A man walking down the aisle to his seat suddenly stopped and slumped to the floor. Richie looked at the man, frowning. He hadn’t stumbled, or tripped. He had just been walking, then fallen to the ground.

‘You all right, mate?’ he shouted over.

The man groaned but didn’t get up.

Sean was still engrossed in the fight as Richie stood and made his way over to the man. He was lying face down and blood was oozing from his shoulder, darkening the blue of his suit. ‘What the fuck?’ muttered Richie. He waved at a steward in a fluorescent jacket. ‘Hey, there’s a guy hurt here! He’s bleeding!’

The steward hurried over.

The lift jerked to a halt at the top of the building and the doors rattled open. The men stepped out. Shepherd had the Glock in his hand, his trigger finger pressed against the side of the gun. The corridor ran from left to right, with emergency stairs at either end. ‘I’ve lost my bearings. Which side faces the stadium?’ asked Willoughby-Brown.

Shepherd gestured at the doors opposite the lifts. ‘They’re facing north. But there’s no guarantee that the stadium is his target.’

‘It’s a reasonable assumption,’ said Willoughby-Brown. His hand went instinctively to touch his earpiece. ‘Yes, Superintendent, I’m here.’

‘The room you’re looking for is on the twelfth floor, fifth window from the left as you face the building,’ said the superintendent. ‘There are four people inside, one of whom appears to be lying down by the window.’

Willoughby-Brown gestured at the lift. ‘Twelfth floor,’ he said. ‘Thank you, Superintendent. Could you get the helicopter to pull back now and clear the area? Thank you so much.’

‘Do I need to evacuate?’

‘I think we have it in hand, Superintendent. But if anything changes, you’ll be the first to know.’

Shepherd and the three armed officers followed Willoughby-Brown back into the lift. Willoughby-Brown stabbed the button for the twelfth floor and the doors rattled shut.

Ian Chapman put down his radio and walked over to Inspector Fielding. ‘Andrew, something weird’s going on.’

Fielding turned away from the screens. ‘What’s up?’ He’d been planning to head ringside. The first round was over and it was set to be an awesome bout.

‘We’ve got two woundings,’ said Chapman.

‘Woundings?’

‘Stabbings, by the look of it. They both happened within the last few minutes.’

Fielding stood up. ‘What happened? Who stabbed them?’

‘No one knows. We just have two people on the ground bleeding.’

‘Hang on, what are you saying? Someone’s going around stabbing people?’

‘Andrew, I don’t know anything other than what I’ve just told you. Two people with stab wounds.’

Fielding looked back at the screens. Everything seemed normal. In the ring a pretty blonde in a bikini was strutting around with a sign announcing round two. ‘Where are they?’ he asked.