By now uniformed assistance had arrived. Jane instructed some officers to tape off both ends of Woodville Road and ask the people, who had come out of their houses and gathered on the street, if they had seen the incident and to obtain their names and addresses if they had. One resident, whose car was hit by the speeding Cortina, was arguing about who was going to pay for the damage and insisting the police should. A uniformed officer told him politely that he’d have to claim on his own insurance, which upset the man even more.

The uniformed driver was out of the crashed vehicle and being given first aid by the small elderly man, who it transpired was the owner of the damaged house. The officer had a bad cut to his head and scratches to his face caused by flying brickwork and glass that had smashed through part of the windscreen when the car crashed. His injury was bleeding heavily, but he was conscious and reasonably coherent. The Colonel introduced himself to the officer and told him an ambulance was on its way.

The PC looked worried. ‘My operator Gary was shot – is he OK?’

‘I’ll be straight with you, mate, I don’t know yet. My governor and driver are trying to get him out of the car. As soon as I know, I’ll let you know, OK?’

The driver nodded. ‘Did the bastards get away?’

‘Don’t worry about them – they won’t get far.’

The officer looked upset. ‘I tried to run the gunman down, but I missed.’

‘You did a good job. Your motor’s a write-off so the Commissioner might be pissed off with you,’ the Colonel joked.

The officer smiled. ‘You Sweeney lot are full of bullshit.’

The Colonel patted the officer’s shoulder. ‘That’s what I like to hear – a woodentop who respects us detectives. If you don’t mind, I think your mate needs me more than you do.’

Kingston and Cam tried in vain to jemmy open the front passenger door of the police car, but it was badly buckled from the crash and wouldn’t budge. There was structural damage to the building, and bricks and debris were still falling, so they had to get the officer out quickly rather than call the fire brigade to cut him out. Cam went inside the vehicle and held his jacket up against the passenger door window while Kingston smashed and cleared the glass away with the jemmy. They were then able to lift the officer, who was still unconscious, through the window, away from the car and damaged house.

‘How is he?’ the Colonel asked Kingston.

‘His breathing is shallow and rasping – he might have damaged his ribs when the crash occurred. I can’t see any bullet holes in him, but he’s got a deep narrow wound to the right side of his head, which could be from a bullet.’