‘Then ask around. Speak to your snouts. This tag is cropping up too regularly for comfort. I want his or her name, and I want it soon. Right. Back here at four o’clock, and I know I don’t have to tell you this, but Kerry Anderson is still, above all else, our major priority. Off you go!’

Nikki leant back in the chair and exhaled.

‘What now, ma’am?’ Joseph sat down next to her.

‘I’m going to ring ITU about the boy, and then I think it’s time we completed the journey that we were on the other day, don’t you?’

‘Barnby Eaudyke?’

‘Barnby Eaudyke, and our creepy Night Watcher.’

Joseph nodded. ‘I’ll go introduce Cat to my computer game while you talk to the hospital.’

‘I can’t believe that you’ve got a lead on the Griffyx when I’ve been working my butt off looking for a connection.’ Cat sounded mildly miffed.

‘If you’d come with me to see Petey last night you’d probably have it all figured by now.’

‘Yeah, and if I’d known my lead on the manufacturers was going to bugger off, I wouldn’t have wasted my time waiting on a phone call.’

Joseph grinned. ‘Bummer, but that’s the way it goes.’ He handed her his notes. ‘This is the pathway I was given.’ His tone turned serious. ‘It’s pretty disgusting stuff, Cat, and I mean by anyone’s standards, not just mine.’

‘Bet I’ve seen worse. I worked the Vice Squad for two years.’

‘Oh.’

‘Had its up side,’ said Cat, as her fingers flew deftly over the keyboard. ‘At least I got the chance to remove a lot of human garbage from the streets.’ She stared at the screen. ‘Here we go. It’s loading.’ She looked across at him. ‘If you’d like to avert your delicate eyes, I can take it from here.’

‘My eternal thanks.’ He stood up. ‘I have an appointment with the Guv’nor, so I’ll catch you later. Best of luck.’

Cat watched as he left the room. Nothing had changed her earlier opinion of him. Sergeant Easter was sincerely hot.

She shook her head and tried to stop her hormones going into freefall. There was work to be done, and it would help if her mind was actually on the job and not on luscious, fit detectives!

Suddenly the monitor screen went black, then a small red dot appeared in the centre. It slowly increased in size until it was about two inches in diameter, then morphed into a bloodshot eye. A leathery, heavily veined lid blinked a few times, then a strangely echoing voice asked if she would like to enter the Kingdom of LycoRapture.