Martin easily managed to find a parking space in the steep cobbled street. Not everyone in this low-income area could afford to run a car these days. He got out of the Astra and stood for a moment, unconsciously following Ray"s advice and absorbing the scene. Washing lines at first-floor height ran across the street, where bed sheets and bath towels flapped in the chilly wind. At the bottom of the cul-de-sac, on an area of briar-infested wasteground, a half-dozen burned-out vehicles lay decaying. In the valley below, the remains of derelict factories gaped vacantly under the overcast sky.
He knew that some families had lived in these streets for upwards of four generations. But there had once been work and stability, now there were drugs, violence and despair. It was an area which had dro
