‘Long time no see, Sergeant Jane. How you doin’?’ he asked in a strong Greek accent

‘Fine thanks, Fil.’

She’d become a valued customer after threatening to arrest a couple of drunken ‘Sloanes’ who were calling him ‘greaseball’ one night.

‘What do ya fancy from the menu tonight?’

‘Small cod and chips, please.’

He picked up a large piece of skinned and boned cod by the tail and quickly dipped it in batter before dropping it into the bubbling hot oil, where it sizzled furiously.

‘Take a with you wrapped . . . or eat in open?’

‘I’ll have it wrapped to take away, thanks.’

‘So, where you a working now?’ he asked as he turned the fish in the oil.

‘I’m on the Flying Squad at Rigg Approach in Leyton.’

‘You work on de helicopters now?’

Jane laughed. ‘No, we deal with armed robberies in London. We’re also known as the Sweeney – have you never seen the TV show?’

‘I never get a chance to watch a TV as I work most evenings, but I have a Sunday off. My a wife, she a says I should get one of them Betamax things that records what’s on TV to tape, then I can watch what I miss in da evening.’

‘My dad just got a VHS recorder.’

‘I look at one of dem, but the cassette tape is too big. I don’t reckon VHS will last as Betamax tapes are much smaller and better quality. You gonna get one?’

‘I don’t watch much TV myself, I prefer a good book.’

‘I like a book as well. I bet you like Sherlock Holmes – he lives near here, in Baker Street,’ he said, proud of his local knowledge.

She didn’t have the heart to tell him Holmes was a fictional character.

‘Conan Doyle’s OK. I read a lot of his stuff when I was younger, and I guess in some ways it inspired me to be a detective.’

‘Who’s your favourite, then?’

She thought for a moment. ‘Probably Raymond Chandler. I saw a film called The Long Goodbye a few years ago, based on the Chandler book, and it inspired me to start reading his novels. What do you like to read, Phil?’

‘Greek history and mythology, like the Iliad by Homer and the Histories by Herodotus. I think you’d like the tragedy Medea by Euripides.’

He scooped up a large portion of chips and placed them on some newspaper.

Jane was surprised by Fil’s choice of reading.

‘I never studied Greek history – what’s Medea about?’

‘A woman’s revenge against her a husband. Have you no a heard of Jason and the Argonauts?’

‘I saw the film with my father years ago – I remember it had a lot of special effects and was quite scary.’