‘No, I won’t excuse you,’ said Ade. ‘You lawyers with your suppression of the truth are helping to ensure that there’s one set of rules for the rich and powerful and another set for everyone else.’

‘Happy you got that off your chest, Mr Udo? I have places to be.’ I glared at him, daring him to follow me further. Let him try it.

He got the message and turned to crawl back under whatever toadstool he’d emerged from. I carried on walking, my heels stabbing at the pavement with the brisk pace I set. Bastard! I didn’t need him and his nonsense. Not now. Nearing my car, I pressed the button on my car-key fob. The doors clunked open.

‘Miss Hadley?’

Now what? I spun round. To my surprise, two male, uniformed Cross police officers moved to stand on either side of me. One was my height and stocky, with short locs. The other officer was at least a head taller than his colleague with dark, almost black eyes and a trim precision beard with no moustache.

‘Can I help you?’

‘Are you Callie Rose Hadley?’

‘Yes, I am. Is there a problem?’

‘Miss Hadley, we have a warrant for your arrest,’ said the taller cop.

The words picked me up and dunked me head first into a vat of ice water. Chilled to the bone, I asked, ‘Is this some kind of joke?’

‘I’m afraid not, Miss Hadley,’ said the taller cop doing all the talking.

‘On what charge?’ I asked.

‘Perverting the course of justice. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand your rights as I have explained them to you?’

Was this guy having a laugh? ‘I’m a lawyer. Of course I understand my rights.’ Dickhead!

‘If you could turn round.’

‘Why?’

‘We need to put handcuffs on you.’

No way. A quick look around. We were already attracting attention. The last thing I needed was for that shit-fish Ade Udo to take photos of me being handcuffed and blast them all over Albion’s media channels.

‘Officer, I am not resisting arrest and I will accompany you to the police station to get this sorted out, but I would ask, as a courtesy from one judicial officer to another, that you don’t put handcuffs on me like I’m a common criminal.’

The two officers exchanged a studied look.

‘I’m sure my head of chambers, Solomon Camden, or my friend Anika Morgenstern, the Attorney General, will be happy to sort out what is obviously a grave misunderstanding.’ I was dropping names like wedding confetti, but desperation was nipping at my heels. What the actual hell? I was being arrested?

Just when I thought things couldn’t get much worse.