‘Yeah, course you do,’ he said. ‘Like you say, you’re the police. Which is all the more reason I’m suspicious.’ He knuckled his jaw, a habit she remembered from the old days whenever a conflict was brewing. ‘Seriously, Luce … you’re a copper and you’re happy to lay low in a place like this?’

‘I’m not happy, but I’ve no choice. Not at present.’

‘This is serious then?’

‘Kyle … if it wasn’t, would I really have brought my mum?’

He assessed her with arms folded. Any fear he might have harboured that this could all be part of some elaborate sting seemed to be fading.

‘I could still say “no”,’ he said. ‘I could say the favour’s already been repaid, say we don’t want this heat, show you the door.’

‘You could,’ she retorted, ‘but you think that’d be the end of it? You only need to sniff the air in here to smell the spliff. You can smell it outside for Christ’s sake … in which case I wouldn’t even need a warrant, would I? Nor would any of the other coppers I’d immediately inform. Then it wouldn’t just be Ian Dyke trying to cut deals to save his arse from an epic stretch.’

‘So, it’s carrot and stick, is it?’

‘Usually … but in your case, no. There’s nothing I can pay you with except my good will.’

He looked her up and down, and smiled. ‘That might be sufficient.’

‘Oh, and what would Kelly think?’

He shrugged. ‘Who cares?’

‘Who cares? Kyle … she stepped into the breach straight after I left. That’s fourteen years, you’ve been with her.’

‘She’s only a temporary fixture.’

‘We may all be if this night doesn’t work out for us.’

‘This is really that bad?’ He sounded sceptical.

Lucy produced her mother’s phone. ‘If you give me a minute, I’ll find out.’

Armstrong waited and watched while she tapped in Harry’s number. It was almost ready to shift to voicemail when an answer came.

‘Yeah … DC Jepson.’ He sounded sleepy.

‘Harry … it’s Lucy.’

‘Lucy.’ Surprisingly, this only seemed to wake him a little bit. ‘What’s happening?’

‘That’s what I was about to ask you. What action is Stan taking?’

A short silence followed. ‘How would I know?’

Lucy bridled. ‘What do you mean how would you know? Harry, I rang you not two hours ago. Did everything I told you go in one ear and come out the other?’

‘Lucy … come on.’ He gave a dismissive chuckle. ‘That sounded like a load of claptrap, to me … I’ve been waiting for you to call me back and tell me it’s a gag.’

‘Are you telling me you’ve not spoken to Stan?’ At that moment, it was a real struggle not to shriek at him.

‘Obviously. You sound like you’ve lost the plot, love.’