“We absolutely have,” Julian agreed. “And I will absolutely bring all the relevant paperwork to the next Joint Service meeting and put in the request for your assistance. I’ll table it as soon as I get off the phone, in fact. And I am absolutely not suggesting that if you had a few spare lads from the On Call Investigations Unit, they might find the street food second to none over that way. That would obviously be completely outside my brief…”

Royce had been counter-terrorism duty officer on two past operations on Julian’s watch. The two of them had been like cats and dogs at the start, but had each ended up in a position to make the other look good. Favours were owed both ways, the kind that never quite went away.

“How much of this are you pulling out of your arse, mate?” Royce asked at last.

“Possibly all of it. In which case I will owe you twice over, and I will come to apologize in person.”

Another thoughtful pause, as of a man who had to balance his own budgets and account to his own chiefs.

“Plenty of cultural flashpoints over thataways,” Royce mused. “Be good for a few of the new lads to get a feel for the area.”

Julian felt a knot of tension he hadn’t quite acknowledged uncurl. “It’s probably nothing.”

“Well, knowing you, we’d all prefer if it was nothing,” Royce agreed. “Long may it remain so, say I.”

After Julian got off the phone, he discovered that no less a personage than Dr. Kay Amal Khan herself had emailed him direct, demanding to meet with him. This wasn’t the first time either, as Khan had long since lost any tolerance for the slow mill of regular channels. Sabreur sighed. Today was clearly going to be all about Khan. She simply preferred to deal with people she’d met before, but Julian composed a message for someone else to find out what she wanted. The old guard in the office, the ones who didn’t like what Khan represented any more than Billy White, would snicker about her having her eye on him. They’d doubtless use it to undermine Julian’s position and dignity, all those old boys who felt he shouldn’t have been jumped up to his current post. For a moment he considered ignoring Khan’s email entirely, toeing the office line to avoid the looks and whispers. Then he hated himself for it. And it was only a short stop from there to joining in and making his own life easier. It was depressing how he could scratch the surface and find just a little bit of Billy White staring at him in the mirror.