We all knew that corruption was still endemic in the Met despite all the crackdowns. But this was more than an officer turning a blind eye to a gang-related enterprise. This was someone who was effectively colluding with a killer. Someone who even now was prepared to help Slack out of a tight spot.

I told myself I was reading too much into what Janet was saying. That my suspicions had to be unfounded. She was a good cop. A decent cop. She would never stoop so low.

I blamed the fact that my head was all over the place. I couldn’t shake off the rage that was making it hard for me to think straight. It was like trying to wriggle out of a straightjacket.

Then just as I was telling myself that things could not get any worse, we all received another text message on our phones.

And the pressure was ramped up yet again.

The message contained another threat, and it caused the panic and anxiety inside me to grow into a flaming ball.

You had your chance to stop this and you didn’t take it. Now it’s just about teaching you all a lesson. So from today every copper in London is a potential target, including those on the street and in their cars. And remember – as the bodies pile up you only have yourselves to blame.

Any one of our suspects could have sent it, even Slack if he knew how to deliver messages on a time delay.

But for me the most likely candidate was Danny Carver, who had been described by a member of the tech team as a computer wizard.

To someone like him sending multiple text messages and remaining anonymous would be a piece of cake. The problem we had was that his house had been searched and his phone and laptop examined.

But that didn’t mean they were the only ones he had. In fact there was a strong possibility that he had several more of each.

I put my thoughts to work on it while everyone else was working themselves up into a lather over the latest text.

My rational self was telling me that I should wait for Drummond to return and push for him to stay on Slack’s case and to go after Danny Carver with renewed vigour. But what if he told me to go home? That because of what Marsden had done he didn’t want anyone else to breach the rules or ignore protocol.

I decided I couldn’t have that. I was too fired up. Too angry. And at the same time I was convinced that I was onto something.

Find the fucking bitch who did this to me even if you have to break the rules to do so.