‘No, it certainly is not. I’d like to talk to you about the events, though, if I may?’

‘On what basis?’ Dani asked, looking over at McNair who looked down to the big cheese for the answer.

‘How do you mean?’ Baxter said.

‘Is this a formal disciplinary meeting?’

‘Do you think it should be? Do you think you’ve done something wrong?’

‘What? No!’

‘Then I’m not sure why you said that. This is merely a fact-finding exercise. Though you have to appreciate that this is a very serious incident. A young man lost his life yesterday.’

‘If I may, sir, can I ask who the man was? Do we know yet?’

Baxter looked to McNair who gave a slight nod and Dani thought it odd that the Chief Super was looking to her for the answer to the question.

‘From a fingerprint ID, we believe the victim was Dean Harland,’ McNair said. ‘We don’t know too much about him at present. His parents live in Lancashire. They’ve been informed of his death.’

Dani took the information in but didn’t react. She didn’t know Harland, the name hadn’t been on her radar at all. She’d thought perhaps the man they’d chased was Ethan Grant, the same man Easton had been trying to speak with in the first place. But perhaps Ethan was, in fact, the man who originally attacked Easton?

Whatever the explanation, Dani knew there was a story behind those two, and Jimmy Colton too, and that story may or may not link to the murders of Paul Reeve and Natalya.

‘Ok. So how can I help?’ Dani said.

‘Can you please tell me why you decided to visit the address on Wood Road in Handsworth yesterday.’

‘I’ll have to check timings, if that’s important, but I received a call on my mobile phone from DI Barnes advising me that DS Easton had been attacked there. I wasn’t given details of the attack at that time.’

‘And why was that relevant to you?’

‘Because I was the one who sent DS Easton to the address.’

‘Why did you send DS Easton to that address?’

‘We were pursuing enquiries related to the murders of Paul Reeve and a young woman we know only as Natalya. We were given that as an address for Ethan Grant who was believed to be an acquaintance of Reeve.’

‘But you didn’t go with DS Easton?’

‘No. Is that a problem? He’s a sergeant, he’s more than capable of carrying out routine enquiries.’

Baxter paused for a moment and Dani sensed he wasn’t impressed with her tone of voice.

‘Ethan Grant was not a suspect in your case?’ he asked.

‘He was, and is, a person of interest, but not a formal suspect at this stage.’

‘And what happened when Easton arrived at the address?’