Sally said, ‘That doesn’t give you the right to go round hitting people though, does it? Didn’t your mum ever tell you two wrongs don’t make a right?’

‘It wasn’t like that. I just went round to his office to put him straight about a few things. He was the one who tried to throw a punch at me.’

Sally lowered her voice to a whisper. ‘Do you realise how lucky you are, David? You could have ended up in court over this. You can get six months for common assault.’

David gulped. He hadn’t known that. And he rather wished he didn’t now.

‘It’s OK, Sal, I got off. I mentioned your name and they let me off with a caution.’

David could almost feel the tidal wave of fury propelling itself down the phone line. Sally’s voice wasn’t a whisper any more. ‘You did what? Christ almighty, David. I don’t believe this. For one thing that’s called perverting the course of justice, and for another, what the hell did you think you were doing dragging me into it?’

‘It’s OK, Sal. He was much more understanding after that. He said he knew you when you were in the force up there. Asked to be remembered to you. Charlie Waites, I think his name was.’

‘This isn’t some kind of joke, David. It’s my career you’re screwing with here. And you do realise, don’t you, that now that you’ve got a caution that means that you’ve got a criminal record. I shouldn’t go applying for other jobs any time soon if I were you.’

David puffed out his cheeks. That was something else he hadn’t known about.

‘Look, Sal, I’m sorry. I didn’t think things through. And I should never have dragged you into it. One thing just sort of led to another. I was so angry when Jo told me Marshall had been threatening Clare that I guess I just saw red.’

He knew they were the wrong words almost as soon as they’d come tumbling out of his mouth.

‘Clare! Didn’t you make her site director? I thought she was getting paid to take care of herself and the site. She’s not a child, David. You can’t do everything. And I’m sure Clare’s perfectly capable of dealing with difficult men. God knows you’re living proof there’s enough of them about. She doesn’t need some buffoon dashing round like a demented knight on a white charger clocking people on her behalf.’

He knew that he’d screwed up, and he’d screwed up really badly. But he’d had enough now. ‘OK, Sal, I get the message – you can stop now. I get the message.’