Finally, the other officers drifted away and left Cooper and Weenink alone.

‘Are you all right, Todd?’

‘Sure. Why?’

‘I just wondered what all that was about earlier on today. What did you get called back for?’

‘Oh, just the usual sort of bollocks,’ said Weenink dismissively. ‘Somebody upstairs with their knickers in a twist.’

On the television screen in the corner of the room, DCI Tailby’s face appeared. It was a clip from the coverage of the press conference. Tailby was trying to look serious and professional, but hopeful.

‘Todd,’ said Cooper, ‘what do you know about Maggie Crew? The victim that Diane Fry is dealing with.’

‘I know she can’t remember much about the attack, that’s all. But I can’t say I’d want to remember much myself, really. It’s tough on a woman, getting her face messed up like that.’

‘Do you know if she’s ever been married or anything?’

‘No. She’s a solicitor, all business suits and fancy briefs. Likes to be called “Ms”, I expect.’

‘Has she got children?’

‘Kids? You’re joking. I bet her womb has cobwebs.’

Cooper ran his mind back over the earlier conversation. He felt dissatisfied with the way it had ended.

‘Look, you have to realize she’s a bit of an outsider,’ he said.

‘Who?’

‘Diane Fry. Being an outsider can be a difficult thing to deal with. It takes time.’

‘You don’t have to tell me about that,’ said Weenink. ‘I’m an outsider, too. And I always will be. Neither one thing nor the other, that’s me.’

‘You mean because you’re Dutch?’

‘Half-Dutch. My dad’s from Rotterdam. He came over to work in the British shipyards back in the seventies. He ended up in Sheffield.’

‘What shipyards?’

‘Exactly. There are none left. That’s why he ended up in Sheffield. He worked in a steel mill, until that closed too.’

‘I bet you got the piss taken out of your name when you were a kid.’

Weenink scowled. ‘Are you kidding? I cursed my dad as a bastard every day, just because he gave me that name. It’s pronounced like “Vaining” but with a “k” on the end, I’d say. I’d tell them and tell them till I was blue in the face, but do you think they took any notice?’

‘It was a joke,’ said Cooper.

‘What was?’

‘Taking the piss. Like “wee”, you know.’

Weenink flushed. ‘It’s pronounced like “Vaining” . . .’

‘. . . but with a “k” on the end. Right.’

Cooper began to look around the canteen for an excuse to leave.

‘Anyway,’ said Weenink slowly, ‘when I got bigger than the rest of them, they stopped doing it.’ His face solidified into his notorious stare. ‘Once I’d smashed the first one’s teeth in, anyway.’

‘Sorry, time’s up for the public. Next item on the agenda – minutes of the last meeting.’