The high quality of the marijuana was evidence that those importing the drugs into the prison had good contacts on the outside. Hopefully, her undercover operation would shed some light on who those contacts were.

‘Talking of Van Damme movies, have you seen Death Warrant?’ said Seema, blowing out a long stream of smoke.

Bailey shook her head.

‘I can’t believe you haven’t seen it,’ said Kay. ‘I thought you were a Van Damme fan. It’s definitely in his top five. Do you know what it’s about?’

‘No.’

‘It’s about this cop that goes undercover in a prison. Are you sure you haven’t seen it?’

Bailey was seized by a sudden paranoia. They were all staring at her and they no longer seemed to be smiling. Did they suspect? Why would they suddenly mention that? Was it a coincidence or were they making a point? Did it seem obvious to them that she was an undercover police officer? Was this some kind of test?

Black tendrils of anxiety wormed their way through her thoughts as her stoned mind frenetically generated all kinds of unpleasant possibilities. Dope paranoia was like that; once the fear gripped you, it was extremely hard to get rid of it. She fought to stay calm, to not show any signs of panic.

Three pairs of red-rimmed eyes bored into her. Time seemed to dilate, slowing right down as it often did in a stoned state. Her heart was beating hard and her mouth was dry. Very dry. She needed water. Why were they all staring at her so intently? She then realised that they were still waiting for an answer from her.

‘Uh… yeah, I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen it. I think I’d have remembered.’

‘Imagine that,’ said Seema slowly. ‘Being an undercover cop in a prison. You’d be fucked if people realised who you actually were.’

‘What kind of person would want to do that anyway?’ said Kay. ‘You’d have to be a bit mad in the first place to want to try and pretend to be someone else. You’d have to be loopier than Mel. Isn’t that right, Mel?’

Mel blinked and looked at them as if seeing them for the first time. Despite staring hard at Bailey, she’d actually been zoned out elsewhere. Kay and Seema laughed.

‘We call her Crazy Mel, don’t we, Mel?’

‘Why’s that?’ asked Bailey.

‘Because she’s crazy,’ said Kay, as if no further explanation was needed.

‘Mel’s not crazy,’ murmured Mel.

‘Then why do you talk about yourself in the third person?’ said Kay.

Seema frowned. ‘Stop being mean.’

‘Yeah stop being mean to Mel,’ grouched Mel.

Bailey began to relax again, her anxiety receding slightly now that she was no longer under the spotlight. The mention of Death Warrant had turned out to be nothing more than just an innocent film reference.

She glanced at her watch. Time was finite and she’d come here for a reason. Now that they appeared to be relatively at ease in her presence, she decided it was time to steer the conversation in a more productive direction.