‘We can’t allow that to happen,’ said The Hawk. ‘Not least because it will give the press another opportunity to write about no-go areas and not enough bobbies on the beat. William, as the other three cases seem to be in limbo, and DI Hogan will soon be leaving us, I want you to take over responsibility for Abbott and Roach.’

‘At the expense of Operation Masterpiece?’ asked William. ‘Because Ross and I are confident we’ve come up with a plan to bring Faulkner back to England so he can complete his ten-year sentence.’

‘Plus whatever the court adds on following his escape,’ threw in Ross.

‘We’re not bounty hunters,’ said The Hawk. ‘I’ll need to be convinced you have a better than fifty-fifty chance of success before I would even consider sanctioning such an operation.’

‘I have an appointment this afternoon with the company that constructed the metal door in Faulkner’s study,’ said Ross. ‘That might well change the odds.’

‘If they let you know how to open that door,’ said The Hawk, ‘I’ll stand you a pint.’

‘But you only gave me a half after our Trojan Horse triumph,’ Paul reminded him.

‘More than you deserved,’ said William, ‘considering you spent most of the evening in A&E with a sprained ankle.’

The rest of the team began to bang on the table with the palms of their hands, while Paul looked suitably chastened. He was rescued by the commander’s secretary rushing into the room.

‘A woman has just been murdered in South Kensington,’ she said. ‘They’re asking for the Yard’s assistance.’

‘Tell them to get one of the local murder teams to handle the case, Angela,’ said the commander. ‘Don’t they realize we have enough problems of our own?’

‘Normally they would, the officer in charge assured me,’ said Angela, ‘but the woman was found with a serrated kitchen knife sticking out of her throat.’

‘Roach,’ said William and Hogan simultaneously, as they both leapt out of their seats.

‘Tell them we’re on our way,’ said William. ‘Jackie, make sure there’s a squad car waiting for us outside the front door, and ask the duty officer to contact me on my radio, so he can brief me before I get there.’

William and Ross began running towards the door, but William suddenly stopped, turned back and said, ‘Paul, put out an all-points alert for Terry Roach, with a warning that he’ll be armed and dangerous. He can’t be far from the scene, but in this particular case, it won’t be the first forty-eight hours that are crucial, but the first forty-eight minutes. If we don’t arrest him before he gets back to the East End, he’ll have a cast-iron alibi along with a dozen witnesses who’ll swear blind he hasn’t set foot outside Whitechapel all day.’

Paul grabbed the nearest phone as William ran out of the room and into the corridor. Ross was already out of sight. He took the stairs down to the ground floor two at a time, not wanting to rely on the vagaries of the lift. By the time he reached the lobby, Danny was pulling up outside the front door.