‘It’s been agreed with your superiors that I should join this interview, Bull. By all means check.’

Bull had taken an instant dislike to Special Agent Romeo Meyer. He realised that. And he did not have to wonder why. It was Meyer’s tone. An unbearable combination of smug and condescending authority.

But it was not his dislike that was now driving Bull; he would not be so unprofessional for that alone. No. There was something else. Something he just could not quite place. And while there was little he could ultimately do – he knew he would have to allow Meyer into the room in the end – he was determined to be as difficult as hell for as long as he could.

‘I don’t doubt they’ve agreed,’ he answered. ‘My lot will do whatever your lot tell them. But right now, having you in that room is going to hinder the progress of this interview.’

Bull indicated towards the closed door of the interview room as they spoke.

‘I’ve managed to build a rapport with this guy and I think he’s close to trusting me. You insist on sitting in there with us, we’re gonna have to start that from scratch. And there’s no guarantee he’ll take to you as he has to me.’

‘Are you listening to yourself, Bull?’ Meyer’s tone was now a mix of mockery and anger. ‘You’ve built a rapport? With a Muslim terrorist who has murdered more than five hundred people? Including a prospective presidential candidate who was weeks from being under the protection of my agency?’

‘You don’t know any of that,’ Bull replied, his own temper beginning to show. ‘You don’t know he’s an Islamic terrorist. And you sure as hell can’t say that he murdered anyone.’

‘Can’t I? The piece of shit confessed. What the hell other conclusion do you want me to reach?’

‘He confessed to the physical act of putting that bomb on the plane. That’s all we know at the moment. That doesn’t automatically make him a terrorist. It doesn’t automatically make him a murderer. I don’t know about you but my job is to investigate. Not to jump to the most obvious conclusion because it suits me. And it’s Detective Chief Inspector Bull, by the way.’

‘Here we go.’ There was no longer any genuine anger in Meyer’s voice. It had been replaced by the same condescending, arrogant tone he had begun with. ‘This pathetic country. No wonder you’ve declined so far in the world that you’re no more than a punchline. Even your law enforcement, filled with liberal ass-kissers who won’t say it like it is ’cos the truth might upset someone.’

‘Who the hell do you think you are?’ Bull demanded. ‘What gives you the right—’

‘You’ve got a fucking Muslim who surrenders himself,’ Meyer continued, ignoring Bull’s interruption, ‘who confesses to the single worst terrorist attack in this sad little island’s long, long history of being a victim. And what do your police do? They send one of you to deal with it. Is that a coincidence? Or is it so no one can cry “unfair” or “racism”? It’s fucking pathetic, that’s what it is.’