That took everyone’s mind off her injuries and caused another round of raucous comments, allowing Ava to slip towards the corridor. She took the corner quietly and headed for her office.

‘Ma’am,’ a voice rumbled from behind. She turned back to see DI Graham approaching. ‘You’ll come for a beer tonight, then?’

‘I’ll have to see,’ she said. ‘The squad likes to let its hair down when they’re out together and having your DCI there isn’t very conducive to that.’

‘My celebration, my rules,’ he replied.

He was nearly a foot taller than Ava and close up, she had to tilt her neck back to look into his clear blue eyes. It was easy to see why Lively was feeling intimidated by the new boy.

‘Let me know where you’re going. My mobile number’s on the squad contact sheet. The first thing you should do is put all those numbers into your phone. I might pop in for a quick one.’

‘I’d be offended if you didn’t,’ he smiled. ‘Is there anything in particular you need me on at the moment?’

‘Just settle in while you can. In MIT, the work finds us. You won’t need to go looking for it,’ she said, waving goodbye and trying not to limp as she continued walking.

By the time she reached her office, her leg was sore, and Callanach was waiting for her with coffee and paracetamol.

‘Given that you saved my life, I’m pretty sure I should be fetching you coffee,’ she said, dropping into a chair and putting a hand to her forehead.

‘If you really felt indebted to me, you’d have called in sick as I suggested.’ Callanach shook two tablets from the pot into her hand.

‘Yeah, Overbeck really likes people not turning up to her briefings. I find her particularly sympathetic on that subject.’

Ava tossed back the pills and swallowed. The phone on her desk rang as she was still trying to wash a tablet down with coffee. She waved a distracted hand at Callanach, who answered for her.

‘Is Ava there?’ Dr Ailsa Lambert’s reedy voice twittered down the line.

Callanach loved the way she never deferred to Ava by rank.

‘She’s not. This is Callanach. Can I help?’

‘Indeed you can. We’ve made a positive identification of our fall victim. His fingerprints were on the national database, after an incident in which he’d had an offensive weapon in the back of a taxi. Looks like the procurator fiscal was still making a decision on whether or not to pursue the case.’

Callanach grabbed a pen and paper.

‘Name?’ he asked.

‘Stephen Berry. Lived in the city. No other convictions. I’ve finished my report save for the tox screen findings and I’m hoping to be able to give you everything tomorrow.’

‘I’ll follow up now. Thanks, Ailsa.’