But once at the office, all thoughts of retribution against note-writing idiots flew out of my head the moment the lift doors opened. For despite my theory of getting in early to avoid any inopportune meetings, I was presented with the worst-case scenario. Oh, fuckity fuck.

What do you do when trapped in a small steel box and find yourself face to face with an arsehole boss? It wasn’t like I could take evasive action.

DI Johns took one look at me and glowered. I took one look at him and felt an overwhelming need to go to the loo.

‘Good morning, sir,’ I said, forcing a hopefully friendly-looking smile on my dial. In training, they always said the best thing to do in a confrontational situation was to talk calmly to an aggressor.

‘Shephard,’ he said, before an uncomfortable pause. ‘I think we need to have a little chat, down in my office, now.’

Shit. The last thing I wanted to be was enclosed in a small room with him and no witnesses, but what choice did I have? The temptation was to let the lift doors close and pretend I was never there. Didn’t think that would help my cause, though. There were no other detectives around to divert attention – my plan had worked perfectly there – and I didn’t want the DI to think I didn’t have the guts to front up. So I stepped out of the lift and took what felt like a very long walk down the corridor to his domain. The sound of his door clicking shut as he closed it caused a corresponding lurch in my stomach. I folded my arms across my chest and stood, braced, waiting for it.

‘Take a seat.’ He indicated towards the chair and went and sat behind his desk. I did as requested. His eyes engaged mine for what felt like minutes, not seconds, until I had to break away to examine the few wisps of cloud in the otherwise azure sky behind him.

‘Ahem.’ The sound of him clearing his throat drew my attention back to him. ‘I’ll be completely honest with you, Detective Constable, and say I think you are an irresponsible and foolhardy officer and I think you are an impediment to this team.’

That was certainly honest, brutally so. Despite chewing on the inside of my lip, I could feel the tell-tale tears spring to my eyes.

‘I opposed your inclusion in the detective programme, but for whatever reason, others thought you were of the right material. As far as I’m concerned, your actions have only gone to prove that they made the wrong decision. But I have been instructed’, he spat out the word instructed with sneering distaste, ‘to allow you to continue in this case in an active role.’