‘That’s the congratulations dealt with. Loose ends. Sophie?’

Gabriel took over. She could see the smiles and sense the relief in her colleagues, but still she had that niggling sense they had missed something.

‘First, we’ve got enough to link Douglas Glenister, the driver of the ambulance, to Pall Mall. We’ve matched him with DNA found at the hotel room, and he’s a good fit with the CCTV in the hotel reception. So yesterday, we didn’t just stop the Leeds atrocity, we also found our missing man. That’s a major result. We’ve also got Glenister’s accomplice, who calls himself Roger Smith and inveigled himself into the St John Ambulance several months ago. He was the man who Rod Houghton was contacting by phone in Leeds over the last few days. He’s not speaking, but we’ll have an ID on him within the hour.

‘I know the temptation now is to take the foot off the gas, but there is much to do. We cannot afford to slack now – as much as we all need a rest. We’ve stopped Leeds’s attack, but we’ve not stopped the NRF. We’ve got a list of lines of inquiry as long as my arm. Have we got the whole cell, or is there anyone else left and are there other NRF cells off the radar? And what’s the organisational structure? Was Rod Houghton the leader or a senior planner? If not, who is the leader? Somewhere in history, there will be a crack and we need to find it and prise it open. The NRF trusted him with not one but three attacks in two weeks and that means he is trusted implicitly. And there will be a trail to them in his comms, in his finances, in his history. These are urgent questions – and if we don’t get them answered, we can expect another Chilton Park, maybe soon.’

Her earnest tone had sapped the levity out of the room. The officers watched in silence.

‘Second, weaponry and ammo in the ambulance. The bomb was home-made – sourced from over-the-counter chemicals. However, the rifle is more interesting.’ She held up the report from the National Ballistics Intelligence Service. ‘According to NABIS, it is standard army issue. It’s almost certainly the weapon used by Glenister in Pall Mall – we’ll have that confirmed overnight. But I want to know where it came from. DI Bose’s team will chase that up, starting with the Ministry of Defence. I repeat, I need you to put everything into this. Time is against us.’

As the meeting broke up, Gabriel watched Bose standing at the edge of a group of officers hanging around Skeffington, laughing at a joke in the corner. She strode over and steered her away.

‘Sorry to interrupt the festivities, Eva, but anything new on Abu Mujahid?’ she asked. Again, she felt irritated with the cheerfulness of the men and women around her.

Bose was flustered. ‘No, ma’am. Nothing more in the last few days. But I’ve not been pushing. We’ve not had time.’