‘Done.’

Tony stared at the man in front of him and thought, You will be.

George arrived home a little after eight. Elaine was sitting on the settee and called out to him as he came in the front door.

‘I was getting worried about you, George.’

He took off his coat and placed it and the video he had bought in the hall cupboard. He went in to Elaine.

‘Sorry I’m late, dear, we had a lot to do. I finish up in a few weeks and I have to pass over all the information to the man taking over my accounts.’

Elaine nodded.

‘Come out to the kitchen, I kept your dinner warm.’

George sat at the table and as usual let Elaine chatter to him. He had noticed over the years that her chattering was a defence against the quietness that she hated. She kept up a constant stream of talk, seemingly unaware that George was not really listening.

Tonight he couldn’t have listened even if he’d wanted to. He had more pressing things on his mind.

Caitlin was explaining the exact nature of the blood testing to the team in the incident room. Everyone was listening avidly as he spoke. Most were aware of the existence of genetic fingerprinting, anyone who read the papers was, but the actual task they had ahead of them was not really clear. Caitlin was hoping to enlighten them.

‘The man we are looking for is blood type O, which is about fifty per cent of the population. Now this has been broken down again. Seventy-five per cent of the population is Rhesus B positive. The other twenty-five per cent being Rhesus D Negative. Well, I am pleased to say that the man we are looking for is Rhesus D. That means that we can eliminate the O group males of the Rhesus B positive blood group, thereby cutting down on the amount of men and man hours.

‘At the actual blood testing, we shall be asking men for their mother’s maiden name, their wife’s and children’s names, where they work, etcetera. We shall also take fingerprints and obviously they will sign the document saying they agreed to the blood testing and were put under no duress to take it. That should shut up the civil liberty eejits!’

People in the room began to titter. It was a bone of contention with everyone that the only lead they could follow was being criticised so much. On the one hand the public wanted the man caught and on the other they were making it as hard as possible to do it.

Caitlin lit a cigar. Clearing his throat noisily, he began to speak again.