Steel: ‘Pin your lugs back, ’cos I’m no’ saying this twice. You’ve got to make your mark in this world. You’ve got to drag your arse across the carpet of life like a dog with worms.’

Worms?

Rennie: ‘Yeah. . . I know it’s a lovely thought, but—’

Steel: ‘Stand back, point at all them streaks and say, “That was me!” You see what I’m saying? ’

Rennie: ‘Erm. . .? ’

Nice though it would be to leave them to it, Logan dragged the door open.

Steel stood behind the desk, fake cigarette jutting out between her teeth. She had her hands clamped around Rennie’s shoulders, kneading them like badly behaved bread. He sat in Logan’s chair, eyes pinched, eyebrows up, hands flinching with every taloned squeeze. Mouthing the words, ‘Help me.’

Logan dumped his report on that morning’s fiasco in the middle of his desk. ‘Sorry to interrupt your foreplay, but some of us have work to do.’ He pointed at Rennie. ‘You: bugger off and do something productive for a change.’

A pained smile broke across Rennie’s face. ‘Oh, thank God. . .’ He scrambled out of the seat and bolted from the room, leaving the door swinging in his wake.

Logan pushed it shut. ‘Worms? ’

Steel had a quick dig at her underwire. ‘You wanted me to mentor him: I’m mentoring him.’

‘There’s a difference between mentoring someone and traumatizing them.’ Logan sank into the vacated chair and grabbed the first interview transcript from the pile in his inbox: DI Leith’s meetings with the homebuyers who’d been to view the house where Anthony Chung had turned up tortured and dead.

Steel crossed her arms and leaned back against the windowsill. ‘Let me guess, suspended without pay? ’

Logan flicked through the transcript. ‘Slap on the wrists. Apparently Napier thinks it was “irresponsible to involve a civilian in the attempted apprehension of murder suspect known to be violent”.’

‘Aye, well, the copper-topped Nosferatu’s got a point.’

‘What was I supposed to do, let her go? ’

‘Did that anyway.’

He got to the end of the transcript. There wasn’t a single clue: no confession, nothing of any help at all. He pulled the next one from the stack. ‘Are you actually here for a reason? ’

Steel took another puff, making the end glow. ‘Stroke of genius, hauling a pair of cannabis farms out your backside like that. Wriggling off the hook. Convenient.’

‘Yeah, well—’

‘How long you been sitting on them? ’

‘It’s not—’

‘Supposed to be a team here, Laz.’ The eCigarette stood to attention, the tip glowing an angry red. ‘That means you don’t get to park your arse on information! Did you think you’d raid them single-handed, shower yourself in glory, that it? ’

‘I only found out about them this morning, OK? Haven’t had time to do anything about it.’