Short of placing Bolton at the scene from any camera footage, Porter knew he was fighting a losing battle, and bit his tongue. They stood up to leave when Milburn asked Anderson and Whittaker to stay behind for a few minutes. Porter didn’t bother looking back as he left. He knew Anderson would be gloating on the inside, and didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing a hint of frustration. The job was hard enough at times when you only had the criminals to fight against. Internal enemies were something he could do without. He shot Styles a look to keep him quiet until they were safely back downstairs, and mentally prepared the rant that his partner would patiently sit through.

Styles sat quietly and bore the brunt of Porter’s anger. The door to the small room was closed, but Porter still kept his voice down, knowing that the sound would carry, but also careful not to misdirect his anger towards his partner.

‘So what now? Do we toe the line? I’m guessing we have to?’

‘The only thing that might make a dent in their stubbornness is that camera footage,’ said Porter, sitting back in exasperation. ‘We place Bolton there and they can’t ignore him.’

‘Let’s hope Reid gets it sooner rather than later, then.’

They both looked up at the same time to see Whittaker walk through the door. He saw the glare Porter shot him and immediately raised his hands, palms out in surrender.

‘Whoa there. I had nothing to do with that little ambush upstairs.’

‘I notice you say “I” and not “we”.’

Whittaker gave a pained smile. ‘Let’s not go there. I know he can be a prickly bastard at times, but he’s my partner, and we’re all on the same side.’

‘Not all of us,’ muttered Styles.

‘Look, we didn’t ask Locke to call up. We were there when his wife called him. He was pissed. He hid it well, but he was pissed. Called Jasper up straight away and asked for a restraining order.’

‘He did what?’ Porter almost exploded with anger and incredulity.

Whittaker shrugged. ‘I’m guessing Jasper advised against it for now, or we’d have heard about it upstairs.’

Porter shook his head in disbelief. ‘He’s got some bloody nerve.’ He was about to launch into a rant about Locke, when it hit him. ‘So let me get this straight, Locke just happened to turn up at the same time you two paid a visit? I thought he hardly ever showed his face on-site.’

‘No idea. He and Bolton were in the office already when we got there.’

‘So what happened, then? I’m assuming they weren’t exactly overjoyed to see you there?’

‘Didn’t seem too fazed, to be honest. He’s either not our man, or he’s got some balls to put on a front like that.’