He went to pay but realised he only had a five-pound note, and with the extra things he had grabbed on the spur of the moment he was twenty pence short.

‘Guess I’ll have to pop one of these back,’ he said.

‘I’ll let you off. You can pay the extra next time.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘I won’t tell if you don’t.’

‘That’s very kind of you, thank you.’

He smiled and headed out into the still-dark morning with its whispers of faint traffic. He glanced back through the glass shopfront as he walked past, hoping she hadn’t noticed the flush he felt in his cheeks. That was more conversation than he usually dared strike up with women he didn’t know, but no reason to get self-conscious. Damn Styles and his non-stop piss-take. She was just being friendly. It was her job to be polite, so why was he left wondering if she was flirting with him? He wondered if he’d ever get to the point of flirting back. Wondered if he wanted to. What was the worst that could happen?

He considered that for a moment as he headed home. The worst scenario wasn’t that he might not be ready for what it could lead to. Worst case by far would be if Styles found out. That would give his partner ammunition for weeks – months, even – but it made Porter smile all the same.

It wasn’t that he wanted to end up a lonely old man, but the idea of being with someone, of feeling that way about anyone other than Holly, stirred up such a conflicted knot in his stomach, that he wasn’t sure he could ever unpick it.

Porter was at his desk with the day’s inaugural coffee by six-thirty. He sipped it slowly as he watched the darkness outside evaporate, as if God was turning up the brightness on his celestial TV.

He silently berated himself for the way he had handled things yesterday. Going after Bolton that quickly had been a mistake, although it had been satisfying to haul him in. It wasn’t that he thought they’d tipped their hand by questioning him. Porter was certain that Bolton and Stenner knew they had been under surveillance. Maybe Patchett had too. What other reason was there for Carter to have ditched his coat unless he’d been persuaded to do so by one of the others? Persuaded, coerced: made no difference. He had let his anger get in the way of building a case, they all had, but today was another day.