He moved round behind his desk, pushing the chair sideways so the computer didn’t obscure her view of him. His cramped office only served to emphasize how big he was. He topped six feet easily, and he had the breadth to go with it. But even though he was in his mid-forties, he hadn’t lost definition. She could see the swell of his shoulder muscles under his shirt, and there was no depressing splay of material and straining buttons across his stomach. He had a square, blunt face with eyes set wide enough apart to give him a look of guilelessness that Carol knew was entirely misleading. Now, he was smiling at her, the skin round his eyes crinkling into deep lines. ‘Cracking job yesterday,’ he said. ‘The Drugs Squad were spitting feathers, of course, but it’s their own fault it all went down the Swanee. I had their guv’nor on to me last night, giving me earache, but like I said to him, it doesn’t do to underestimate the opposition, especially when the opposition’s got one of my team playing for them.’

‘You don’t mind that there’s a bag of coke out on the streets that shouldn’t be there?’ Carol asked, partly because she didn’t want to appear complacent, but mostly because she wanted to remind Morgan that she was still a copper.

‘Sometimes you have to accept a bit of collateral damage. I’m looking at a much bigger picture.’ Morgan picked up his coffee and took a sip. He flashed a quick glance of assessment at her over the rim, then relented. ‘Besides, they picked the bugger up last night. They knew he wouldn’t have had time to shift the gear, so they kicked his door in about half an hour after I sent them packing. Caught him in the middle of stepping on it so he could shop it out for twice the price. So your conscience can rest easy, DCI Jordan.’ He gave her a knowing grin. ‘Nice to see that going undercover hasn’t blunted your copper’s instincts.’

Carol said nothing. She reached for her mug and took a tentative taste. It was almost as good as she would have made herself, which made it about three hundred per cent better than anything she’d ever tasted in a police establishment. Her respect for Morgan rose even higher.

He leaned across the desk and pulled a folder out from under a pile of scribbled notes. He flicked it open, checking the contents, then slid it over to Carol. ‘Go on,’ he said as she stared at the blank cover. ‘Take a look.’