She checked her notes. ‘A young girl was in Woodville Road when she saw the Cortina hit a parked car at speed then skid to an abrupt halt. A tall man wearing a balaclava got out of the front passenger side, then walked into the middle of the road and started shooting at Juliet 1. Having fired four times he returned to the Cortina, which then left the scene. It’s possible that this man was injured at some point during the car chase and left the blood trails.’

Dabs spoke up. ‘I took swabs and will get them tested for blood grouping. Thanks to Sergeant Tennison’s perceptive thinking we also recovered some blood on the front passenger door sill of the burnt-out Cortina.’

‘Can I see the exhibits book?’ Murphy asked, and Dabs handed it to him.

‘There’s more,’ Dabs said, getting their attention again. ‘She also thought to call out a traffic officer to examine the car’s chassis plate in situ, and as a result we now know it was reported stolen and who the owner is.’

There was silence in the room as Murphy looked through the book.

‘I see the traffic officer took the ignition barrel out of the Cortina – why was that?’ he asked Dabs, who again looked at Jane.

‘I asked him if there was any sign that the Cortina had been hot-wired or if a screwdriver had been used to start the ignition,’ Jane explained. ‘He was positive it hadn’t been hot-wired and took the barrel for microscopic examination to see if the inside had signs of screwdriver damage.’

Dabs smiled, realising that she’d twisted things slightly to make herself look good.

‘If we know the car was nicked how does damage to the ignition barrel help us?’ Cam asked dismissively.

‘It’s the opposite—’ Dabs said.

‘What do you mean the opposite?’

‘Sometimes it’s obvious why you’re OFD,’ the Colonel said. ‘If it wasn’t hot-wired and there’s no damage to the barrel then a key must have been used to start it – which would suggest . . .’ He paused, waiting for Cam to answer.

‘That maybe the car wasn’t stolen, and the owner’s lied for some reason.’

‘Finally, you’re thinking like a detective,’ the Colonel said, and Cam gave him a ‘piss off’ look.

Jane held up a bit of paper. ‘The owner reported his Cortina stolen two weeks ago.’

She handed it to Kingston, who said he knew where Mount Pleasant Road was as he’d worked at Tottenham as a DI, but didn’t recognise the name of the owner.

‘This Frank Braun needs to be spoken to asap,’ Kingston said.

Stanley volunteered to visit the address with the Colonel after the meeting. Murphy said it was best to wait until they had the result of the examination of the car’s ignition barrel and handed Kingston the exhibits book.

‘I see you also seized the burnt-out garage door lock.’