He went over to a cupboard and removed a jar of coffee. ‘Any tea or coffee, darling?’

She shook her head. ‘Thanks, I’m fine. So, tell me, do you think Gready’s wife was in the know?’

He shrugged. ‘Honestly, I’ve no idea. She refused to give evidence and abandoned him during the trial – she seemed to have made her mind up that he was guilty. It’s the age-old question, was the partner really innocent? I’ve heard that she has made a substantial donation to the Down’s Syndrome Association. Interesting to know when she had this epiphany – blood money?’ Roy said cynically.

‘What about the rest of the money, surely she doesn’t get to keep it?’

‘She won’t lose anything under the Proceeds of Crime Act because he is dead, but there might well be civil action – Customs and Excise, the police, that sort of thing.’

‘Imagine if she didn’t know, Roy? First, she’s lost her husband, now she stands to lose her reputation.’

He nodded. ‘Twenty years ago, I might have imagined that she genuinely didn’t know. But less so these days.’

‘Because twenty years as a copper has turned you into a sceptical bastard?’ she said, with a teasing smile.

‘No, life’s about making choices. She chose a wrong ’un.’

‘And what about me?’ Cleo asked. ‘What did I choose?’

He grinned back at her. ‘I’m far too modest to say.’

GLOSSARY

ANPR – Automatic Number Plate Recognition. Roadside or mobile cameras that automatically capture the registration number of all cars that pass. It can be used to historically track which cars went past a certain camera, and can also create a signal for cars which are stolen, have no insurance or have an alert attached to them.

CID – Criminal Investigation Department. Usually refers to the divisional detectives rather than the specialist squads.

CPS – Crown Prosecution Service.

CSI – Was SOCO. Crime Scene Investigators (Scenes of Crime Officers). They are the people who attend crime scenes to search for fingerprints, DNA samples etc.

CSM – Crime Scene Manager.

DIGITAL FORENSICS – The unit which examines and investigates computers and other digital devices.

FLO – Family Liaison Officer.

HOLMES – Home Office Large Major Enquiry System. The national computer database used on all murders. It provides a repository of all messages, actions, decisions and statements, allowing the analysis of intelligence and the tracking and auditing of the whole enquiry. Can enable enquiries to be linked across force areas where necessary.

IOPC – Independent Office for Police Conduct.

OSCAR-1 – The call sign of the Force Control Duty Inspector, who has oversight and command of all critical incidents in the initial stages.

PM – Postmortem.

POLSA – Police Search Adviser.

RSOCU – Regional Serious & Organized Crime Unit.

SIO – Senior Investigating Officer. Usually a Detective Chief Inspector who is in overall charge of the investigation of a major crime such as murder, kidnap or rape.

CHART OF POLICE RANKS