‘And Doyle?’ he asked. ‘If she’s there, you know you shouldn’t see her alone, ma’am. After what she did to the sergeant, and all that.’ He looked at her, his eyes full of concern. ‘You would do things by the book, ma’am, wouldn’t you?’

If you knew the half of it, Dave Harris! ‘Trust me, Dave. I just need to know that Archie’s actually got her, or at least that he knows where she is, then I’ll ring you and we’ll go arrest her, okay?’ Nikki looked back at him. ‘Stay here, wait for my call, and hang fire on radioing in our position just yet. Not everyone thinks my trusting Archie is such a good idea, so just in case this is a blind alley, let me check it out first, okay? I can’t afford any more black marks on the Super’s reports.’

Mixed emotions fused into one big mess on his face, but he finally nodded. ‘Fair enough, ma’am. But don’t take all night, will you? You may have half the Leonard clan behind you, but I’ve got sod all out here!’

The Zig Zag café had always been a dive, but since a gang of masked hooligans had tried to torch it, it looked more like a demolition site.

The back door led directly into the kitchen, a place that looked more suited to hosing down tractor tyres than to preparing food.

Archie stood in the shadows and waited for her. ‘Did she kill my girl, Nikki? I want an honest answer.’

‘Forensics prove that Lisa Jane was killed by a powerful man, Archie. Not a woman.’ That was honest enough for now.

He nodded. ‘But is she implicated?’

‘She may well be, but I’ll need to prove it.’ She stared directly at him. ‘And I will, of that there is no doubt.’ She took a step closer to the man. ‘Archie, listen to me. If it was Doyle that hurt my Hannah, you know that I’ll never be able to pin anything on her, so I need to take her down for every other crime that she’s ever committed!’

Archie Leonard placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘There’s more than one way to make her pay, Nikki. Walk out now, and it could all end right here. For ever.’

‘Maybe I wish I could do just that!’ Nikki closed her eyes. ‘After what she’s done to Joseph.’ She ran out of words for a second, then whispered, ‘But I have to know, Archie, about Hannah. I have to hear it from Doyle’s own lips. And I have to try to find Kerry Anderson. If she knows where that poor girl is, somehow I have to get her to tell me. And there’s so little time.’

Archie stepped back from her. ‘Yes, you deserve that, at least.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘Are you alone?’