‘I’m sticking my neck out for you as it is. You need to firm up what you’ve got so far and keep digging for more if you want to convince Murphy to put a surveillance team on Ripley and O’Reilly.’

‘I could go to the snooker hall and have a snoop around.’

He laughed. ‘No offence, Jane, but you’d stand out like a sore thumb – snooker halls are men’s dens.’

‘What about using Dabs? He said he plays snooker for the Met team.’

‘That’s not a bad idea – he’s a short-arse and doesn’t look like Old Bill. For now, just keep what you’ve told me between the two of us. Get someone else on the team to help you with your enquiries.’

‘Teflon helped me this morning when I first went to Broadwater Farm. Can I use him and maybe Cam as well if I need him?’

‘I’m fine with Teflon, but Cam’s a driver, not a detective. You can use him to make phone enquiries if you want.’

‘Will you be telling Murphy they’re assisting me?’

‘Stop worrying about what Murphy thinks, just do your job and let’s see what else you might uncover before we talk to Murphy on Monday. The more ammo you’ve got to fire at him, the more difficult it’ll be for him to ignore you.’

‘I doubt he’ll agree with me on anything.’

‘I’ll back you up.’

‘Do you think he might authorise making some arrests and searching their homes – and the snooker hall?

‘I doubt he’d go as far as arrests at the moment. Sadly Barclays informed us the cash that was stolen is untraceable and there’s no solid evidence that the men in the cafe were responsible for the Leytonstone job. If they’re planning another robbery, Murphy will want to nick them on the pavement with the goods in their grubby little hands.’

‘Is it worth me taking Rachel to the Criminal Records Office at the Yard to look through the mugshot albums?’

‘I’d hold off on that for now. Thomas Ripley’s mugshot is twenty years old and if she failed to pick him out it wouldn’t help the investigation. She’s seen M1 and 2 regularly in the cafe, so identifying them from surveillance photos won’t be a problem.’

‘The cafe owner had an advert in the window for a waitress. If he took me on, and Rachel’s in the cafe, she could give me the nod when the men we’re interested in come in. I could nip out the back, radio the surveillance unit, then we’d know exactly who to photograph and follow when they leave.’

‘You ever done any undercover work?’