Gillard inclined his head sceptically. ‘That would be one powerful snake to inflict the damage the body sustained. The rhino would be more like the kind of power we’re looking for.’ He began to Google Gus van Steenis. ‘I remember reading about the guy in the local paper,’ he said. ‘Perhaps you can take a look around, Claire? Obviously, what I’d be looking for is a staff list, but I also want you to check they have all the legal permissions. Not just on animals, but for employing staff from abroad.’

‘I’m giving Baz a lift tomorrow, so I’ll do it then.’ Just as she was about to leave she said: ‘Craig, is the rumour true that Neville Rollason is being set up in our area with a new identity?’

Gillard shrugged. ‘I spoke to Rigby about it, but she won’t confirm. However, if you look at how busy and stressed Graham Morgan of Special Branch is, it’s clear that something is going on.’

Teatime on a sunny Thursday and PC Andrew Wickens slid his patrol car into the car park at Mount Browne, killed the engine and took a deep breath. The young constable was based at Staines police station, but he did have an excuse to be here at HQ. CID had wanted to see some detailed notes that he’d made while interviewing witnesses to the splash on Midsummer’s Night. The photocopies were in a folder on the passenger seat, with a sheaf of other relevant documents. It was the usual advice to a professional time-waster: always look like you know where you’re going and have a piece of paper in your hand. The excuse for being there was covered.

The real reason was something else.

He’d been trying for days to figure out whether Special Branch was involved in resettling Neville Rollason. If so, he wanted the new identity and, better still, an address. A few days ago, when Jim Cottesloe had gone out for lunch and failed to log out, Wickens had used his colleague’s terminal to do a search on the Police National Computer. It was a good precaution. You couldn’t get access to the PNC without keying in your collar tag, and he’d used Jim’s to cover his tracks in case anyone was checking up. He felt pretty safe, because there were bound to be dozens of enquiries from all over the country about Rollason, from disgruntled coppers trying to dig up the new name. All over the force, lots of officers were angry.