‘I’m sorry I didn’t have a chance to do the hot debrief myself,’ Whitestone said. ‘Just had some complications with one of his eyes and – well. I’m sorry.’

I shook my head. ‘No problem, ma’am.’ But I wondered how long Pat Whitestone could be the SIO of a major murder investigation when her personal life was taking up so much of her time.

‘But DC Wren has done a thorough job,’ the Chief Super said.

They both had a set of Edie’s notes in front of them.

‘So the assumption we’re making is that they targeted you because you were effectively the public face of this investigation?’ Swire continued.

I saw Pat Whitestone flush with embarrassment as she stared down at Edie’s notes.

‘Yes, ma’am,’ I said.

‘What do we know about them, Max?’ the Chief Super said.

I wasn’t surprised to be asked the same questions that Edie had asked me at the hot debriefing. That’s the way we work. You ask a question again and again and again. Then you ask it again. And then you see if the answer is always the same.

‘There were four of them,’ I said. ‘There seems to have been one missing when they attempted to abduct Abu Din. But last night – with me – they were at full strength. And they are highly organised, highly motivated and at least a couple of them appear to have received some kind of training. One of them does the heavy lifting. Another one had close combat experience.’ I shrugged. ‘They’re tough, resourceful and barking mad.’

‘Edie’s notes say that one of them spoke to you,’ said Whitestone.

I felt myself begin to tremble. I took a deep breath, held it and let it out slowly. I wasn’t going to fall to pieces in this room.

‘Yes, ma’am.’ I nodded at the notes. ‘He told me that the white transit van that distracted the ARV was driven by what he called friends.’

Whitestone turned to the Chief Super.

‘We found it burned out in a car park in Notting Hill,’ she said. ‘We’re looking for prints.’

The Chief Super laughed bitterly. ‘Good luck with that.’

I didn’t understand.

‘Wait – our ARV lost the decoy van? How does an Armed Response Vehicle with two highly trained firearms officers lose a transit van on the North Circular?’

‘The white van was driven by a wheelman,’ Whitestone said. ‘He wasn’t some boy racer. He knew his stuff. He could drive and I mean, really drive. Like a pro. Like a professional wheelman. And he lost our ARV almost immediately because he entered the North Circular against the flow of the traffic.’

‘He drove against the traffic?’