The man nodded and went and stood beside the green-buttoned switchboard.

Jane waited to be introduced, but Elliott just went over to the door and switched on a red light.

‘OK, we are up against it a bit time-wise, but let’s see what you can do. What’s going to happen is you will do a walk round the building as you just did, only this time the targets will pop out in front of you from both the left and right sides of the range. You will have some targets that pose a threat and innocent bystanders that don’t, with a split second to decide if you shoot or not. It is also imperative you keep on the move.’

Jane could feel her heart begin to thump. Even more so when Elliott loaded the gun with five bullets and said there wasn’t a safety catch on it before handing it to her.

‘So, I just press the trigger when I see the first target?’

‘That’s depends on what the target is,’ he replied. ‘The primary method double-action revolvers use to prevent accidental discharges is in the trigger press. Unlike other firearms, these triggers offer more resistance and take a hard squeeze to fire.’

Jane gritted her teeth and took a deep, slow breath to calm herself. Elliott instructed her to take position at a small cross six feet in front of the table.

‘Shouldn’t I be wearing ear protection?’ she asked.

‘No. I want this to be as real an experience as possible,’ Elliott replied.

Jane wanted to remind him she knew what it felt like to be shot at after her near-death experience on the Flying Squad.

She took some more deep breaths, trying to control the panic she felt, and then he quietly said from behind, ‘Take your time. When you hear me shout “go”, you start moving forward down the range. You only stop when you hear the Klaxon sound.’

Jane nodded, holding the revolver with her finger on the trigger, ready for the life-like targets to appear.

He shouted ‘GO!’ and, as Jane edged forward, a target appeared in one of the mock shop doors. She felt an instant urge to fire, but quickly realizing the target was a uniform police officer, held back.

‘Keep moving,’ Elliott shouted as the target retracted back behind the door.

Suddenly to her left another target appeared – a man with a shotgun. She steadied herself and firmly squeezed the trigger. The sound of the gun blast was deafening and the recoil made her hands instantly jerk upwards. No sooner had she fired than the target retracted and another one sprung out on her right side. She turned and instinctively fired again, this time more able to control the recoil, but her heart sank as she realized the target in the window was an unarmed young female. As the target retracted, she turned and looked at Elliott, who was glaring at her.