‘You realise that because of this, the Robbery Squad may now survive?’ Lucy tried to sound tickled by the irony of this. ‘I only mention that in case their demise was something you were hoping for. The fact they’ve extricated some of their own rotten elements without relying on an outside investigation puts them in a good light … puts the rest of them beyond suspicion. They may still run out of money, but they won’t get binned because everyone thinks they’re bent.’

McCracken looked puzzled. ‘Why should I want the Robbery Squad to go under? Hey, you’re right. I’m the Shakedown. I make money for the firm by taxing these thieving little bastards. But there’s an awful lot of them. More every year.’ He blew out a weary breath. ‘It’s hard enough keeping tabs on the old lags, let alone the new kids on the block.’

‘And Kathy Blake makes that easier?’

‘Sure. Every time she nicks a team, she raises their profile, puts them on our radar … and puts them somewhere secure, where they can’t duck and dive to avoid us. I mean, thanks to your beloved DI Blake, we’ve got a big payday coming courtesy of the Saturday Street Gang. That’d be reason enough to stay friends with her, without all the other stuff.’

Lucy closed her eyes as this latest horrific truth struck home.

It was actually more than horrific. Gangs like the Saturday Street mob rarely handed over the cash they’d stolen, at least not all of it – and almost never to law enforcement. But the Crew would be a different matter. And they’d be especially difficult to resist once you were in prison, where they and their henchmen could get at you much more easily.

‘More to the point,’ McCracken said, ‘you think it doesn’t cut both ways?’

Lucy blinked. ‘I’m sorry … what?’

‘Gets great results, DI Blake, doesn’t she? Rolls a lot of teams? Phenomenon, really. I mean, where on earth could she get her intel from?’

Lucy couldn’t even begin to reply to this. She didn’t want to reply. She sought to put the very idea from her mind, but now it was lodged there permanently; not just because it was too disturbing to simply be forgotten, but also because it made a maddening kind of sense.

It was symbiosis, pure and simple.

Blags went off, and DI Blake got the info she needed via the Crew. The blaggers went down, Blake won the plaudits and the Crew got paid because the team who owed them could no longer hide.

‘Told you she was no saint,’ he said.