“The simple fact is that there’s something appealing to Joe Public about bypassing the long-drawn-out legal machinations, especially if they think it came up with the wrong result in their opinion, and giving the baddies a good hiding.’ Sam nodded. ‘Even worse if the message gets out and crime starts to drop.’ ‘Exactly what’s giving me qualms. There are nineteen men here’ – now I pointed at the paper – ‘who’re so incapacitated that even if they had evil written through their bones like Rothesay rock, there’s bugger all they could do about it for a while.’ I got up and retrieved the bottle and topped us both up to a level above homeopathic. ‘I’ll do four more laps in the morning.’ Sam studied me over her specs. Then we sat silently, sipping away, thinking about the consequences of the vigilante action. Knowing that taking the law into your own hands was wrong. Unless it seemed to be the better option.”