Burke was banged to rights. There was nothing surer. Not only did he go quietly when the prisoner transport arrived at his girlfriend’s address, but he gave an indication that he was willing to make a full admission once he was down at the station. He again tried to wangle some kind of deal for himself, but Lucy told him to save it. On top of that, on his direction, they searched an upper room in Janet O’Dowd’s house, where inside a single wardrobe which had rather ingeniously been wallpapered into a recess, they found many of the goods he’d stolen from various of the houses he’d broken into. Later on, in the meter cupboard downstairs, they found the gym bag containing his burglary kit, and a Garrett Ace 250 lightweight metal detector.

They promptly summoned another police van, and some extra evidence bags.

‘Not a bad job, this,’ Harry said, as they loaded it all on board. ‘Pity it took us so long.’

‘Couldn’t help being sent off the plot every time it kicked off somewhere else, could we?’ Lucy replied.

As the van pulled away, Lucy turned and caught sight of Janet O’Dowd standing in the front window. She still had the baby in her arms, and was feeding it formula from a bottle.

‘We should pull her in too,’ Harry said. ‘There’re any number of things we could charge her with.’

‘I suggest we leave it for now,’ Lucy replied, as they climbed into the BMW.

‘Not getting soft in your old age, are you? Never looks good bringing a baby into the Custody Suite, but it wouldn’t be the first time.’

‘No, but if we leave her be for the mo, it might give us some leverage.’

Harry grinned. ‘You mean, if Burke decides he doesn’t want to play ball after all, the long arm of the law might feel his girlfriend’s collar too?’

‘He wants a deal, doesn’t he?’ She shrugged. ‘That’s the best one he’s going to get.’

‘You crafty little minx.’

But Lucy’s thoughts were already elsewhere.

‘You ever known a time when there were as many violent offences as we’ve seen in the last few days?’ she commented as they drove off the estate.

Harry shrugged. ‘Comes in waves, doesn’t it?’

‘It’s serious stuff. Kickings, beatings, knifings … people getting done in their own houses. And they’re all scrotes. The APs, I mean. There’s not one we’ve seen all week who doesn’t have form himself.’

‘Yep. Upside to everything.’

‘Harry, I’m being serious.’

‘So am I,’ he said. ‘Who cares about those shitheads? We’ve just investigated a whole raft of burglaries where the vics were mostly OAPs living alone. After that, you expect me to worry about a bunch of gangster wannabe tosspots twatting each other? It’s probably a fallout over drugs, or whatever. It usually is.’