‘I’m feeling quite good about life, that’s all.’ Tom walked round the back of his desk and indicated the facing chair to Becky. ‘Sit.’

‘No time, I’m afraid. We’ve got a body out at Pennington Flash Country Park. Suspicious death.’

Tom raised his eyebrows. ‘Okay, what do we know?’

‘Not much. A woman, probably around thirty. Found inside one of the birdwatching hides by some poor guy out to do a bit of twitching. The local DI says he doesn’t want to cloud our judgement by giving his take on things, so was reluctant to say much.’

Tom picked up his keys from the desk. ‘Right. Let’s go and find Keith. He can come with me.’

Becky put her hands on her hips and glared at Tom. ‘Why are you taking DS Sims? Why am I not coming?’ Tom’s eyes travelled to her middle. ‘Oh for God’s sake, Tom. I’m seven months pregnant. I’m not incapacitated.’

‘Yes, but it’s bloody freezing out there and treacherous underfoot. Why risk it?’

‘If I lived in some remote part of the world I would probably be out in the fields working until the baby pops out. I’m fine. Stop mollycoddling me.’

Tom looked at Becky’s face, her mouth tense and her eyes firing shots at him. He knew he’d been overprotective of her since she nearly died diving into a river to save someone, but that was a while ago now and he had to get over it.

‘Okay, on your head be it.’

‘Thank you, boss,’ she said, her tone sarcastic.

Tom might be her boss, but he was well aware that she knew more about him than most people, and in the years they had worked together they had become close. She behaved impeccably when other members of the team were around, but that didn’t stop her from speaking her mind when they were alone. He didn’t know how he was going to manage without her when she went on maternity leave.

‘Shall we take the newbie with us, do you think, for a bit of experience?’ Becky asked. ‘Just as an observer.’

‘Good idea. Let her know, will you, and I’ll meet you in the car park. We can brief her on what to expect as we go. What’s her name again?’

‘Lynsey. She’s mad keen, bright as a button, and terrified of you.’

‘Excellent. Let’s hope she stays that way. It would be nice to have some respect round here.’

Becky snorted and made her way out of the door. ‘See you downstairs in five minutes.’

The local police had given concise instructions on how to get to the Flash, and as Tom pulled into the snow-covered car park a young officer walked towards them, his arms flying out sideways as his legs nearly went from under him. It was treacherous out there.