‘Don’t get me wrong, Simon, but . . . well, you might get me wrong when I say this, actually . . . but the locals will spot you a mile away. You look like Met. It’ll panic everyone. I was thinking about your boy. The one you lent to Wimbledon. He’s used to rural policing, isn’t he?’

‘He’s just become a new dad, Joe. He won’t want to be assigned to a potentially lengthy job out of region.’

*

Jack snuggled behind Maggie and nuzzled her neck. The faint smell of sick filled his nostrils and he rolled over to face away from her. She’d changed her top, but it was still in her hair. Never before, in all their years of being together, could Jack recall sleeping next to Maggie facing outwards. It was one of the recent changes he hated most.

‘You should go back to work, Jack,’ Maggie whispered. ‘We’re OK, me and Penny.’ Jack felt the bed move as Maggie rolled towards him and curled her arm around his waist. ‘If we snuggle this way round, you don’t have to inhale the smell of second-hand breast milk.’

Jack hesitated, unsure whether Maggie really meant it. ‘Are you . . .?’

‘Jack, I love you, but if you don’t go back to work soon, Ridley will be arresting me for murder.’

*

Ridley wasn’t surprised to see Jack walk through the squad room door, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and raring to go; although he was surprised when he volunteered for the Cotswolds consultancy job. Jack had been sitting at his desk like a spare part when he overheard Ridley briefing Anik on the job. Ridley even gave Anik the name of Mike Haskin and instructed him to liaise remotely as the Met hadn’t cleared any official funds for outside help. Jack had quickly interjected, ‘You won’t need funding for Mike if I’m assigned to the Cotswolds, sir. In fact, you won’t need Mike at all.’ And that’s all Jack had needed to say: his experience with rural policing, together with his time in Wimbledon and his knowledge learnt from Mike made him the perfect choice. Ridley sent a disgruntled Anik back to his desk.

Anik was bored of being a policeman. He constantly looked to the future, rather than focussing on the case in front of him. He was impatient for the big, decisive moment when he’d shine and get all of the kudos he thought he richly deserved. His youthful ambition had not waned with experience, it had simply become more desperate. Anik had recently started to make mistakes and was now a hair’s breadth away from being transferred out of the most prestigious team in the station. Ridley could clearly see that he’d offended Anik, but was in no mood for temper tantrums. He shut his office door firmly, leaving Anik to sulk on his own.