Blake sat back on her swivel-chair to chink. ‘DC Clayburn? Aren’t you the lass who arrested Timothy Lennox? Cleared up a whole bunch of historical murders?’

‘That’s right, ma’am. Last winter.’

‘Good collar, that. You also led the undercover op that brought down the Twisted Sisters over in Longsight, didn’t you?’

‘I didn’t lead the op, ma’am.’

‘She was a leading light in it,’ Beardmore grunted. ‘They couldn’t have done it without her.’

Blake chewed on her pen. ‘Have you ever thought about coming to work for me in Robbery Squad?’

Beardmore pointedly harrumphed – a message Lucy received loud and clear.

‘It’s certainly something I’d be interested in, ma’am,’ she said. ‘But well, I’ve got quite a bit of work on in CID at the mo.’

Blake shrugged. ‘We haven’t got any vacancies at present, anyway. But if something comes up, I’ll get Danny here to give you a shout, so you can get your application in early.’

‘I will, ma’am. Thank you.’

‘Okay.’ Blake shuffled the paperwork. ‘Leave this lot with me. I’ll keep you informed.’

Lucy nodded and smiled, and as she left the office, walking side by side with Beardmore, felt completely re-energised. It was always a thrill to think you’d made an impact on someone who counted.

But they were only halfway down the stairs, when Beardmore said: ‘Don’t get any ideas about that. Robbery Squad are an effective unit, but you know what things are like. One day the money’s there, the next it isn’t. Friday night, they lock up a load of blaggers. Saturday night, they celebrate it. Monday morning, they’ve all been shunted back to Division.’

Lucy wasn’t sure how to respond, but she knew that he was right.

‘Hey, Lucy!’ someone called down from the top of the stairs.

They turned and saw Danny Tucker descending.

‘Sarge?’ she replied.

‘Quick word?’ he asked.

Taking the hint, Beardmore turned and continued down. ‘Just remember, the jobs are piling up,’ he said over his shoulder.

Lucy turned back to Tucker, who grinned, displaying a neat row of pearly whites.

‘This is good stuff you’ve brought us,’ he said. ‘Thanks very much.’

Unsure how to reply, she nodded.

‘We’re actually working a big case at present,’ he said.

‘Yeah, I saw the pics. That’s the Saturday Street Gang, isn’t it?’

‘Oh, you heard about that?’

‘How could I not? Seven cash-in-transit robberies in two months. But I didn’t know Saturday Street had done any jobs on the N.’