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‘So where’s he living now?’ she asked.

‘Couldn’t tell you. Try the Dog & Butcher round the corner. It’s his local, or was. He used to spend every day there.’

‘Cheers.’

The man took a drag on his cig as they moved away, before adding: ‘Give him a kicking for me, when you find him, yeah. Our Shaz let him shag her and the bastard never coughed up for it.’

‘See,’ Lauren said, when they’d got back in the car. ‘We make a decent team. I presume this Ron O’Hoorigan is involved?’

Heck rammed his key into the ignition and banged the handbrake off. ‘I’m taking you back to the railway station. And this time I’m going to make sure you get on a train.’

‘One problem. I don’t have money for a train.’

‘You had money for a taxi.’

‘That’s why I don’t have money for a train.’

‘No worries.’ He started driving. ‘I’ll pay for your ticket.’

‘And like I say, I’ll ring Scotland Yard. I’ll ask for Commander Laycock and tell him you’ve been covering up crimes in Manchester.’

‘You really think this is the way to win my friendship, by trying to blackmail me?’

‘I’ll do anything necessary.’ They’d now turned into the next street, and, as the pink-haired man had told them, the Dog & Butcher came into view at its far end.

‘Let me at least help you find this character, O’Hoorigan,’ Lauren added. ‘Look at this place. You’re not going to be asking questions round here on your own, are you? I’m an ex-squaddie. I’ll have your back.’

Heck shook his head as they slowed to another halt. He felt completely helpless.

The Dog & Butcher certainly seemed the sort of place someone like Ron O’Hoorigan would hang out. It was one of those one-level pre-fab constructs typical of the 1970s. In a district where tower blocks marched every skyline, it looked more like a shoebox than a building. It was difficult to imagine that any civic architect could seriously have designed something like this without intending it as a joke, yet hostelries of this sort had sprung up all over Britain as part of a grand plan to regenerate the inner cities. Those few that remained, like this one, now stood as monuments to soulless functionalism and intellectual arrogance. It was clear what the locals thought of it. It only had a few windows, all high up and letterbox shaped, and filled with reinforced glass, but even so, many were cracked or broken. Its pebble-dashed walls were daubed with various substances: mud, chewing gum, dog shit.

Heck was unsure what to do next. Obviously, he had to take Lauren back to the station, but what if she really called the Yard and tried to reach Laycock? In addition, Salford station was a good fifteen minutes’ drive from here, now through rush-hour traffic. Driving there and back again would use up valuable time, and might make his Fiat noticeable to anyone round here who happened to be keeping an eye out for unusual comings and goings.

‘Can I trust you to stay in the car?’ he asked, though it tightened his chest just thinking about the risks this entailed.

She shrugged. ‘If that’s what it takes for you to keep me in the loop, sure.’

‘This doesn’t mean you’re part of the enquiry.’

She shrugged again. He eyed her, looking for signs of deceit, but she seemed a lot more relaxed than she had done earlier. He could always produce his cuffs and fix her to the steering wheel, but that really would draw attention to them. Instead, he got out and sauntered towards the pub, glancing up at the licensee’s name as he approached.

Francis James Ogburn

It sounded a tad well-heeled for this neighbourhood. Heck glanced back at the car. Lauren waggled her fingers at him through the windscreen. Swearing under his breath, he turned and went inside.

The Dog & Butcher was a dingy, shadow-filled den. Grey light filtered through its grimy windows, showing a stained carpet, Formica table-tops, and, dotted here and there, punters – some in groups, some alone – all of whom looked either tired, miserable or menacing, or a combination of the three. Though it was cloudy outside, it was hot and therefore humid indoors. Flies buzzing back and forth added to the squalid atmosphere.

Heck approached the bar. The man behind it was bare-chested under a faded denim waistcoat, and broad as an ox. He was bullet-headed, with a boxer’s battered face; his brawny arms and shoulders bore myriad tattoos.

‘Yeah?’ he asked, mopping the counter top.

‘Pint of bitter please,’ Heck said.

The man moved to the pumps. Heck glanced around. Having studied O’Hoorigan’s photograph until he’d memorised it, it was evident the guy wasn’t in here. But there were actually two bar counters. Beyond the one he was standing at now, another one opened into a second room, where various men and boys were gathered around a couple of pool tables. The toilet passage probably connected with it.

‘I’ll not be a sec,’ Heck said. ‘Paying a visit.’

The barman nodded indifferently.

Heck went down the passage, but didn’t bother with the toilets. He stuck his head into the pool room. There was no sign of O’Hoorigan in there either, so he returned to the first bar, where his pint was now waiting for him.

‘Two quid, mate,’ the barman said.

‘You Mr Ogburn?’

The barman regarded him suspiciously. ‘Yeah, why?’

Heck handed him the requisite coins. ‘No reason. Always like to know who the landlord is.’

Ogburn didn’t reply.

‘I don’t suppose Ron’s been in?’ Heck asked.

‘Who’s Ron?’

‘You know … Ron O’Hoorigan? He’s a mate of mine.’

Ogburn turned his back. Ostensibly, he was arranging notes in the till. But Heck suspected there was more to it than this. The guy didn’t want to look round for fear that his facial language would reveal a deception.

‘So … has he been in?’ Heck persisted.

‘Don’t know who you’re talking about.’

‘Come on … Ronnie O’Hoorigan. This is his local.’

When Ogburn finally did glance around, his eyes met Heck’s and locked. ‘I don’t know anyone called O’Hoorigan. You got that?’

‘Easy pal, it was only a question.’

‘I’m not your pal. Why don’t you drink up and get off, eh? I’ll be closing soon.’

‘Normally close around tea-time, do you?’

‘I close when I want.’

‘Maybe this’ll help.’ Heck filched the photograph from his pocket and held it up, along with a twenty-pound note.

The landlord didn’t even look at the proffered gift. In fact, he raised his voice so that now the entire pub could hear. ‘What’s your fucking game, eh?’