‘Bose – call for backup. Those two.’ She pointed to DS Carter and his colleague, who were still on the pedestrian bridge. They would both be armed and while they were not trained to the same level as a CT special firearms team, they were permitted to use their weapons in extreme circumstances. Abu Mujahid was twenty or thirty metres ahead. She started after him. ‘Stop. Police,’ she screamed, waving her badge as she ran. Pedestrians around her stopped and gawped but did nothing.

#

Gabriel knew she wasn’t as fit as she should be, but she was in better shape than Bose, who seemed to be one hundred miles behind her. Abu Mujahid wasn’t in great form either – his right leg seemed to be injured and he was making slow progress. What a great police chase this was turning out to be, Gabriel thought as she began to lose her breath. Two middleaged women and an invalid. It was hardly Starsky & Hutch.

He had staggered past the departure hall and was heading towards the exit on the King’s Cross side of the station. Panic swelled up in her chest. Was he about to get away? Where the hell was the support?

The sight of a middle-aged woman pelting through the station in pursuit of a limping man was turning heads. A family stopped and pointed, and their small child laughed. Oh, sod off, she thought, panting louder.

Her phone rang. It was Bose. Gabriel slammed the set against her ear where it rubbed awkwardly as she ran.

‘Where are you?’ she panted into the receiver.

‘Coming round the other side. I’ve alerted the surveillance team – they should be with you soon.’

‘Thank Christ.’ She hung up. Abu Mujahid was just a few metres from the exit – a dark window of night that seemed to be peering into this brightly lit world of brick, wood and glass. And then she spotted DS Carter and the officer with the pony tail sprinting towards him along the same arcade, pinning him off. Abu Mujahid saw them then sidestepped into a sushi restaurant.

Gabriel reached the doors of the shop at the same time as the two officers and panted: ‘…in here.’

The three of them paused at the doorway to catch their breath and get their bearings.

The DS introduced himself. ‘…and this is DC Barker.’ His colleague nodded a hello at Gabriel.

The restaurant was part of a chain offering a pseudo-Japanese eating experience. Diners sat in cheerful booths alongside a conveyor belt with garish plates stacked with rice, sushi and suspicious large balls that could be desserts, but which always reminded Gabriel of testicles.

‘Have you had sight of a weapon, ma’am?’ asked Carter.

‘No, but assume he’s armed,’ Gabriel wheezed.

The few customers in the restaurant moved to the entrance, their faces bewildered, startled and scared. Gabriel beckoned them to get out.

Carter stayed by the door and spoke quietly into his radio while Barker crept forward, looking into the booths. The walls of each booth were high enough to hide a crouching man.