James looked across the open plan office from behind the desk that had been allocated to him. It was almost five o’clock on Friday December 16th, and most of the team had already departed for the weekend. No doubt some would be Christmas shopping, while others busied themselves with preparations for the big day.

He left all that stuff to Annie, as she’d always enjoyed buying presents and organising things. This year she had made it extra hard for herself. As well as all the effort she was putting into renovating the house, she’d invited James’s entire family to stay with them from Christmas Eve until after Boxing Day.

James had breathed a sigh of relief when he’d learned that only nine of them, including three children, were coming. It meant they could be put up in the three spare bedrooms, while Annie’s uncle, Bill Cardwell, used the fold-down camp bed in the study.

Annie hadn’t seen Bill since her mother’s funeral, when they’d had a bitter row over the fact that the house that he and his sister had grown up in had been left to Annie. He’d stormed out of the wake, claiming it wasn’t fair and demanding that she sell the property and give him half the proceeds. But Annie had refused because her mother had stipulated in her will that Annie should keep it so that she could pass it on to her own children when, God willing, she eventually had them.

Annie was now determined to get back on speaking terms with her uncle, hoping her return to Cumbria would be a new beginning for both of them.

‘I’m surprised you’re still here, guv. There’s fuck all going on.’

It was the grating voice of DS Phil Stevens that interrupted James’s thoughts. The overweight detective was the only member of the team who had made him feel unwelcome. This was apparently because Stevens’s promotion to detective inspector had been put on hold as a result of James’s arrival.

He was also clearly jealous of the new DI’s years of experience with the Met and NCA, rolling his eyes whenever James mentioned London.

‘I was just about to wrap things up and go,’ James said. ‘What about you?’

Stevens shrugged. ‘I’m here till late and that suits me just fine. The in-laws are coming over for a pre-Christmas visit and they’re not my favourite people.’

With perfect timing, James’s mobile phone rang, providing him with an excuse not to continue the conversation.

He picked it up from his desk, glanced at the caller ID, then smiled at Stevens.

‘It’s the wife,’ he said. ‘I’d better take it.’

James answered the phone as he watched his colleague turn and walk across the room towards his own desk.

‘Hi, hon,’ James said. ‘I’ll be heading home soon if that’s what you’re ringing to find out.’

‘It’s not, actually,’ Annie said. ‘I forgot to mention that the school nativity play is taking place this evening and I’m here now helping out. It means I most likely won’t be in when you get home.’