The name rings a bell somewhere in the recesses of his mind.

Archer.

His journalistic instincts tingle like a sixth sense. He knows that name but . . .

A shadow appears at his shoulder and coughs politely.

He rolls his eyes.

‘Hi, Mike,’ says Katy.

Newbie reporter Katy Michaels is young and frumpy and nerdy as her large round spectacles testify.

‘I’m busy.’

‘Ed needs your copy . . .’

‘Yes, I’m working on it!’ he snaps.

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to—’

‘Two sugars, please,’ he interrupts.

‘Erm . . . but I didn’t ask if you wanted coffee . . .’ she replies, timidly. Although he does wonder if there is a hint of rebellion in her tone.

Mike turns his neck slowly to meet her gaze and gives her ‘the look’. His tried and tested expression like a jaded priest looking at an altar boy who has just shat himself in the middle of mass.

Katy’s face drops.

‘Two sugars coming up.’

‘Idiot,’ he mutters.

He returns to the conclusion of his opinion piece.

Our thoughts and prayers remain with the friends and families of Noel Tipping, Stan Buxton and Billy Perrin at this most difficult of times. May their troubled souls rest in peace. It has been hard to watch the unfolding reaction on social media. Many of our readers believe the homeless have only themselves to blame. My response to that is the homeless are people too. Some are degenerates, but they are people and we must not forget that. Regardless of your opinions on these unfortunates let there be no doubt this @nonymous character is nothing more than a dangerous psychopath. No one can deny that. He has murdered and displayed the bodies of three vagrants in the most undignified manner. No one deserves that. Not even the homeless. So let’s not beat around the bush. @nonymous is a top-class loon and an attention-seeking crackpot with a failed GCSE in Art. He needs to be stopped! But who is going to stop him? The Met? I doubt that. I hear the senior investigating officer is a newly promoted detective inspector. It wouldn’t surprise me if she was a graduate employed through the fast-track system. How can we expect our homeless people to be safe with inexperienced officers like that in charge? Perhaps the Met should think about employing the Chuckle Brothers to take over. Now that’s something I could get behind.

He rubs his nose, folds his arms and considers his lines on DI Archer.

Too much?

Nah.

He is a serious journalist, who writes from the heart. His opinions matter. They matter to his readers and to his bosses, who are grateful for the sales.

‘Your coffee,’ says Katy as she places an overflowing bucket-sized mug of black instant on his desk.

He grumbles a thanks, takes a sip and grimaces. ‘Christ, Katy, how many sugars?’

‘You said two.’

‘Two teaspoons not tablespoons!’

‘But they are teaspoons.’

‘I’m already borderline diabetic.’