The tea had by now lost any appeal it ever had. He decided he would finish what he had to do, get out of the police office and go into hiding. Nothing, but nothing, was going to stop him being on that plane. When he had first been invited to go to Milan, he had been foolish enough to tell the members of his squad. Not normally given to boasting and invariably reticent about anything other than work, McAllister could not resist it. He was not really bragging, but he was like a kid who had been given a new toy and was desperate to show it off to his pals.

The ‘boss’ was normally a dour individual who was a stickler for discipline and attention to detail. He seldom socialised with his colleagues and the nickname used behind his back, ‘Aye on’, reflected the fact that whatever he did, he behaved like an on-duty policeman. However, the sight of the Super exhibiting such obvious glee was too much for his men to ignore.

For two weeks now, they had wound him up, mercilessly.

They went around animatedly discussing the fact that the longrange forecast for Europe predicted the worst weather for fifty years with blizzards and sub-zero temperatures. No way a game could be played in these conditions. McAllister made it plain that he was unmoved by this blatant piece of nonsense – but he kept checking with the Meteorological Office, just in case. They had someone pretend to represent Rangers phone him to confirm that he had all the necessary inoculations. Everyone knew he was terrified of hypodermic needles. They had haunted McAllister since he was a young beat cop.

One Saturday night he had taken the victim of an assault to the casualty department of Glasgow Royal Infirmary, a fairly mundane occurrence. While waiting in the cubicle to take a statement, a nurse came in and began to administer an anti-tetanus injection. McAllister promptly fainted and ended up on the bed next to the assault victim who was exuding alcohol and concern in equal measure.

With all the loyalty for which police officers are noted, his neighbour ensured that the story reached the police office before the two of them returned to book off at the end of their shift. McAllister would blush every time he was reminded of the incident. Since that day, and whenever possible, he had taken steps to avoid being in that position. He had already checked. You did not need any inoculations to visit Italy. Nice try, chaps.