‘So much for doing the right bloody thing.’ I pulled away from him. ‘What it did was send Ali Kousa to his death.’

‘Maya, you followed procedures.’ Dan was agreeing with Dougie. ‘Minors were living in a squat with Class A drugs, ammo and firearms. What else could you do but phone it in? And Ali had left before that.’

‘Maybe, but we didn’t follow procedures when we entered the squat, did we? We should’ve called for back-up. He wouldn’t have run off then and he’d still be alive.’

‘We thought we were going to a family flat where Ali and Riad lived,’ said Dan, ‘not a junky squat for homeless kids.’

‘He took off because we scared him and now he’s dead.’ In my mind’s eye, I could see Ali’s face. Vulnerable and scared. I heard the fear in his voice when he talked to me.

‘Look, Maya. We sprung them, and he shot through. It’s as simple as that. It was the situation that scared him, not us.’ Dan flung his arms in the air. ‘C’mon. Let’s do what we’ve got to do here and get out of this place. It gives me the creeps.’

‘If we’d looked for him more, things might’ve been different. Abbie Turner went missing and we launched a manhunt. Ali went missing and we did nothing.’ I felt like screaming at Dan for not helping me. For insisting that we focussed on Kelly Turner and Kenny Hayes. ‘Why? Because he’s Syrian?’ I faced Dan and met his eyes. ‘Because he was so scared in his own country, he came here illegally?’

‘Yes. That is partly why. And I think it sucks too.’ He met my gaze, unflinching. ‘But it was also because Abbie is the daughter of one of our arson victims. Ali wasn’t. And Abbie is much younger. I know you’re angry with me, but I still believe it was the right decision.’

‘And now he’s dead.’ I hated hearing us talk in the past tense.

Dougie placed his hand on my shoulder. ‘Dan’s right, Maya,’ he said softly. ‘You looked for Ali as much as you could. Everyone’s sorry we didn’t find him. C’mon.’ He steered me towards the common approach path and into the squat.