‘I’d better not have. Doesn’t make a difference that you’re a cop. I’ll take a pop at anyone, me.’

Lucy headed over to the Ladies. ‘Wouldn’t make you stand out tonight.’

Inside, the lavatory was pretty rough-and-ready, with a bare cement floor, white-tiled walls running with condensation and two cubicles constructed from hardboard. Cora sat hunched in a corner, on a pile of straw so rotten it was probably a leftover from when this place was a stable.

‘How you feeling?’ Lucy asked.

‘Awful.’ Cora, regarded her daughter with a jaundiced eye; she was still cadaverously pale, but breathing better at least. ‘I think I just threw my tea up … maybe my breakfast too, and maybe last night’s supper. What on earth is going on? Who are those people?’

‘Those people or these people?’

‘They don’t look much different from each other to me.’

‘They are, trust me.’ Cora leaned against a small sink. ‘This lot are a Hell’s Angel chapter called the Low Riders. They deal drugs for a living.’

‘Always knew that Kyle Armstrong was a bad lot. Never liked him when you were both seventeen.’

‘Strictly speaking, I was seventeen and he was nineteen. I think that’s the real reason you didn’t like him.’

‘And you’re seriously telling me he’s going to look after us?’

‘Only for the time being. Because the others who are after us are a lot worse. For one thing, they have the power to arrest us.’

Cora was halfway to her feet, but now glanced up, confused. ‘They’re police officers?’

‘Some are. I’m not saying the ones who came to your house were.’

‘Oh, my God. Lucy … how’ve you ended up in this mess?’

‘It’s a long story. So long and convoluted I’m having trouble remembering it all, myself.’

‘It’s that blessed CID, isn’t it?’ Cora shook her head. ‘I knew it. I said all along … the instant you became a detective again, all this would happen.’

‘Mum, it’s a one-off, all right?’

‘Oh, it’s always a one-off!’ Cora was suddenly red-faced and animated. ‘It was a one-off when you got beaten up by that madman in Borsdane Wood!’

‘Can we talk about this later? I came in here to check you were okay …’