood, eh?’

‘That’s merely the entrepreneurial spirit, DI Geddes; see, if you’d grown up during the Thatcher years, you’d understand that. The legitimate part of Frankie Callahan PLC is ever-expanding. That’s why if we don’t get him in the next few years, we never will.’

‘He’ll get away clean. Like one of his tablecloths,’ Laura suggested. Catherine could tell she was concealing a smirk, tipped off by the lack of an ‘eh?’.