Jane leaned forward. ‘You said you wanted to find out if you could trust me. Well, I don’t trust you. I want to know exactly what is going on.’

‘Fair enough. I’m a Dorset detective working undercover on Operation Countryman.’ He reached into his pocket and showed her his police ID.

She had to control her breathing just as he had taught her. ‘Have I done something wrong?’

Elliott smiled, shaking his head. ‘Absolutely not, Jane. On the contrary, I’m hoping that you are going to be able to assist me in arresting a senior Flying Squad officer who had, until recently, remained under the radar.’

‘Who?’ she asked quickly.

‘I’ll come to him in a minute. We believe he was involved in the £175,000 payroll robbery at the Daily Express newspaper, and the £225,000 robbery outside Williams & Glyn’s Bank. Then a £200,000 payroll robbery at the Daily Mirror, where a security guard was shot and killed.’

‘You think he committed the robberies?’ Jane asked, genuinely shocked.

‘Not directly, but he was involved in the planning and took a cut of the proceeds.’

Jane thought for a moment. ‘Those three robberies all happened before I joined the Flying Squad.’

‘I’m aware of that. We have made some headway in attempting to track down the proceeds of the three robberies I mentioned, but we are having problems with tracing the cash from a more recent one.’

Jane licked her lips. She couldn’t think why Elliott was telling her all this. It was beginning to frighten her.

‘Everything we’re discussing has to remain strictly between us. You must not repeat any of it to anyone. Do you remember the bent lawyer involved in the Shoreditch Security Express robbery?’

She nodded. ‘Anthony Nichols. He helped the Ripley brothers and two others plan it. He also murdered George Ripley’s stepson, Carl, and got sent down for life.’

‘I heard that it was some very neat detective work on your part that led to the arrests and the recovery of the guns and money from the Shoreditch robbery.’

Jane relaxed. But she still didn’t understand what Elliott wanted.

‘Are the Ripley brothers and Nichols connected to the bent officer you’re after?’

‘Yes and no. We were working on turning Nichols into an informant, but it’s proving difficult. He wants a reduction in his prison sentence and early parole. And, in any case, his evidence could be easily challenged and discredited in court. So we’re looking at other ways to arrest and charge our man. That’s where you come in.’

‘Is Dabs involved?’ she asked.

He laughed. ‘No, not at all. Dabs is doing some important ballistics work for me, but that’s all.’

Jane could hardly say the name, and almost whispered it. ‘Is it DCI Murphy?’

Elliott made a gun with his hand and pointed it towards her. ‘I’m going to need you to help me bring him down.’

*