Jack asked Bevan to contact Sergeant McDermott. ‘I’ve just seen her in the canteen, sir. I’ll go get her.’ Then Bevan bounced out of the squad room.

Jack and Gifford looked at the frozen image of Mathew, pinned to the lawn outside his own home, sobbing and petrified. ‘I don’t know this boy well, Jack, but I know his parents. Yes, George can be a pompous arse, but he’s a good dad. For the past twelve years, at every one of Mathew’s annual reviews, the authorities have suggested that his “challenging behaviour” is too much to handle at home. But George and Sally refuse to let Mathew be admitted into an institution. They’d do anything for him. So this must be killing them. It’d kill me. Look at him, Jack . . . look what he does when he’s scared. He doesn’t fight, he runs. The bastards who did this to Mathew don’t think like normal human beings.’

This was the most Jack had ever heard Gifford say. It reminded him that anyone can surprise you under the right circumstances. Gifford was a family man, Jack realised; that was why he had allowed Bevan to shine in front of Jack. Gifford might well have stopped learning, as Ridley suggested, but he was still capable of teaching.

‘Sir . . .’ Jack had to ask Gifford to authorise the accounts search on Barrowman and wasn’t sure how. ‘Do you think Barrowman was guilty of tax fraud back in ’07?’

‘What the hell’s that got to do with the price of fish?’ Gifford responded.

‘Nothing. I want to know if you think Barrowman is an honest man. He could be generous and loving to his family and still have strayed onto the wrong side of the law.’

Gifford was becoming familiar with Jack’s methods. ‘What’s the real question?’

‘His list of stolen items differs from his wife’s. He included a string of pearls; she didn’t. She also didn’t know how many gold bars were in the safe or how much cash, so, I’m inclined to believe that his recollection is more accurate. But when I double-checked, he backtracked and said there were no pearls.’

Gifford slowly put his hands into his pockets. ‘You can’t think he’s our inside man. He was targeted!’

Jack shrugged. ‘This gang is capable of anything. Maybe it was a warning. Or maybe there were no pearls and Barrowman was mistaken. I don’t know, sir. And I hate not knowing.’