‘These people are very clever, Leticia. And they have friends in high places. Jill took a phone call from the local MP, who had somehow heard that Rollason was going to be on his patch. He put a lot of pressure on her to disclose his new identity and address.’

‘Why?’

Verity laughed. ‘He’s expecting to be appointed to the Justice Select Committee, and believes he should know. Jill had the measure of him. She said that if he was appointed, and the Home Secretary thought it appropriate, he would be informed by her department through the usual channels.’

‘Everyone wants to know,’ Leticia complained.

Verity gave a knowing smile. ‘With that particular MP, it is most probably to fuel some drunken boasting to colleagues about the secrets he has in his possession.’

‘Okay,’ said Leticia. ‘I have asked Wright to keep me informed if he receives any threats.’

‘Yes. Tuesday is going to be an interesting day,’ Verity said, and then suddenly turned away. A strange noise escaped her throat, and she began to heave. Before Leticia could say anything, Verity had grabbed a box of tissues and fled into the corridor. The young probation officer waited a moment, and then stepped outside. There was no sign of her boss. She must have gone to the ladies’ toilet. After the way Verity had reacted last time, Leticia wasn’t going to go in there and offer to help.

But finding herself in her boss’s office, with the computer on and logged in, plus her mobile phone just lying there, was a huge temptation. She went to the PC first, looking for any information about her own appraisal, which was due soon. There was nothing obviously related to that. Leticia then picked up her boss’s iPhone and checked her text messages, which just seemed to be a fairly lengthy and acrimonious exchange with her mother.

She was human after all.

Finally, Leticia stood, planning to exit the office and return to her own desk in the open-plan area. Before she could do so, she spotted desk keys hanging from the lock of one drawer in Verity’s desk. It took only a few seconds to give them a quick turn and slide it open. It contained what Leticia expected. Papers, pens, a few feminine hygiene products, a bottle of vitamin tablets, some eyeliner and eyeshadow. The one unexpected item was a small brown medicinal bottle with an attached dropper. It was half full of some dark liquid and had a stained label written in some foreign script. Not Chinese or Japanese, because she thought she would recognise that, but perhaps a Middle Eastern or Indian tongue. Maybe that was the medicine she was taking for her sickness. She wouldn’t be surprised if Verity was a believer in quack cures.