Sperring was still sitting in the Boardroom of the Lost and Found, staring across the table at Ron Parsons and wondering what to do with him, when his phone rang.
At first he ignored it; then he checked the display. When he saw who it was, he was definitely going to ignore it. Reluctantly, though, he decided to pick up.
‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘what d’you want?’
‘It’s me,’ said Phil.
‘I know. Your name came up. I can read, you know. What d’you want?’
‘Someone I can trust,’ said Phil. ‘On my side.’
‘Oh yeah?’ said Sperring, gearing up for an argument. ‘And who might that be?’
‘You,’ said Phil.
Sperring was taken aback. Phil explained to him what he wanted. As he did so, Sperring’s face was split by a wide grin.
Conversation over, he ended the call, looked across the table at Parsons, then at Khan.
‘Your lucky day, Nadish,’ he said.
Khan looked up, eyes dazed. ‘What?’
‘You’ll see.’
Sperring stood up. Khan, taking his cue from the older officer, did likewise. Parsons looked between the pair of them.
‘What about me?’ he said.
Sperring stopped, turned. Gave the old gangster his full attention.
‘Know any good solicitors?’