Isobel’s expression is serious, and Joe’s trying to work out if there’s a smile hiding behind her eyes when Jason’s phone rings. He watches his colleague listen, nod, grunt a few times and finish the call. ‘Work-related?’ he asks.

‘Yeah, it was Sagal. I asked her to check if there was any CCTV that could help us, but apparently Brookhill Road is a CCTV black spot.’

‘There’s a camera at the dog groomer’s a few doors up,’ Isobel offers. ‘I saw it on my way here.’

‘Very observant,’ Joe notes. ‘You know, you’d make a great forensic scientist.’

‘Yeah, I heard that.’ Isobel rolls her eyes, and Joe decides to consider it a friendly gesture.

‘Shall we stroll up there?’ Jason asks, but it’s a question that doesn’t need an answer. With a camera positioned so close to the scene, they have a very good chance of spotting the assailant either arriving or leaving the property. Joe says goodbye to Isobel, nods self-consciously at Annie, and follows Jason out of the shop.

There’s a bell above the groomer’s door and it jangles as they walk inside. It reminds Joe of buying sweets from the village store – which is weird, because he grew up in Lewisham – and the warm feeling grows when the woman behind the desk smiles at them both. On second glance, her face looks a little tired and her shoulders sit higher than they should, but she has a hazy glow about her that Joe feels drawn to.

‘Morning, gentlemen, how can I help? I’m guessing that you’re more interested in what happened at the old Delphine’s than my price list? I’m Sally by the way.’

‘Good guess,’ Jason says, beaming at her, his skills with middle-aged women at play again. ‘There was an incident at the property in the early hours of the morning.’

‘I thought I saw that the same squatter had moved back in,’ Sally says sagely. ‘My heart goes out to him, poor lad, but two incidents in one month.’ She shakes her head vaguely and lifts her eyebrows. ‘What happened?’

‘A young man was assaulted,’ Jason offers. ‘And we noticed that you have a CCTV camera outside your shopfront. Is there any chance we could take a look at the footage from last night?’

‘Assaulted? Is he going to be okay? And of course you can; it’s a pleasure to help. The camera only records when there’s motion detected outside our front door, but I guess that’s what you’re looking for, why you asked.’

‘Thanks, Sally.’