‘Let’s try and pick up the Jensen on surveillance first. The surveillance operation will commence at six a.m. tomorrow and the targets will be followed until it’s safe to assume they’ve gone to bed. I’ve got other CO11 units to assist us with the surveillance and permission for wiretaps on the Ripleys and Aidan O’Reilly’s home and work phones. DI Kingston and I just need ten minutes to finalise the details of who will be in the static OPs, or armed in vehicles on the ground, then I want you all to go home and get some rest before tomorrow. You’ll be working long hours for at least the next four weeks, then the squad commander will review the surveillance operation. The bottom line is we don’t know if, when or where our suspects will carry out another robbery, but if they do, we have the element of surprise on our side. Some Level 1 officers from D11 Firearms Command will be working with us, but as you all know, our suspects are trigger-happy and will be armed with handguns and sawn-offs – so don’t hesitate to shoot the bastards if you feel your life is threatened. Just make sure you hit the bloody target!’

*

When Jane left the office at 4 p.m., the result of Fiona Simpson’s post mortem hadn’t come in, but she knew the examination of the body could take two to three hours and she could ring Paul Lawrence later in the evening. She was still feeling on a high after the office meeting. The last few days had had their ups and downs, but everything was coming together, and although Murphy was giving her a hard time, the others seemed to have accepted her as part of the team. Thinking about the suspects being ambushed and arrested ‘on the pavement’ was exhilarating, and she hoped it would happen sooner rather than later. Not being authorised to carry a gun, Jane knew she wouldn’t be part of the arrest team, but she hoped at some point Murphy would let her go on a firearms course. She smiled to herself, thinking of her mother’s shock if she found out her daughter carried a gun and was involved in the arrest of armed men in the middle of a robbery. Thinking of her mother, she wondered if she ought to go and see her parents after the stressful situation with Tony and Pam. She decided against it, as she didn’t fancy repeating everything she’d told Pam and needed an early night.