‘Stand by, Jane,’ Elliott told her. ‘We just need Murphy to turn his back so you can get out unobserved.’

Murphy greeted the van guy loudly and then they could hear him saying, ‘It’s about time they cleaned the fucking drains. You can’t even flush a toilet around here.’

Elliott nodded. ‘Go.’

Jane was out, heading towards Murphy, as he was handed his large Styrofoam cup of coffee with double cream and two sugars. She waited until she was a few steps away to say anything, but it was the van driver who noticed her first, and said, ‘Blimey, I haven’t seen you for a while. Black coffee, well-done bacon sandwich?’

Murphy turned and looked at her in surprise. ‘Where have you come from?’

‘Well, after all the nasty rumors you’ve spread about me, I thought I’d be lucky to be directing traffic.’

‘I know – I heard you were working out of Belgravia now. What brings you back here?’

Jane waved a hand. ‘We’re searching that warehouse over there for boxes full of goods stolen from Harrods. I’ve come to get some breakfast for the lads.’ Jane turned to the van man. ‘Tommy, I need three hamburgers with bacon and one with an egg sunny-side up.’

Murphy laughed. ‘Theft from Harrods – my, my, you are working some big cases now.’

‘I’m happy in my work and the DCI’s a decent bloke . . . unlike some,’ she said with a frosty smile.

Murphy pretended to look hurt. ‘I hope there’s no hard feelings between us, Jane.’

‘Of course not,’ she said with another brittle smile. ‘But as I’m here, there is something job-related you might be able to help me with.’

Murphy took a gulp of his coffee. ‘I don’t have many dealings with shoplifters these days, I’m afraid, but how do you think I can help you?’

‘I recovered a firearm on a house search. It’s similar to the one I found in George Ripley’s garage and I wondered if you might be interested in getting it checked out by ballistics against any of your outstanding cases.’

Murphy took another sip of his coffee and licked his lips, then rested his cup on the shelf. ‘We haven’t got any outstanding cases.’ He turned to Tommy, who was cooking the burgers. ‘I don’t want my egg runny. Make sure you flip it over.’

‘That’s strange,’ Jane said. ‘I thought you had three outstanding cases.’

‘Well, you thought wrong,’ Murphy replied.

Jane gave him an inquiring look. ‘What about the Daily Express robbery in ’76? Then the Williams & Glyn’s Bank in ’77? Oh, and the Daily Mirror robbery in ’78?’

She noticed his right eye twitch as he licked his lips again.

‘They were investigated by the Flying Squad at Tower Bridge, not Rigg Approach.’