Travelling to the scene, they received a radio call that the garage the Cortina was found in was number 29, but they hadn’t yet located the owner. As the car turned into Blake Hall Road they could see a plume of grey smoke rising above the flats and a large LFB engine blocking the entrance route to the garages, so Cam parked as near as he could. Edgar House consisted of 128 maisonette flats in three two-storey blocks that were built, and joined together, in a Y shape. Jane initially thought Edgar House would be council flats, but on seeing the well-maintained communal gardens and how neat and tidy the estate was, she wondered if it was a private estate.

As Jane, Cam and Dabs got out of the squad car, a uniform van pulled up behind them and a sergeant and five PCs got out. The sergeant walked straight up to Cam.

‘Are you from the Flying Squad?’ he asked, and Cam nodded. ‘The duty inspector told us you needed some assistance with house-to-house enquiries regarding the armed robbery at Barclays. Will someone be briefing us on what needs to be done?’

‘Yes, I will. DI Kingston asked me to sort it out for him as he’s still at the bank.’

Jane was getting fed up with Cam’s attitude and thought he should have had the decency to introduce her and Dabs.

‘I’m WDS Tennison and this is Dave Morgan, our Senior SOCO on the squad—’

Cam cut in, ‘They’ll be doing the forensic work on the burnt-out motor. DI Kingston wants enquiries made at all the flats to find out who owns the garage, and to see if the residents noticed any suspicious activity around the garage the car was found in during the last two weeks.’

‘No problem, I’ll let my team know.’ The sergeant started to walk off.

‘It might help to see how many garages there are first and if they have corresponding numbers to a flat,’ Jane remarked.

Cam looked flustered. ‘I was just going to do that ’

Jane hadn’t finished. ‘Have you got any house-to-house forms for the sergeant and his officers to fill in?’

‘There should be some in a box in the boot of the car,’ Cam muttered.

He went to the boot, opened it and rummaged through the box, which contained plenty of statement forms but no house-to-house ones.

‘There don’t appear to be any left,’ he said, red-faced.

Jane moved over to Cam’s side and spoke quietly.

‘Have you led a house-to-house enquiry team before?’

‘I know what I’m doing – someone obviously forgot to restock the box with them,’ he whispered.