Jane hung up her coat and sat down at her desk to look over the night’s reports. Two burglaries, a hit and run, a stolen E-Type Jaguar, and a drunk and disorderly charge against a man who was still being held in the police cells. She checked the CID crime reports, which were recorded in a large notebook by the late turn and night duty officers and then had to be allocated to a detective by the early turn DS, which was herself.

‘Harrods really need to sharpen up their security,’ Dors said.

He flicked over two pages of the report that described how goods were being stolen. The company believed goods for delivery were being reboxed and sent off to a different address by some storeroom workers, and the losses had so far been estimated at over £2,000.

‘It’s beyond belief. This is the second report this month.’

Tony Johnson, another DC with the desk next to hers, who was equally wet behind the ears, looked over at Jane. The other three desks on the opposite side were empty as the DCs were having breakfast in the canteen.

‘Did you see that report on the seventy-five-year-old shoplifter? Eight previous convictions. Wears a mink coat lined with pockets. She was picked up yesterday morning.’

Jane continued reading her reports, only half listening.

‘Rich pickings at Harrods,’ Dors said, beginning to type.

Johnson nodded. ‘Yeah, then there’s Burberry and House of Fraser, and you’re right by Beauchamp Place with all the posh shops along there, not to mention the high-end jewelry stores next door.’

Jane didn’t say anything. Being inundated with shoplifters meant a lot of tedious paperwork, even though the uniforms actually dealt with them. Sometimes Jane had to teach the young probationers how to make these arrests, taking them through the interviews and showing them how to process the prisoner.

There was another report on her desk from the previous week from Harrods’ security. They had discovered that boxes of items delivered to their soft furnishings department had been removed using forged Harrods delivery forms redirecting them to a warehouse address. When the legitimate Harrods delivery vans arrived there, the goods were then put on board another van previously stolen by thieves, which was dumped later that day.

The monotonous sound of Dors’s heavy-handed, two-finger typing made everything seem even more mundane. Jane had been used to experiencing real excitement in her previous roles.

The incident room door banged open as DCI Leonard ‘Lenny’ Tyler marched in, carrying a large box of groceries.

‘Morning, everybody.’

The team murmured their replies as he maneuvered between the desks towards his private office.