‘What if it was true and Mike wasn’t the only one?’

‘Then that’s a whole other problem that none of my sources have flagged, so I won’t be losing too much sleep about it. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve really got to get going.’

Porter nodded and promised to keep the revelation, if it had enough substance to qualify as that, to himself for now. He watched as Anderson drove slowly through the gates and accelerated away towards the main road.

Styles had finished his call and was waiting in the car. ‘What’s Anderson’s craic, then? Anything to report?’

Porter hesitated before answering. ‘Nothing worth repeating. Come on, let’s get back.’ He rarely kept things from his partner, and it wasn’t a question of trust, more that it felt wrong to even hint at something that dark at Gibson’s funeral, and it was only hearsay, a throwaway remark made by a criminal trying to curry favour with an officer. He filed it away as something to look at later, and gazed out of the window as they pulled away.

Porter had known Gibson mainly by reputation, but what he had heard was all good. He knew there would be a strong push to bury it either way, regardless of whether any case against Locke or Bolton held up, no pun intended bearing in mind Gibson’s untimely ending. Any acknowledgement of corruption inside the department, even when rooted out and exposed to the light, did more harm than good. That push would come from Milburn, and Campbell would support him in return for a favour to be cashed in further down the line.

Rooting around in the mess left behind wouldn’t change the outcome for Simmons or Gibson, but Porter wasn’t sure he could balance his own personal scales if he left it alone. Doing nothing would somehow cheapen the sacrifice that his colleagues had made. Whether they would do it for him or not was another matter, but he had to believe that they would, had to believe that doing the right thing still meant something. If it didn’t, then what was the point in doing what they did?

He decided it was too early in the morning to be getting so philosophical, and let it go for now. It would be easier if he could talk to Anderson’s source, but he didn’t expect a change of heart there any time soon. There had to be another way to approach it. Whether he could figure that out in time to make a difference in the case was another matter, but he’d give it his best shot.

‘So here’s an interesting little revelation for you,’ said Styles.