‘I don’t know every copper in Manchester,’ McCracken replied simply.

There was a long pause, which didn’t bode well, though it might merely have been more of the same.

‘Someone seems to think she was involved in that business with the Twisted Sisters last year,’ Pentecost finally said.

‘Erm … possibly.’ McCracken tried to make it sound as though he was struggling to rack his brains. ‘What do you mean “involved”?’

‘As in she gave evidence against them.’

‘She might have. I didn’t follow the case.’

‘Well … this is as much as anyone seems to know about her.’

Sensing a change in tone, as though Pentecost was mildly disappointed – in other words, he didn’t know anything about Lucy either – McCracken allowed himself to relax a little. ‘Why’re you asking me, anyway?’

‘I’m asking everyone, Frank … I want to know who she is, and whether she’s any good or not. And no one’s able to tell me.’

‘Well … if she’s a lower rank, just a workhorse …’

‘Whether she’s a workhorse or not, we need to speak to her.’

‘I don’t get you, Bill.’

‘This whisper I’ve heard is about her. Someone, who I suspect is in a position to know, thinks she’s been doing some work on our mask-wearing friends, and not only that, has developed some promising information.’

‘Okay …’ McCracken thought fast: no contact between Lucy Clayburn and Bill Pentecost could ever be a good thing, but there might still be a way he could turn this to their advantage. ‘Do you want me to find out where she works … perhaps have a discreet word?’

‘Oh, I think the time for discretion is past. Besides, someone else is on the case now.’

That wasn’t good news, and this time McCracken was barely able to conceal his concern. ‘You don’t mean those three lunatics Benny B’s brought in?’

There was a long, reflective pause. ‘Does that bother you, Frank?’

‘Don’t you think it’s a bit heavy-handed, Bill? I mean, this is just a work-a-day copper who may know something.’

‘If so, all well and good. By this time tomorrow, we’ll know it too.’

McCracken sat rigid behind the wheel, oblivious to the darkened streets as they flickered by.