There’d been a reception at Elland Road earlier in the afternoon, just a plastic cup of white wine and a round of applause. But his self-sacrifice had been noted, and there was a new air of cautious reverence in the way his colleagues spoke to him. He’d ignored accusations of socialising with a suspect not once but twice, the second time whilst suspended. That took some guts. They were impressed by his commitment, but also wary of it, knowing that they would never have risked their careers like that, dating a suspected murderer.

‘And you took all that flak!’ she said. ‘Budding romance with a witness… in the national papers, social media… kicked off the case… And to think it was all part of the investigation!’

‘Extra mile, Rita. Extra mile.’

It had been more than that. She knew it, and so did he.

She let his words hang there between them, her lips pursed in a bad attempt to hide a smile.

‘Those long, thoughtful pauses?’ he said. ‘They don’t work with me. You know that, right?’

‘You got her, Joe. That’s the main thing,’ she said, looking up to see Jane Shaw appear at the door. ‘Whatever else you had in mind.’

‘I…’ he began.

But Rita was grinning, irritatingly self-righteous. It was too late. He’d never be able to explain.

‘Hi, Jane,’ he said, jumping to his feet. ‘Good to see you.’

He introduced the two women, then dashed off to get Jane a drink.

Since the arrest of Saunders, he’d spent quite a bit of time with Jane Shaw. There’d been odds and ends to clear up with her statements, and she’d been grateful for someone to talk to. He’d even helped her to sort out the insurance claim on the car and to make a start on the paperwork to settle her son’s estate, which wasn’t going to be straightforward.

‘Did you manage to finish all those forms?’ he asked as he set Jane’s drink down in front of her and retook his seat.

She nodded, but without much interest.

‘Rita says they’re giving you a medal.’

‘A commendation. It’s not even a certificate.’

‘Not many folk would’ve done all that for Craig, not the way you did. I still don’t know how to thank you.’

‘I did my job. Like everybody else.’

‘But you got all the stick. And that!’

He smiled, flexing his bandaged hand a little.

‘You know, most of my family were in show business, one way or another. But I was the first one to make it onto the front pages!’

‘Trending on Twitter!’ Rita said, before launching herself into her pint.

‘I wish Granddad could’ve seen it.’

His phone rang. He frowned as he looked at the number.

‘Hello?… Oui?… Ah, oui! Claudette, ça va?’

He stood and moved away from the table, talking fast.