Cautiously, Ben Cooper put his ear to the cold metal. It felt damp and uncomfortable. Fry looked as though she was about to speak, but he hastily held up a hand to silence her. He could hear vague stirrings from inside the van; he could even feel a slight movement in the side panel as the springs of the suspension shifted.

He gestured to Fry, and they both walked away from the van until they were out of earshot.

‘There’s definitely somebody in there. What do we do?’

Fry had no hesitation. ‘We get some back-up before we do anything. No heroics. Not even from you, understand?’

‘Fair enough,’ said Cooper, and held his hands up like a man pleading for a truce.

Fry called in, and they waited, watching the van. They knew there were officers not far away, up on the moor. They had no more than a few minutes to wait – but it could seem like a long time.

Finally, a uniformed sergeant and two PCs in stab-proof vests, with their hands on their side-handled batons, walked up to the van. As Cooper and Fry watched, the sergeant banged on the side door.

‘Police! Open up!’

The sergeant had a heavy fist and his pounding made a noise that must have reverberated deafeningly inside the van. There was a sudden scuffling and muffled cursing, a moment of silence, then a clunk as the latch on the side door went down. The door began to move, screeching as its runner stuck, then sliding slowly open. The officers near the van tensed and took a couple of steps backwards.

‘What do you want, man? Oh, shit.’

When the door was open about a foot, a face appeared, masked by a straggly beard and a woollen hat. The face was low down towards the floor of the van, with a bare arm stretched up to the handle. The rest of his body was wrapped up in a sleeping bag. All that was visible was the head and one arm.

‘Step out of the van, please,’ said the sergeant.

‘You what?’

‘Step out of the van, please, sir. Let me see your hands as you come out.’

‘I’m in fucking bed. What do you want?’

‘We need to talk to you. Is there anyone else in there?’

The sergeant ducked his head through the door, well clear of possible contact with the figure on the floor, and quick enough to avoid the door being slammed on his head.

‘Right. Let’s have both of you out. Sharp, now.’