‘What’s up, Guv?’ the Colonel asked as he closed the door.

‘Murphy thinks I fancy Tennison,’ Kingston whispered, worried that Katie might be waiting outside his office close enough to hear what was being said.

‘I’m not surprised, the way you were buttering her up in the meeting.’

‘You mentioned our little bet to anyone in the office?’

‘Don’t tell me you’re welshing on it – because if you are, you’ll still owe me twenty quid.’

‘The bet’s still on . . . but I don’t want Murphy, or anyone else on the team, getting wind of it.’

The Colonel double-tapped the side of his nose with his finger.

‘Trust me, Guv, I won’t tell a soul.’

‘You’d better not or I’ll make sure you’re the one that gets screwed. Tell Tennison I want to see her.’

‘Making your play already?’ He winked.

‘About the bloody house-to-house. Now get out on the streets and start hassling your informants for information about the robbery.’

‘I was going to speak to Gentleman Jim. He’s always had his ear to the ground when it comes to armed robberies, especially among the old-style blaggers – having been one himself, of course.’

‘Bloody hell, is he still about?’

‘Yeah, he’s sixty now and set up a Sunday antiques stall in Brick Lane flea market—’

‘Antiques! What the fuck does he know about antiques apart from stealing them?’

‘He does a nice line in watches, if you’re interested.’ The Colonel pulled up his jacket sleeve. ‘I got this Omega Seamaster from him – apparently Jacques Cousteau used to wear one like this.’

Kingston laughed. ‘That watch is either a fake or knocked off – you tried it out in anything deeper than a bathtub?’

‘It worked fine in me local swimming pool. Anyway, Gentleman Jim always likes a few quid up front first before he starts digging around, so I’ll need at least a score out of the squad informants’ fund.’

‘Twenty quid’s a bit steep to start with – sweeten him up with a tenner and see what he comes up with first.’

‘He generally turns up trumps, so he’ll be expecting a twenty.’

‘All right, but it’d better be worth it. Knock out a request then. I’ll get Murphy’s approval. He wants this case done by the book so don’t let Jim participate in any way or get into agent provocateur territory—’

‘He said he’s too old for robbing banks and reckons he’s going straight.’

‘We both know that’s bollocks!’

As the Colonel left Kingston’s office, Katie walked in, holding the statements up.

‘I asked Tennison to check these statements and help me type them up, but she refused . . .’

Kingston sighed. ‘Not now, Katie. I’ve got other things to sort out first, then I’ll have a chat with you.’

As Jane walked into the room Katie gave her a scowl and stomped out.