‘That’s how you dress at the weekend isn’t it, Carl?’ Hodges asked.

‘Ha ha,’ Hoskins said. ‘At least I don’t have Prince Harry’s bumfluff on my chin.’

‘All right,’ Gillard interrupted. ‘Our driver appears to be of Middle Eastern or Indian appearance, unless he has managed to disguise that too. My question is this: it can’t be Harry Roy, because he was still away in India getting his wedding planned. Any other ideas?’

‘Deepak Tripathi,’ said Carl.

‘Okay,’ Gillard conceded.

‘Zayan Lal, the wedding planner?’ said Claire.

‘Can’t be. Harry said they were travelling together for the wedding arrangements.’ Gillard turned to Hoskins. ‘Carl, can you check his arrival with Border Force at Heathrow. Just to be on the safe side?’

‘Righto.’

‘And he, along with Deepak Tripathi, are the two people we don’t have a DNA swab from. Can you make that a priority, Carl?’ The detective constable nodded his agreement.

Claire Mulholland was sitting with arms folded staring at her boss. ‘Craig, given that we’ve charged Waddington, but we don’t believe he did it, why hasn’t he been released?’

This was the question that Gillard had been dreading. He didn’t want to pass the buck to Alison Rigby, but didn’t want to take responsibility for it himself either. ‘It wasn’t my decision.’

‘So that’s why you didn’t invite Christina McCafferty to this meeting?’ Claire asked. ‘So we’re still feeding the press the line that Waddington is guilty, even though we’re pretty sure he is innocent?’

All the other officers turned to stare at her. ‘I shouldn’t feel too sorry for him,’ Hodges said. ‘He’s a nasty bit of work and has got some previous.’

‘No mate,’ Hoskins said to Hodges, poking his colleague in the chest. ‘Miscarriage of bloody justice. Free the Ashtead One. That would be on my placard.’

‘Spare me the sarcasm, you two,’ Claire said.

‘All right, everybody. We’ve got two days. That’s when Waddington gets released. By then I want somebody else in the crosshairs.’

Shireen lifted her arm. ‘Before we finish, I just want to update you on the financial aspects. As you know, Empire of Spice Plc has a huge debt they might struggle to pay. I got a call first thing this morning from the Serious Fraud Office. They don’t want to tread on our toes but they want to know what we’ve done regarding the financial aspects of the case.’

‘I’m more than happy to work with them,’ Gillard said. ‘Let’s set up a meeting. In the meantime, I want Deepak Tripathi here for an interview, which should cook two chickens with one tandoor. Claire, can you set up warrants for his phone, and entry to his home in the case of his absence, so we can pick up some DNA?’

‘OK. Maybe he’ll turn up at Mrs Roy’s funeral this afternoon?’

Gillard chuckled. ‘If he does, we’ll be there to catch him.’

‘Huh. I never get to go to a party during work time,’ Hodges complained.

‘All right, everyone. Claire, I want you to keep your eyes peeled for Deepak, if he has the nerve to turn up. Otherwise I just want you to see what intelligence we can pick up.’