The first stage of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal has gone on long enough.
No doubt there is more to come from the great swamp of revelations about this squalid, corrupt individual and his connections to high places across the world.
And it is infuriating that so much is still redacted or otherwise kept from us.
But here in Britain, we now have a clear, concentrated problem. Two very different individuals from separate parts of the high establishment are now surrounded by clouds of doubt and allegations.
Both Peter Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have been humbled and stripped of their reputations thanks to their undeniable close connections to Epstein, though it should be stressed that both deny wrongdoing.
Mandelson has been sacked as British Ambassador to Washington and has quit the House of Lords forever.
The former Prince Andrew has been icily semi-detached from the Royal Family itself, losing every title once bestowed on him by virtue of his Royal birth. He has been expelled from his home of many years. But is this enough?
The truth is, we are not yet sure whether it is enough, or whether it is far too little. For we still do not really know the full story, and both these men, having consorted with the repellent Epstein long after they knew of his wickedness, have a plain duty to help us know all that they know about this man – even if such revelations hurt them too.
Epstein's victims still suffer. Candour from Mandelson and Mountbatten-Windsor may yet help them to recover or at least get just restitution.
We also need to know if these two men gained personally by abusing their privileged positions.
The Mail on Sunday and the Daily Mail have been reporting in depth about this unstoppable scandal. It is clear that we must now discover a great deal more about Mountbatten-Windsor's use of confidential material he was able to see while acting as a Trade Envoy.
This newspaper reveals today that he secretly allowed Epstein to organise meetings to boost the paedophile's business interests in China in 2010, two years after he first went to prison.
He also shared sensitive information with Epstein about the taxpayer-owned bank Royal Bank of Scotland in the aftermath of its £45 billion taxpayer-funded bailout.
And one of his most senior aides leaked a diplomatic telegram to a close friend and business associate. Andrew has no grounds on which to refuse to talk about this.
As for Mandelson, his use of a Russian oligarch's private jet while EU Trade Commissioner, reported by the Daily Mail, opens him up to Brussels scrutiny as well as British investigation.
This is surely a chance for the EU to prove it is not an opaque and sleazy private club for its elite.
The crucial thing is to begin orderly, thorough and potent investigations as soon as possible. That will mean serious official inquiries – with genuine powers to demand evidence and call witnesses – into Andrew's time as Trade Envoy and Mandelson's time as EU Commissioner.
