Javed appeared to regard Holm as a fountain of all intelligence and policing knowledge he was determined to sup from. True, Holm did have several decades of experience while Javed looked as if he’d not even made the first repayment on his student loan. Still, the lad had to gain some respect before he earned the right to Holm’s wisdom. In the end Holm slipped a Miles Davis CD into the player and turned the volume up. Javed at first winced, then sulked, and then dozed.

Like a baby, Holm thought as he pulled into the car park at Suffolk police HQ and somewhat cruelly applied the brakes a little too harshly.

‘We’re here,’ Javed said, the sudden jerk waking him. He blinked and looked round. A large brick building encircled by a canal of green water stood in front of them. ‘Looks like they’re ready for anything. Perhaps we should dig up Millbank so we can have a moat too. MI6 have one, don’t they?’

‘I don’t think this moat has got anything to do with terrorism,’ Holm said. ‘Probably just an architect’s wet dream.’

‘Wet dream, good.’ Javed nodded in appreciation. ‘What do we do now?’

‘What we do is nothing. What I do is go in. Cornish is an old friend. I’d like to play on that a bit and you’ll be a gooseberry.’

‘Gooseberry?’ Javed tilted his head. He made an obscene thrusting movement with his hips. ‘So you’re hoping to slide back into your old parking space are you?’

‘No, of course not, I just meant…’ Holm stopped. What did he mean? It had been a decade or more since he’d seen Billie. Fifteen since they’d rolled around in her bed. Cornish wasn’t going to let their brief relationship from back then have any influence on her. Holm turned to Javed. Young, Asian, part-time Muslim, the lad’s sexuality worn on his sleeve. He bit his lip. ‘On second thoughts, you can come too. Billie Cornish always was one for ticking the boxes. You’ll be right up her street.’

‘Nice to know I’m wanted for something, even if it isn’t my abilities.’

At the front desk, Holm was annoyed to learn Cornish wasn’t on-site.

‘She’s out on a job,’ the desk sergeant said. ‘Dunwich Heath. She’ll be gone a while so she left instructions you were to head up there.’

Back in the car, Javed plotted the destination into his phone. ‘It’s on the coast,’ he said. ‘Looks like a nice beach. Pity I didn’t bring my Speedos.’