Ava hadn’t realised he was in the room. She took a deep breath. She hadn’t been intending to break the news to the squad so brutally or so soon, but now that they were all gathered, it seemed the easiest course.

‘DI Callanach’s on leave at the moment. A conflict with the Jenson and Western investigations has come to light and he’s had to step away from an investigative role until that matter’s settled.’

Lively stepped forwards. ‘The Gilroy–Western brake-cutting is my case. How come I wasn’t told about this?’

‘The decision was made late last night for the good of everyone involved. It won’t affect your investigation; in fact, I’m hoping it’ll make for a cleaner resolution,’ Ava said, picking up her file and readying to leave.

Lively was having none of it.

‘It might not affect my investigation, but you’ve got a triple murder on your hands that Callanach was heading up. You don’t think MIT might need its most experienced detective inspector at the moment? No disrespect, Max,’ he directed at Tripp.

‘None taken,’ Tripp said quietly. ‘For what it’s worth, ma’am, I agree. This isn’t a good time to be losing the DI.’

‘Thank you all for your opinions,’ Ava said. ‘My decision has been agreed with the detective superintendent and is not reversible for legal reasons. I’m sure DI Callanach would be pleased to know that he has so much support from the unit, particularly from some people he might not have anticipated.’ She gave Lively a brief glance, knowing as she did that the bitchiness was beneath her. ‘I’m sure you’ll be seeing your DI again very soon. That’ll be all.’

‘What’s the point of suspending Callanach from duty, if you don’t mind me asking, ma’am? There’s no way he was involved in the murders of either Jenson or Western. You know that and every person here knows that. This is bullshit,’ Lively said.

Absolute silence – a rarely observed quality within one of Police Scotland’s occupied buildings – stretched gulf-like between Ava and Lively.

Eventually, with leaden legs and a thumping head, Ava walked across the room clutching her files in front of her like a bulletproof vest, stopping directly in front of her detective sergeant.

‘I said, that will be all. You have work to do.’

Forcing herself to pause en route to her office to make coffee, rather than being perceived to have bolted and hidden, Ava could imagine the conversation happening behind her. That her promotion had finally gone to her head, that she’d lost her judgement, that Luc Callanach was being unfairly treated and was suddenly – in spite of all the ribbing and grief he’d received since joining Police Scotland – something close to a local hero.