‘Some rules are open to interpretation. Now that you are well enough to be interviewed, my job is to transport you from the hospital to custody. This is a stop for your comfort. You’re still recovering from a gunshot wound to the shin, after all. The doctor told me you shouldn’t sit still for long.’

‘He did say that.’ Richard’s smile dropped away quickly. ‘Is this the last time, Inspector?’

Joel sighed. ‘I don’t know. But I do know a little more about you now, Richard, you and Angela. I learned a bit from that too. Maybe we could all do with remembering that whenever you say goodbye to someone you love, it could be the last time.’

Richard nodded. ‘I couldn’t have put it better. You’re a family man, right? Cherish what you have. Every minute of it.’

‘Talking of every minute, nine minutes left.’ Joel lifted his watch to tap its face. ‘Don’t waste this time talking to me.’

‘Thank you … for this …’ He moved off, ignoring the path and moving straight across the grass. His first few steps were careful, like he was unsure how his crutches would fare on ground that would have taken a lot of rain over the winter. He needn’t have worried; the last few weeks that Richard Maddox had been in hospital had been mostly glorious – spring had well and truly asserted itself and now, as Joel watched him take a seat on a bench, the backdrop was a dramatic bright pink, where a cherry blossom tree seemed to have been waiting for his arrival to burst into full bloom. Its branches, tickled by a breeze, shook petals over the grave he was facing.

‘If he runs, you’re chasing.’ Joel was snatched from his thoughts by DS Rose. She moved up to stand next to him.

‘When you said you wanted to stay, we agreed that you would do all of the running after people.’

‘Seems you don’t remember much about that conversation at all, boss.’

‘Boss! You know, I think that’s the first time you’ve called me that. Finally giving me the respect I deserve?’

‘If he runs, you’re chasing,’ she said again. When he replied it was through a wide grin.

‘Fair enough.’

THE END

Acknowledgements

Writing can sometimes feel like a solitary act – and it is true that there are many hours spent actively avoiding contact with other people while plotting, procrastinating or wrestling the blinking cursor to get a story written down. But the words contained in these pages would be very different, inaccurate, misspelled or just plain wrong if it were not for the involvement of a number of other people and it is only right that I fess up and tell you all about them.