Ridley stood erect and motionless in the witness box, arms behind his back. His suit jacket hung perfectly off his shoulders and you could hardly see him breathing. His face was unreadable as he listened to every syllable of every word of every question the defence lawyer asked. And whilst Ridley was thinking of how to answer, his eyes did not move around to suggest a faulty memory or any kind of elaboration. He was statuesque. DS Laura Wade couldn’t take her eyes off him.

Once she realised she was staring, she began to blush. Jesus Christ! she thought to herself. Ridley looks as hot as hell up there!

Ridley wasn’t Laura’s type at all. Jack was her type. She and Jack had been partners for just over a year and she’d fancied the pants off him for every second of that time – his dark, bohemian looks and effortlessly rugged appearance made her heart beat faster whenever she saw him. Laura had hoped this feeling would abate once Maggie became pregnant, but it didn’t; she just became better at hiding it.

Ridley, in contrast to Jack, was skinny and boring. But seeing him so composed and convincing in the witness box made her realise just how smart he was. Laura had never before found ‘smart’ attractive, but maybe she was maturing, she thought.

She found herself defending Ridley against her own preconceptions: in her mind, she replaced ‘skinny’ with ‘athletic’. ‘Boring’ with ‘smart’, and suddenly . . . Ridley was a catch!

The judge’s gavel came down and Laura’s dream bubble burst. Ridley stepped down from the witness box and Laura followed him out into the courthouse corridor as he took a call on his mobile. He smiled at Laura, indicating that he’d be with her in a minute. ‘Trust me,’ Ridley said into his mobile, ‘DS Warr never dismisses anyone until he’s 100 per cent certain that they’re not involved. Let him backtrack. Let him double-check. Go with him, Joe, or you’ll regret it.’

Once he’d hung up, Ridley headed for Laura, seated alone on the corridor bench.

‘You look nervous, Laura. There’s no need. Be concise, be confident. We’ve got this.’

A thought popped into her mind – an old conversation she and Jack had had months ago whilst taking the piss out of the fact that Ridley prepared for every case and every raid so slowly and then delivered so quickly. Laura had made a flippant comment back then: ‘Do you think he’s like this in the bedroom? Prepping at the speed of a tortoise and delivering at the speed of a train!’ But now the joke had morphed into an exciting image that Laura couldn’t get out of her head. Her name was called by the Court Clerk – she was next to take the witness stand. Ridley threw her an encouraging smile. ‘Just focus. Don’t be distracted by anything.’

Yeah, right! she thought.

*