She knows police work isn’t like it is on the TV or at the movies. Cases like the one she was involved in last year don’t just crop up every day, she gets that. She’s grateful for it, really. Otherwise her mother wouldn’t even let her out of the house. Ay, Mina! Jaan, why can’t you get a different job? She knows the job involves a lot of paperwork and maybe it isn’t as hands-on as it is for the Murder Room team. It isn’t as though Doggett had wanted her anywhere near his squad after what happened anyway, but that was fine. She was happy to give up her original dream for a chance to work with Tyler. It’s still CID and, to be fair, she would have taken anything as long as she got that word “Detective” in front of her name. It isn’t even that she doesn’t believe Tyler when he tells her how important it is to review cases. It’s there in the name, after all. Cold Case Review Unit. She gets that. She’s done every crappy job Tyler’s asked of her, and more. It’s beyond boring, but has she complained? No. Not even once.

But it would all just be a lot more bearable if he was there leading by example. Instead of doing whatever the hell it is he does all day.

There’s a loud cheer and Mina swivels in her chair in time to see Guy Daley walk into the office. It has been a year since she last saw him, being hurried into the back of an ambulance. The room erupts into a chorus of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow,” but for all that she’s happy Daley hasn’t suffered any long-lasting effects from his knock on the head, she can’t bring herself to join in with it. She turns back to her screen and begins reading the notes again.

Half an hour later she gives up and makes her way to the watercooler with an empty plastic bottle. You’re not supposed to refill bottles. There’s a printed sign, laminated and stuck to the wall with Blu Tack that says, “In the interests of hygiene, please do NOT refill water bottles. Use the paper cups provided!!!!!” Despite the underlining, bold, and excessive use of exclamation marks, no one ever uses the paper cups provided.

Her bottle is half full when Daley appears alongside her. He smiles at her without speaking and it’s even worse than the encounters she used to have with the man.

“Welcome back, Guy. How are you doing?”

“Cheers, Mina. Yeah, I’m good, mate.”

Mina? Mate? Perhaps the knock on his head dislodged something. She immediately feels the shame of that thought. He was badly hurt last year, and from what she’s heard, it’s been a long recovery. He might be an ignorant bastard but he didn’t deserve that. Still, mate? Maybe it’s the fact she’s a detective now. She hasn’t considered that before. Is she now “one of the lads”?