I twisted sideways as a baton flailed out and hit the wall by my head. Leotta screamed in a piercing wail as I ducked out of the revealing light. Something, probably another baton, hit me in the side with enough force to have cracked ribs if I hadn’t been moving away from it fast. I kicked out high with my foot and the flashlight went flying.

It had been a long time since I’d practised unarmed combat – too long. And even so, odds of four to one were too much, especially as these men were prepared for action. They wore helmets and their faces were covered, they had riot shields and those damned batons, and their boots were heavy. It was the boots I was afraid of. I knew that if I went down, it would be all over. They could stomp me right into the ground.

Leotta screamed again and a hoarse voice shouted, ‘Leave the girl!’ One of the coppers came at me: I whirled and his stroke missed. I chopped sideways at his neck and connected, but another of them got in a good blow to my shoulder as I did so and my whole right arm went numb. Then another came in lower and thrust his baton between my legs so that I stumbled and fell.

As I pitched forward I had a sudden vision of Ogilvie as I had last seen him, his face and body purple with bruises, and I knew it was going to happen to me. When I hit the ground I rolled away desperately, but not quickly enough. I was booted hard in the thigh at the same time as a baton cracked down heavily on my back.

I knew I had to protect my head and stomach so I squirmed into a ball with my knees up and my head bent over covered with my hands, trying to imitate a hedgehog – or a foetus. A boot cracked against my shin and blows rained down. The men were silent except for their heavy breathing and occasional grunts.

Then a voice yelled ‘Sergeant!’, there was a final blow and the beating mercifully stopped.

That last stroke of the baton had been over my kidneys and a wave of dizziness washed over me. I heard the voice again, cold with authority and crackling with tension. ‘Sergeant, just what do you think you’re doing?’ A light played over me. ‘What’s your name, Sergeant?’

‘Taylor.’

‘Taylor – what?’

‘Taylor, sir.’

‘Post?’

‘Hogtown, sir.’

‘Well, Taylor, you will take these men and report to my office immediately. You will turn in those weapons and you will report to Inspector Rose and tell him that you are under arrest pending an inquiry. If he is not there, you will wait for him or for me. Is that understood?’

There was a pause. ‘Well?’

‘Yes, sir.’