Tanika scrunched her fists and eyes shut and allowed herself an internal scream. She wanted to do her best, to be a good police officer, a good wife, a good mother and daughter, and she wanted to deliver justice for the three murder victims, but there was nothing more she could do.

That wasn’t quite true, was it? she thought to herself. Because, for all that she knew she’d done her best, she couldn’t stop thinking about Judith’s comment about ‘Faith, Hope and Charity’ being the motto of the Freemasons. And how, if she’d only told her about it earlier, she’d have been able to tell her what it meant sooner.

She opened her eyes, startled by an idea as it popped into her head.

It wasn’t a sensible idea. And it was by no means ‘doing things by the book’, but her Super had told her to do everything in her power to move the cases on, and there was no doubting that there was still one resource she hadn’t fully utilised. One that had been coming up with solid leads ever since the murder of Stefan Dunwoody.

Tanika fished out her phone and dialled a number before she could change her mind.

‘Hello?’ Judith’s voice said as she answered her phone. ‘Any news?’

‘I think you could say that,’ Tanika said with a smile in her voice.

‘How very exciting! What have you got for me?’

Tanika took a deep breath, and then she said a sentence she never thought she’d ever utter.

‘Judith Potts, I’m bringing you in.’

Chapter 32

Tanika met Judith, Suzie and Becks as they arrived at Maidenhead police station.

‘I still don’t understand,’ Becks said as Tanika handed passes to each of them.

‘I’m asking the three of you to join my team as civilian advisers. If you can spare the time.’

‘Oh we can spare the time,’ Judith said, putting her lanyard over her head.

‘Is there any money in it?’ Suzie asked.

‘Sadly not,’ Tanika said. ‘As you can imagine, I wouldn’t be asking you to help if we were lavishly funded. But one of the things a Senior Investigating Officer can do is co-opt civilians onto her team if they have an expertise that the SIO judges will help.’

‘And the regulations really allow that?’ Judith asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘Don’t worry,’ Tanika replied, knowing that Judith was teasing her. ‘I’ve checked my copy of Blackstone’s Senior Investigating Officers’ Handbook. This is all above board. It’s another way we’re supposed to save money. By getting in civilian experts as and when.’

‘But I have no expertise,’ Becks said.

‘I wouldn’t agree with that at all,’ Tanika said. ‘The three of you are about the only people who’ve moved any of these cases on at all. I’d say you have considerable expertise.’