The traffic seemed to melt away. Porter wasn’t superstitious by nature, but he’d take any good omens at this point, and smiled to himself as he saw two unmarked cars already there, side by side, as they pulled up to the rendezvous point. The two officers who had called it in got out when they saw Porter’s car approach. He’d not worked any cases with them before but knew them by reputation. Sandford and Clarkson were plodders, not exactly setting the world alight, but dependable. Porter gave each of them a brief handshake as Anderson and Whittaker got out and joined them.

‘When did we last see him?’

‘No one’s actually seen him, but we spotted his car outside. We’ve had eyes on it since then and it’s not budged, so he’s in there somewhere.’

‘OK, follow my lead. You two stay on the front door when we go in. Styles and I will head inside and find him.’ He turned to Anderson. ‘Anderson, you and Jon take the back. We don’t want him bolting, but if he does you’ll be there to scoop him up. Any questions?’

A shake of heads all round. Porter licked his lips nervously.

‘Let’s get the party started, then.’

They rounded the corner and crossed the road together. The black Mercedes was parked nose-first against the wall. As they neared the entrance, Anderson and Whittaker peeled off and headed around the left-hand side of the building. The glass doors parted with a whisper as they approached and Porter checked over his shoulder to make sure Sandford and Clarkson were behind him.

A receptionist sat behind a counter off to the right. She couldn’t have been more than twenty, and her bright how can I help you smile faded into confusion when she saw Porter approach, warrant card out at arm’s length. She picked up her phone when Porter explained who he was looking for. He reached out a hand and pushed hers, and the receiver, back down.

‘It’s OK, no need to announce us. Where is he?’

She’d last seen him going into the gym area of the club, and directed them through double doors off to the side. They found it easily enough, following the whir of fitness machines and upbeat music piped through speakers. The smell of sweat hung in the air as they crossed the divide from the freshness of the corridor into the stuffiness of the gym. It dwarfed the one Porter used at the station. Mirrored walls stretched the length of the room, men making entirely too much eye contact with themselves as they strained with weights bigger than their egos.