Jane shook her head. ‘I don’t know, my eyes were closed and when I opened them, he was standing over the man and then he kicked a gun away from him. Murphy told the local uniform officers to take me back to the station because I was in a state of shock.’

Elliott replaced the photograph in the envelope. ‘The man Murphy shot dead was Harry Burton – the same man arrested and interviewed by Murphy for the 1976 Express robbery.’

Jane’s eyes opened wide. ‘Are you saying Murphy set Burton up and deliberately shot him dead?’

Elliott nodded. ‘I also think Murphy originally nicked Burton knowing full well he was involved in the Express robbery and did a deal with him, then made sure that no one was watching Burton or his gang prior to the ’77 and ’78 robberies. Over half a million pounds was stolen in the three robberies. I think Murphy gave Burton the gun and helped set up the robberies, for which he got a big payoff.’

Jane swallowed, finding it difficult to take it all on board. She thought about the fact that after the incident she had not returned to work at the Flying Squad after Murphy had accused her of unprofessional conduct.

‘Am I in danger?’ she asked.

Elliott shook his head. ‘You were, but now Burton is dead he doesn’t pose a threat to Murphy, and with you off the squad he thinks his worries are over.’ He gently touched her cheek and leaned close. ‘I’m very proud of you.’

An excited Dabs hurried into the room. ‘The bullet recovered from the Williams & Glyn’s robbery and the one from the body of the security guard at the Daily Mirror job both match to the Smith & Wesson .39. We’ve got the bastard!’

Elliott held up his hand. ‘Not yet. I want to give him enough rope to hang himself.’ He turned back to Jane. ‘And I need your help.’

*

When she got home, Jane knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep. She poured herself a large whisky and lit another cigarette from the now depleted ‘emergency’ pack. Elliott had said he couldn’t tell her exactly what he wanted her to do until he got authority from his chief constable who was leading Countryman. She was trying desperately to make sense of what Murphy had done and the fact her life had been put in danger because of him. It was as if her brain refused to accept it could all be true. She was more determined than ever to bring Murphy down, but right now it was all too much to process. And she couldn’t let herself be distracted from the Foxley murder at such a crucial point in the investigation. She started running through what they knew about Ahmed Farook.