‘Thanks, but I’ll need to take it back to the station where I can clean it up and take it to bits, so I can examine it under a microscope for any damage or screwdriver marks. Then I can give you a definitive answer.’

‘That would be great, thanks. If it turns out the ignition is undamaged, then whoever was driving the Cortina must have had a key, which also suggests the owner of the car may have made a false report about it being lost or stolen.’

Chapter Six

CHAPTER SIX

Jane helped Dabs hold the garage door while PC Turner removed the rivets from the front of the lock.

‘You should button up your coat. Your clothes are getting soot on them from the garage door,’ Dabs told her.

She looked down and saw black streaks on her white blouse, blue jacket and skirt. She knew there was no point in trying to brush them off as it would only make the marks worse. She’d have to wait until she got back to the station to try and clean them off.

‘It’s about time the job issued some sort of protective clothing for this type of work,’ she remarked.

‘As Scene of Crime Officers, we’re issued with waterproof leggings and a coat, but they make you sweat so much it’s not worth the bother of wearing them. I always keep a change of clothes at work in case I get dirty at a crime scene.’

‘As this is my first day on the squad I didn’t think to bring in any casual clothes.’

‘I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Apart from the governors, no one dresses smart on the squad – it’s not the type of work where you want to stand out as a detective.’

‘Do they have a woman’s locker room at Rigg?’

Dabs laughed. ‘There’s a locker room, men’s toilets and a shower in the basement, as well as a small gym area with some weights, a punchbag and boxing gloves. Some of the lads like to keep fit with an early morning workout, especially the Colonel, as you probably noticed from his physique. Personally, I’m not into all that keep fit stuff. Snooker’s my sport and I play for the Met team.’

‘No ladies’ toilets then?’ she asked, not relishing the thought of sharing with the men.

‘There’s a loo on the top floor that KP has labelled “ladies only”.’

‘Who’s KP?’

‘Katie Powell, the office clerk, also known as “Nuts”. She thinks it’s because her initials are the same as the peanut brand, but some of the lads think she is nuts.’

‘Why’s that?’ she asked, deducing KP was the woman she’d spoken to over the intercom when she first arrived at the squad office that morning.