There was quite the hubbub going on at the station as the other CIB members worked hard on what I considered the good stuff, interviewing Rose-Marie’s friends, family, university associates, while I toiled away, as usual, on the dross. Maybe I’d get lucky one day and DI Johns and his grudge would get transferred out of here, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Wankers never walked. God only knew what it would take to impress the DI and get into his good books, and even he probably couldn’t manage it. Whoever would have thought I’d have wistful thoughts back to my sole-charge Mataura days and the simplicity of policing there? This was supposed to be my dream, detective training, the big D, advancing my career, today the CIB, tomorrow, the world. No one mentioned some of the bloody great obstacles in the way. Reality bit.

Once at the little scrap of timber and veneer in the corner that was my desk, I rolled out the circus posters and had a good look. It wasn’t the impressive pictures of roaring lions and ridiculously costumed monkeys that held my interest, but the towns that had hosted the greatest show on earth. Kaikoura, Christchurch, Ashburton, Timaru, Oamaru, Dunedin. They were working their way down the east coast, then returning up via the West. After their stay in Dunners they’d plunge further south to Balclutha and Invercargill, then up to Queenstown and Wanaka and the Central Lakes, then over the Alps to Greymouth, Westport, and Nelson before heading back to the North Island. Some of those alpine passes would be interesting to negotiate with their collection of vehicles. I wondered if elephants got car-sick? Wouldn’t want that clean-up job.

‘Yo, Shephard, you back from the circus already? Oh, and I see you got yourself a souvenir.’ Smithy dumped a wad of paper on the desk next to mine and came over for a look. One day I’d work up the courage and tell him that words like ‘yo’ didn’t work coming from the mouth of a middle-aged, slightly plump, white guy. He pointed to the pictures. ‘I like the hats on the monkeys, very stylish. You should get yourself one of those.’

‘As soon as you go get yourself one of those clown suits.’ Judging by the less grumpy than usual look on his face, it looked like he’d been on to more interesting jobs than me this morning. ‘Who’d you get to interview?’ I asked.