‘I take it that would normally be the driver of the car’s responsibility?’ she asked, but he didn’t reply. ‘I thought as much.’ She turned to the sergeant. ‘Would you mind contacting your station and asking if someone could kindly drop off some house-to-house forms, as we seem to have used them all in Woodville Road. Can you also ask for some copies of the Edgar House electoral register to be printed off for each officer, then they can check the residents’ names against the register.’

The sergeant contacted the station on the radio and the operator told him they’d get the forms and copies of the register sent down right away. When he finished Jane continued.

‘If any residents did see anyone acting suspiciously on the estate, or near the garages, today or recently, we will need a detailed description of what they saw and the person or persons they saw. Please notify me right away in case urgent follow-up action is needed – the same goes for the owner of the garage when you identify them. If there are any flats where you get no reply, then you still need to fill in a proforma to that effect and leave a note asking them to contact us at the Flying Squad office – ADC Murray will give you the squad details. When you’ve finished, give him the completed forms and we’ll go through them later.’

The sergeant was confused. ‘I thought you were with forensics?’

‘No, I’m a WDS on the Flying Squad,’ she replied firmly.

‘Really?’

The sergeant looked surprised, as did his uniformed colleagues next to him. Jane looked around, then leant closer, as if wanting to speak to him in confidence. The sergeant leant forward, but she spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.

‘Keep it to yourself, but I’m actually making it up about being on the Flying Squad just to shock every male officer I come across – and so far, it’s working a treat.’

She turned sharply, stepped over the fire engine hosepipes, and strode off towards the garages, followed by Dabs.

‘Is she always so touchy?’ the sergeant asked Cam.

‘It’s her first day on the squad so she likes to think she’s “the big cheese”.’

‘She seems to know how house-to-house should be done,’ the sergeant remarked.

Cam shrugged. ‘There’s nothing difficult about house-to-house. Truth is she hasn’t a clue about how we work on the squad.’

‘You reckon she’ll last long?’

‘Doubt it. She’s already pissed off the Governor.’

*