‘So, to be clear, sir, my report will omit the details of the world-wide paedophile ring, actively contributed to by the deceased, as well as the fact that either Bartholomew Kennedy-Craig or a peer of the realm was in fact The Chief, sought by child abuse specialists on three, or more, continents.’

She stood straight and fast. She knew it was easy details to him but to her, it was fundamental. However, a conversation with both Ted and Johnny had enabled her to at least accept in her own conscience that justice would get its day, even if she couldn’t shout it from the rooftops. She had to settle for the kind of payback that most victims have to wait for: a vengeance on paper. And this was the precise loyalty to procedure that she’d begged Johnny to waver from. During his testimony for Ian Burton, she realised that he’d given the serial killer the basic right to be heard. Without that, no person working in the field of law could hold their head up high and say, in public or private, that they acted in full justice carved out to protect the rights of the accused. In other words, the very fabric of the way they held citizens accountable. The same was true of Bartholomew Kennedy-Craig and Lord Donald Reilly. They’d have their time in court, posthumously, but the law had to be followed to the letter, otherwise, in years to come, their families could appeal and question the charges and the procedure. She knew that this was right. The integrity of the judicial system had to be protected. Ian Burton was in prison for the rest of his life because his case had been watertight and heard in open court, with all the rights in place that would be given to any citizen, innocent or guilty.

It stuck in her throat. She wanted to go after the memory of Bartholomew Kennedy-Craig and Lord Donald Reilly, bringing the government that had protected him to account. She also wanted to reveal the role played by Nellie Lowther. But to uphold the integrity of her profession, she had to proceed with accuracy and legality. Otherwise, she might as well leave the force and take George Fellows’s old job.

Besides, she had to stay focused for her team. They took their lead from her and it was her responsibility to err on the right side of the law. She couldn’t bend it to her advantage because she felt the harm done to those children, some of whom they’d never identify or save. She had to shelve her desire to rip up the rule book and obliterate the dark web and what it stood for, and how the two men in the helicopter had bolstered it with their cash and their deceit.