‘It’s come to my attention ma’am that she is a probation officer. She wouldn’t by any chance be working on the Neville Rollason false identity, would she? He is due to be released on Tuesday. Rumour has it he’s in our area.’

‘Craig, you know better than to try to get confirmation from me.’ She smiled, which seemed to be a recognition of his powers of deduction.

‘You do know that it was me that apprehended him, don’t you?’ Gillard said.

‘I had no idea, Craig. Weren’t you a little young?’

‘I was twenty-one. It was 1988 and I was a uniform working in the Met Police in Croydon, on my first week. I was standing by a police public information caravan near the Whitgift Centre handing out leaflets as part of the public information campaign on drink-driving. I spotted a registration plate that matched a nationally notified vehicle of interest. It was a car stolen in Newcastle, which was where Rollason’s family originally came from, and had been seen near the place where one of the missing teenagers up there had vanished. I phoned it in, but before anyone arrived I saw a guy coming back to the car. It was Rollason. I approached, and he ran off. I was pretty fit in those days, and caught up with him in an alleyway. It was quite a ding-dong battle before I subdued him. He’s a wiry little bugger, well he was. I got a commendation for it.’

Rigby looked at her subordinate with amazement. ‘The most surprising thing about that, Craig, is that you remembered the registration number.’

‘Well, ma’am, I’ve always had that kind of memory, I suppose. And of course it’s only the new recruits that ever read all the circulars.’

‘Okay. Stay away from the probation officer and from DI Morgan, who is handling her. They both have a job to do. I don’t suppose for a minute that Leticia Mountjoy is involved in anything criminal herself, but if you have suspicions come to me in the first instance, okay?’

‘Yes ma’am.’

‘And one more thing Craig, given what you’ve just told me. I shouldn’t have to remind you of course, but I think you should keep a careful eye on your home. I don’t imagine for a minute that Rollason is going to be a serious threat to you, but I know Sam is still going through a rough time, so it’s up to you to take care of her.’

‘Absolutely. Thank you for your concern, ma’am.’

‘Well it’s more that I’m trying to kick-start your concern, Craig.’

‘If it was down to me, ma’am, I’d not let her out of my sight. But then I couldn’t do my job.’

Rigby nodded. ‘Well, we certainly don’t want to stop you doing that, do we.’