Jia remembered that last day in court well. Windscreens were iced over, chins buried deep in scarves, any escaping breath turning to mist, as she crossed the courtyard from the hotel to the Crown Court. Buttoned up, her boots warm and her leather gloves protecting her from the bitter wind, she’d felt calm and controlled, ready to demand justice for her client.

The court dates had been issued earlier than expected, as her client had predicted. ‘My cousin will make some calls,’ he’d said. But Jia hadn’t taken him seriously. She’d heard clients drop the names of people they said would get them off or out of their predicament too many times to believe it. She’d learnt to recognise it as a last-ditch attempt at bravado, one that rarely proved true.

But in this case it did, so it was lucky that Jia had been ready – although those who knew her well understood that luck had little to do with it. A seasoned barrister, Jia Khan prepared for her cases earlier than most. ‘Be twice as good as men and four times as good as white men.’ This had been the mantra of her mentor. She’d picked it up early on in her career and it had served her well. Shortcuts and fast tracks came with the culture she had inherited. Meticulous, methodical planning came gift-wrapped from the country she was born and educated in.

Pulling strings in law courts was not unheard of. Lawyers, barristers, legal attachés and judges were no strangers to nepotism, but for it to be this blatant had surprised even Jia Khan, and not much surprised her these days.

She saw her client climbing out of a supercar as she approached the building. She guessed that his cousin and benefactor, and the man responsible for arranging the early court date, was sitting in the driver’s seat, behind the blacked-out windows of the car. She’d met him briefly at a meeting. Her client tipped his head at her before heading to the back of the courthouse for a cigarette.

Jia took the stone steps to the front entrance. The security guard greeted her warmly, stepping up to lift her case on to the X-ray machine. She’d been here two weeks, during which time she had made it her business to get to know everyone who worked in the court. Learning about the people who oiled the machinery of the judicial system was part of her process.

‘How’s your wife today, John?’ she asked the guard.

He attempted a smile but quit, knowing that his tired eyes betrayed him. ‘The weekend was hard,’ he said.

Jia took a clean handkerchief from her bag. ‘You call me when you’re ready to take this to court,’ she said, handing it to him.