Neil paused a moment. ‘We’ve received a request from Home Office Immigration Enforcement for an undercover officer to infiltrate a gang of Bosnian traffickers. They’re bringing young girls over from Sarajevo, passing them off as Slovenians, and sham marrying them off for visas and prostituting them out.’ He paused to take a sip of his coffee before continuing.

‘It looks a good job on the face of it. May be a bit of travel. They’re bad bastards and some of these poor girls have come over to the cops. One or two of the girls initially said they had been sexually assaulted but seem far too scared to put pen to paper. A couple of the traffickers have been nicked but the main players are still untouchable, and they have a bent solicitor helping them out as well. It’s high-profile stuff and everyone’s under pressure to stop these girls coming into the UK. Sound up your street?’

Tom pretended to consider for a moment. ‘Sounds very interesting, boss, I’d be happy to have a look. Can you square it with my DCI?’ He didn’t want to appear too keen, but in reality he was trying not to give the impression of biting Neil’s hand clean off.

‘That’s no problem, Tom. I know Simon well enough. Once he realises the level this is coming from, he’ll have no choice. I understand the Home Secretary is taking a personal interest in the operation, what with trafficking being so current. What we need to do is sort out a meeting with the operational lead at the Home Office. He’s an ex-superintendent from the Met who’s landed himself a senior role setting up this new investigative team. I’ll speak to him and organise a meet. How’s your Bosnian by the way?’

Tom smiled. ‘It’s not too bad. I grew up speaking Serb, but I can get by in most of the languages spoken over there, they’re all very similar.’

‘That’s great, Tom. I’ll be in touch.’ He stood up, draining his cup. ‘Right, I have to run. I have an assistant commissioner about to kick the crap out of me about my ridiculous overtime budget, which I’ve smashed to bits as usual.’

With that, he shot Tom a smile and strode off. It was typical of Neil Wilkinson; he didn’t waste time on the niceties.