The duty sergeant is on an intense-sounding phone call, undoubtedly being dumped due to his personality, and I manage to sneak Kush past him, who then proceeds to drag me up the stairs and direct to the incident room. There are at least eight people at computers, and one wall is taken up with the murder board itself. Which doesn’t have a whole lot on it, other than the photo of Marianne Kleine, which I wish I hadn’t spotted the other day.

Jansen waves me over to his desk. He’s looking tired, head resting on one hand whilst he scrolls through what looks like a never-ending bank statement.

‘Kleine’s bank account,’ he says. ‘Already been through it once …’

Vermeer walks in a few minutes later as we’re discussing the case.

She’s wearing jeans, a shirt undone enough to catch a glimpse of some sort of pendant, and a jacket that fits her like it’s tailor-made. My hoody starts to feel a little scrappy. Jansen’s got a shirt on too, I note. Maybe I need to dust off a few items from the back of the wardrobe, though I’m not sure there’s much there apart from even older hoodies.

‘Remember that thing I said yesterday about you doing exactly what I said?’ Vermeer asks when Kush bounds up to her like a long-lost friend, trying to get her attention by any means necessary.

I just about manage to pull him off her. ‘Look, I know. I’m trying to work out somewhere he can stay, so it’s just for today.’

‘Better be.’

She guides me to a table and sits down opposite me.

‘So I spoke to Beving after your little chat, and he’s willing to allow you to work under me until the case is closed, or I deem you’re no longer needed.’ She pauses like that last bit’s significant. ‘Here’s the paperwork.’

I glance at the document she’s just slid over the table; it’s many sheets thick.

‘You will need to sign it and adhere by it.’ Another significant pause.

‘Understood.’

‘You know what the word “adhere” means?’

‘I’ll google it later.’

‘Good. Google “appropriate clothing for a police inspector” whilst you’re at it.’

I again wonder why Beving wants me to spy on her. Is he scared she’s going for his job? She’s certainly confident, and if her reputation is anything to go by, more than competent. Or could it be something else, something to do with the deep current of misogyny that some men swim their whole lives in? Knowing Beving the latter wouldn’t be a total surprise.

Vermeer spends twenty minutes taking me through the major points of the investigation so far, mostly a rehash of what I already read in Jansen’s file, before asking Jansen about his work on links between the two victims.