‘Do you?’ As always, it was impossible to read emotion into Pentecost’s frosted features. ‘We’ll see. If this is some new outfit seeing a soft target and going for it, then it’s purely about what we’re owed – and I’ve no doubt you’re the man to get it, so I’m not worried. And if this is something Flash Andy’s got paid back for – and Christ knows, he got on our nerves enough, so I’m damn sure he’s done it with a few others! – then we tax the bastards for not going through the correct channels. I’m not worried then, either. But if this is something bigger, Frank … I mean, if this is something we actually need to worry about … well, anything can happen then.’

Chapter 20

Lucy and Harry had now been on and around the Hatchwood for seven days, primarily keeping watch for the elusive Jordan Burke.

Though Janet O’Dowd’s address on Duke’s Row was the priority, they’d also needed to maintain surveillance on Karla Jones’s flat over in Bullwood. They’d sometimes divided these chores between them, though they’d also, on occasion, been able to requisition some uniforms and change them into plain clothes – all without a result. It was as though Burke had dropped off the face of the planet, though more likely he’d simply received a tip-off that they were onto him. Both Lucy and Harry were trained to carry out covert surveillance, doing everything in their power to blend into whatever sordid background the circumstances dictated, but with such a high proportion of criminals living in these particular neighbourhoods, you could never be sure that you hadn’t been clocked.

The obbo wasn’t made any easier by an unexpected upsurge in reported violence in recent days. This was unusual because, though Crowley was a high-crime borough, the figures normally took a slight downward turn as the winter months came on. ‘PC Rain’ was infamously great for keeping the Friday and Saturday night hooligan element indoors, but colder, wetter nights had a similar effect on the real criminals too, particularly the sneak-thieves, the muggers, the joy-riders, those general-purpose opportunists who liked nothing better than to trawl the streets or loiter with intent.

But at present, with a spate of seemingly unconnected but nevertheless very violent attacks in progress, including GBH, arson, attempted murder and aggravated burglary, local police bosses had no option but to organise a much more proactive response than usual. DI Beardmore, having compared notes with neighbouring divisions, and learning that they were also recording higher numbers than expected of violent offences, had convened a couple of special meetings with the brass and was demanding more personnel and longer man-hours; as a direct result, divisional detectives like Lucy and Harry had not just been increasingly denuded of support officers for their obbo, but had regularly been diverted from it themselves.