But Trudy had not reckoned with the bond of twins, and as she moved to tackle Jasper, so did Juliet rush to go to his defence, and with fingernails poised for action, she jumped on Trudy, trying to rake her face. In fending her off, Trudy felt her police cap dislodge and fall away, and for some reason this small act really annoyed her.

Putting her back into it, Trudy jabbed her elbow back, and felt it connect with Juliet’s ribs. Very satisfyingly, Juliet howled in surprised outrage and pain and staggered back.

Seeing his sister fighting with the constable – and getting the worst of it – he forgot all about his original target and snarled at Trudy, ‘Get off her, you cow!’

A moment later, Trudy felt her right arm being yanked back and upwards in a vicious twist that made her shriek in pain. For a moment, white lights flashed behind her eyelids and she felt as if she might be sick.

Rodney chose that moment to stride in, like the hero in a wild west film, and peeled Jasper contemptuously away from his colleague, only for Jasper to then turn around and kick his shins viciously and headbutt him in the nose.

Rodney responded to this unexpectedly expert fighting prowess by throwing a massive punch to Jasper’s handsome face, which shocked the spoilt Jasper rigid and sent him into a howling rage.

Trudy, recovering a little from the pain inflicted on her, turned instinctively to watch, just in case her colleague needed help, but promptly paid the price for turning her back on Juliet, as the young girl reached out, and, grabbing a handful of her hair, yanked hard.

‘Owww!’ Trudy yelped and, grabbing Juliet’s hands, sought for and found one of her assailant’s thumbs. She yanked it back nastily and without a qualm of guilt.

This time it was the other girl who let out a yell of pain and abruptly let go of her.

Over in one corner of the room, she could hear Rodney and Jasper exchanging blows and grunts. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she felt a little absurd, but mostly angry. They were all scrapping like cats, and with as little dignity!

Trudy spun around and faced the girl, who was panting hard. ‘Juliet Vander, I’m arresting you for assaulting a police officer,’ she began with grim satisfaction. ‘You …’

Before she could finish the official warning, however, the other girl went scarlet with rage, screamed more abuse at her and launched herself at Trudy like an avenging fury, fingernails once more outstretched and intent on scratching her eyes.