‘No, it should be us thanking you.’ Blake gathered up some sheets of what looked like work schedules and shuffled them together. ‘I was impressed at the time, and I’m even more impressed since we haven’t really been able to improve on it. It only seemed right that you should be in for the takedown. Assuming there is one.’

‘I just hope I haven’t caused a lot of fuss for nothing.’

‘Not a bit of it. I think your reasoning was pretty sound.’ Blake pursed her lips. ‘As long as you trust your informant and the psyche profile from West Midlands isn’t way off the mark, I think it’s a reasonable bet that this lunatic will strike again. And in case he’s only half-tempted, well … we’re going to put it on a plate for him. Now, speaking of madmen, we’re also closing in on the Saturday Street boys. I anticipate that we’ll be making arrests in the next couple of days.’

‘Oh, wow … that’s great news.’

Blake nodded. ‘Yes, but it’s going to keep me and quite a few of the rest of the Squad pretty busy. So, I’m giving you all the resources I can, but that isn’t many. Danny’s going to take point, and I can spare you four other detectives. After that we’re using spare bodies from Uniform.’

‘No one else from divisional CID available?’ Lucy asked.

‘I think you’re pretty pulled-out down in the DO. But me and Stan go back a bit; at least I was able to get you.’ She gave another half-smile.

DI Blake was a distinctly warm presence, even if she wasn’t especially demonstrative.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Tucker chipped in. ‘Uniform jumped at it. We’re only taking a couple from each relief, so we’re not thinning them out too much. The younger lads and lasses can do the decoy stuff, the older heads can ride in the support cars with us.’

‘You’ll be working awkward hours, of course,’ Blake said.

Lucy shrugged again. ‘Only to be expected.’

‘We’re looking at nine in the evening till five in the morning,’ Tucker added.

‘We’ve also had it cleared that we’ll be working clean through the next fortnight,’ Blake said. ‘No days off, but overtime will be paid as per the norm.’

Lucy nodded. That made sense too, but it was impressive that the DI had managed to pull this off. She might be supervising a unit whose existence was under threat, but she clearly still had influence.