‘I can understand why you’re scared, Abby – but I can assure you those men will never know who you are. By telling us the truth you’ll be helping us to make sure they never do anything like that again and go to prison . . . for a very long time.’

Jane looked to Teflon for support. He rolled his eyes, then crouched down so Abby had to look at him.

‘If you did see his face and would be able to recognise him again, it would really help us.’

Abby started to cry. ‘OK, his head was bleeding, right, then just before he started firing the gun, he wiped the blood with a stocking . . .’ Her voice trembled as she remembered the moment.

Jane sat down next to Abby, handed her a tissue and put her arm around her.

‘That’s great. you’re doing really well.’

Abby looked at Jane with floods of tears running down her face.

‘After he’d fired at the police car, he saw me looking at him and pointed the gun at me . . . I thought he was going to shoot me—’

‘What the fuck is going on here?’ Mr Jones’s voice boomed as he marched into the room, quickly followed by his wife.

‘It’s OK, Mr Jones. We’re CID,’ Teflon said quickly.

‘Get away from my daughter!’ Mrs Jones shrieked, pushing Jane away.

‘Is this the detective woman you spoke to the other day, Abby?’ Mr Jones asked, and she nodded. He glared at Jane. ‘How dare you come to my house harassing my daughter without my permission.’

‘I wasn’t harassing Abby, Mr Jones, I was just asking her—’

‘I don’t care what you were asking her,’ Mrs Jones snapped.

Jane took a deep breath. ‘Abby just told us she saw the face of the man who fired at the police car and he pointed the gun at her. Understandably she’s frightened, but I think she might recognise him if she saw him again.’

She looked at Teflon, who raised his eyebrows and shook his head. It was obvious he thought she was not helping the situation.

Mr Jones turned to his daughter.

‘Did you see the man’s face?’

She nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes.

‘But you wouldn’t be able to recognise him again, would you?’

‘No, Daddy.’

Mr Jones pointed to the door.

‘Get out of my house, the pair of you!’

‘I’m just doing my job, Mr Jones. Your daughter, or other innocent members of the public, could have been seriously hurt. All I’m asking is—’

Teflon decided he’d had enough. He grabbed Jane by the arm and led her towards the front door.

‘I apologise for any distress we have caused you and your family, Mr Jones – we won’t bother you or your daughter again,’ he said as they walked out.

‘You’d better not!’ Jones shouted as he slammed the door shut.