‘I think I’ll do a check on the number,’ he said to his partner. They looked at each other, and the first officer walked over to engage the motorist in conversation again. They had worked together before, and they knew how to communicate.

Ten minutes later, they had obtained the motorist’s documents and he was in the back of the police car waiting to accompany them to the station in Edendale, once some support had arrived to secure the Renault. The two officers were grinning with suppressed excitement. They had just arrested Greater Manchester’s wanted man, Darren Howsley.

25

When Ben Cooper got back to West Street, the change in the atmosphere was immediately obvious. DCI Tailby strode by along the corridor and was almost smiling. DI Hitchens was handing out peppermints.

‘What’s happening?’ asked Cooper.

‘Him,’ said Diane Fry, pointing at a file. ‘That’s what’s happening. He’s the happening man, all right.’

Cooper read the first page. ‘Darren Howsley. Aged thirty-two. That’s the bloke Manchester are looking for.’

‘Two uniforms brought him in last night. He’d run his car into a wall on Hanger Hill. A bit of bad luck, you might say. Or then, you might not. Depending on your point of view. Just a patch of wet leaves in the wrong place, and he was a bit hasty on the brake for the conditions. It could have happened to anyone.’

Fry started laughing. Cooper smiled tolerantly. He knew there had to be more.

‘And the bobbies were efficient for once. Thank God they weren’t on their way for a tea break or going off shift, or they’d just have banged a sticker on his car and given him a lift to the bus station.’

‘Any evidence on him?’

‘A mask and a carving knife in the glove compartment. Will that do? Don’t say it too loudly, Ben, but it looks like we’ve got him.’

‘He has family in this area, doesn’t he?’

‘He was staying with his aunt at Chelmorton. It seems the old dear was terrified of him. She knew what he was like, but she was scared of telling anybody about him. Howsley had been at her house for two or three days when he turned up with the Renault. She knew it was stolen. I don’t think he bothered to hide anything from her. Also, the carving knife is the one missing from her kitchen. It’s just what we needed – he made a mistake.’

The next call came through directly to the CID room, because the caller had asked specifically for Diane Fry.

‘I thought you might want to talk to me again, Diane.’

Fry stiffened, surprised by the strength of her own reaction to the voice. ‘Maggie? Is that you?’

‘Yes. I hear from the news that there’s been another attack.’

‘That’s right.’

‘Tell me about it, Diane.’