Joseph skimmed through the history, raised his eyebrows in surprise over the kid’s school report, then said, ‘Fancy paying Rembrandt here a visit? I need to know if this latest masterpiece was his own idea, or whether someone paid him to do it.’

Cat pulled a face. ‘Sorry, Sarge, but I’m stuck here waiting for news on the mask factory.’

‘Oh well, I’m getting to know my way to the Carborough by now. Thanks for this, anyway.’

‘Pleasure.’ She gave him an elfin smile and went back to her desk.

Joseph closed his computer. He really should get over to the Estate, but if he were honest, he was worried about his new boss. He’d seen panic attacks before, he’d even experienced a couple himself in the past, but the DI’s had been a bad one, and he wondered what the hell had happened to her.

Joseph abruptly stood up. Whatever it was, it was not his business. No way should he be prying into Nikki Galena’s nightmares. He had enough of his own to deal with. He pushed his chair under his desk and grabbed his car keys. He couldn’t put off his trip to the Carborough any longer.

He called out a brief goodbye to Cat, then made his way downstairs.

As he passed the station desk the Duty Sergeant called out, ‘Excuse me! Is DI Galena still around?’

‘Sorry, no. She’s at the hospital.’

’Oh, now that could be advantageous. We’ve got something that I think she should see.’

‘Can I help?’

‘There’s been an attack on a young boy. He’s in a pretty serious condition.’

‘On the Carborough?’ asked Joseph.

Jack Conway shook his head. ‘No, not far from here. There’s a kid’s recreation ground down by the river. A dog walker found him in the bushes. I thought the DI should know because from what my officers report from the crime scene, it’s mask-related again.’

‘Oh, what a surprise!’ Joseph puffed out his cheeks. ‘Look, best not to ring the Inspector. She’s carrying out an identification so she’ll probably have her phone switched off. I’ll go down to the hospital and tell her myself, then we can go directly and check on the victim.’

‘That’s fine, sir,’ said Sergeant Conway. ‘If it’s no trouble.’

‘Do we have a name for the boy?’

‘Not yet. He had no identification on him.’

‘And what’s the mask connection?’

‘He was wearing one.’ Jack Conway’s expression darkened. ‘And I’m afraid that’s all he was wearing, sir. He’d been stripped.’

Joseph gritted his teeth. ‘Poor little sod! How old do your officers think he is?’

‘Hard to say. He’s taken one hell of a beating. Maybe twelve, thirteen?’

‘What the hell is going on here?’