Although his nose was slightly crooked, Jane thought it gave him a rugged appearance and didn’t spoil his good looks at all.

‘Do you still box?’

‘Not in proper bouts, but I occasionally pop down to the Waltham Forest club to help out with the kids and do a bit of sparring.’

‘You live over that way then?’

‘Born and raised in Chingford, but I live in Woodford now. What about you, Jane?’

‘I’ve got a flat in Marylebone.’

‘Marylebone, very posh,’ he said with a grin.

‘It’s just a small one-bedroom flat, but I’m looking to move somewhere slightly bigger with a garden.’

‘Anywhere in particular?’

‘Not really.’

‘Well, as long it’s within twenty-five miles of Charing Cross you’re entitled to the police housing allowance.’

‘I wouldn’t be able to afford a place of my own if it wasn’t for the housing allowance,’ Jane remarked as she sat down.

‘Crack on with the house-to-house for now. I was a bit hasty this morning about that seventeen-year-old girl who witnessed the shooting of the police car – what was her name again?’

‘Abby Jones. I’ve got a gut feeling she may have seen a bit more than she said.’

‘I know she’s an adult as far as the law’s concerned, but when you speak to her again I’d suggest you have her mother or father present to avoid any allegations that we tried to force her to be a witness or put words in her mouth.’

‘I was going to see her over the weekend, like you suggested in the office meeting, probably Sunday if that’s OK.’ She smiled, recalling his change of tune when Murphy said Abby needed to be seen again.

‘If you want to work Sunday it can’t be for overtime – only a day off in lieu. You can do a couple of hours overtime this evening on the house-to-house, then head off home.’

‘Should I not come back to the office?’

‘No, it’s OK. I’ve told the others there’s no need to but ring the office just in case anything important has come up that needs to be dealt with tonight. Other than that, it’s a nine o’clock start tomorrow.’

‘I could get the statement from the landlady, Fiona Simpson, if you like. I met her earlier when—’

‘I heard you were at the pub,’ he interrupted. ‘I’d already spoken to Mrs Simpson, so what were you doing there?’

‘I hadn’t seen the scene of the robbery and wanted to familiarise myself with it. I spoke to Mrs Simpson as I knew she’d seen where the stolen Cortina had parked up just before the robbery and I wanted to check the vicinity for any dropped bullets or—’