As Jane and Teflon walked out of the front of the station, they saw Maureen Ripley getting out of her car. As soon as she saw Jane, she exploded with rage.

‘You fuckin’ bitch! My son is dead because of you! I ’ope you rot in ’ell!’

She ran forward and spat in Jane’s face. Jane wiped the spit off with her jacket sleeve and walked on.

‘Don’t walk away from me, you cow!’ Maureen screeched, grabbing Jane by the wrist.

Jane pulled free of her grip, spun around and pushed Maureen up against the wall with the palm of her hand.

‘I’m not proud of what I’ve done, but your son is dead because of George, not me. Tony Nichols stabbed Carl to stop him telling us where the money from the robberies was hidden. I watched a decent, kind man die because your husband is a filthy criminal. Carl told me you did nothing to stop the beatings he suffered from George – all because you liked the high life. Well, now you’ve got nothing but misery and shame ahead of you.’

As Jane walked away, Maureen stood frozen with shock. Then she started to cry, knowing what she’d been told was the harsh truth.

*

It was midday on the Monday and Jane was getting ready to go to her parents’ for lunch when the phone rang.

‘Sorry to spoil your day,’ a gloomy Teflon said, ‘but Murphy wants to see us right away in the office.’

‘Why, what’s happened?’

‘The Ripley job’s gone pear-shaped – Tony Nichols is alleging our search of the garage was illegal under Judges’ Rules.’

‘That’s rubbish.’

‘Murphy’s fuming. Because we knew there was no one there on a Sunday and weren’t making an arrest, we should have got a warrant.’

‘But we were searching as a direct result of their arrests and didn’t need one!’

‘That’s what I thought . . . If the cash, guns and other stuff we found is ruled inadmissible as evidence, the whole lot of them will walk out of court free men – apart from Nichols.’

Jane was mortified.

‘I’ll be there in half an hour.’

She phoned her mother. ‘I have to go into work, but hopefully I can come over later.’

‘That’s all right, dear. I’ll keep a plate of food for you and warm it up when you get here. I read in this morning’s paper about those men you arrested for the Security Express robbery. You must feel so proud.’

‘I did, but it looks like I’ve messed up and they could get off.’

Jane heard an intake of breath on the other end of the line.

‘Oh dear, that doesn’t sound good.’

*

Jane trudged up the stairs to the office, knowing that Murphy was going to give her hell and probably then kick her off the squad. She opened the door and walked in.