‘I trust him. If he says he’ll help, then he will.’ Nikki sipped her coffee, then glanced at her watch. ‘Shit! I need to be at the hospital.’

‘Shall I come with you?’

‘No, Sergeant. It won’t take two of us for this miserable job. And I’ll try to grab a private word with Archie after he’s seen Lisa Jane.’ She stood up and grabbed her jacket. ‘You catch up with Cat, check out the graffiti kid lead. Go find him if you want, although I doubt he’ll be sitting at home playing Scrabble with granny.’

‘Probably not, but I’ll give it a try, ma’am.’

‘And if you can’t find him, ride around the estate, see how many new artworks have sprung up with a connection to the masks.’ She paused at the door. ‘Then get yourself home and grab some sleep. Today has had it’s fair share of traumatic moments.’

Joseph looked at her intently. ‘Will you be all right seeing Lisa Jane again? I’ll go, if it helps.’

‘I’ll be fine. It wasn’t the girl that upset me, Sergeant.’ She thought for a moment, wondering how much of herself she was prepared to share with this unusual man. ‘It was just that whole scenario. That gloomy half-light, the filth everywhere, the …’ she shuddered, ‘… the way her hair fell.’ Then she knew that she’d said enough. Maybe too much. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the horrible returning memories of Emily Drennan’s death. ‘In the mortuary, it won’t effect me at all. And if I keep Archie waiting, we may not have a deal any more.’ She moved quickly out of the door, then called back, ‘And nice one with Archie, by the way. I’m sure he realized that it’s very much in our own interests to keep the news of the death of a gangster’s girl quiet, but you put it over beautifully. Even I believed that you were only thinking of him!’

She flashed a rare smile, and raced off down the corridor.

Joseph went to his desk and logged on to his computer.

‘Got that info you wanted, Sergeant.’

He looked up to see Cat grinning down at him. She was a strange one, but take away the tarty clothes, the make-up and the spiky hair, and there was something almost childlike and appealing about her.

‘Great! What do we have?’ Joseph took the photo and the printout that she was handing him.

‘Just a freaky kid, really. His sister looks after him, and she’s clean, too. It’s the parents you don’t want to meet. Two really nasty characters. One’s inside and one’s drying out.’