He killed the cigarette early and looked at me through the smoke haze. ‘I want you to find out who supplied Danni with the drugs and get solid evidence on him.’

‘Or her.’

‘Jesus, what a world. Yes. Or her. If I can present that evidence when the police act, help them get a conviction, and show that Danni’s under treatment, my lawyer friend says there’s a chance she’ll get a suspended sentence and I can set about straightening things out. There’s not a lot of time I know, but I hope you’ll help me.’

I sat back and thought about it while he told me how my former client had said I was honest and resourceful and got quick results. I thought it’d look good on my card: Cliff Hardy, Private Investigations — honest, resourceful, quick… Except that sometimes you had to be less than honest, and resourcefulness wasn’t always enough and some things took time.

I stalled by asking Price what he did for a living.

‘In America they’d call me a lobbyist, here I’m a consultant. I advise people how to deal with government departments, get their projects approved, get them funds. That sort of thing. I used to work for a couple of ministers as an adviser.’

‘Which side of politics?’

That brought the first smile I’d seen from him. ‘Both,’ he said. ‘Does it matter?’

‘Not really.’ I’d had a reason for asking the question. For all I knew up to then Price might have been a politician himself or in the public eye in some way and desperate to keep his image clean. Hard to deal with those kinds of people because their number one priority is always themselves. But whether you called them lobbyists or consultants, people in Price’s game didn’t have to worry about their reputations. In fact a few rough edges probably stood them in good stead.

‘Does Jason know who the supplier is?’ By asking the question I’d indicated my decision to help him and Price let out an audible sigh.

‘I’m not sure. Possibly. But if he doesn’t know he’s bound to know someone who does. From talking to him I’ve found out a bit about this drug culture, so-called. It’s not all black and white the way the media has it. Some kids try it and don’t like it. Some like it too much and don’t do it again. Some take drugs when they feel like it and not when they don’t. The users have friends who don’t use. Some of them share and won’t sell.’