Porter waited for him to finish his usual morning ritual that consisted of heading straight down to get a coffee, then chewing the fat with whoever would listen to him until it was time for a second cup. Only then would he be ready to fight the good fight. Porter had calmed down some since yesterday. He had decided that going in with an attitude would be counter-productive. Most detectives were protective of any sources they had on the other side of the fence, and if he got Anderson’s back up then he would lose any chance he had of reasoning with him.

‘You got a minute?’ he said as Anderson traipsed past him, second coffee in hand, déjà vu.

‘Yeah, what’s up?’ said Anderson, wincing as he took a sip from his cup before he realised it was still a few minutes away from drinkable temperature.

‘Just wondered how you got on with your informant yesterday. Will he help us?’ Porter had already thought his approach through. He couldn’t very well say he knew the meeting hadn’t happened, and wanted to give Anderson the chance to make his excuses.

‘Yeah, it was a no go, I’m afraid.’

‘Oh, he didn’t show?’

‘No, he showed alright, but he won’t go fishing for us. Says he risked enough by telling me about Mike. He’s afraid that if he starts poking around they’ll get suspicious.’

Porter tried not to let the confusion show. ‘Where did you meet him?’

‘I bought him a pint at the Black Horse after work.’ The Black Horse was a pub five miles from the station, five miles in the opposite direction to which he had driven yesterday.

‘Just the one or did you make a night of it?’

‘Nah, he wasn’t talking so I left him to it after the one.’

‘You should have said. If I’d known you were heading straight to the pub, I would have joined you.’

Anderson smirked. ‘I’d have left you sat there as well. Had the missus coming round last night, and, no offence, but what she was offering trumps a pint with you and a petty criminal any day in my book.’

Porter smiled, but his mind scrambled to make sense of the lie. He knew that the meeting hadn’t taken place, so why say it had? What did Anderson stand to gain by spinning him a line? Protecting a source wasn’t uncommon, but lying to another officer was another thing entirely.

‘Oh, I was talking to Campbell as well and he said something about Locke’s missus having some dirt on him?’ said Anderson.

‘What?’ Porter was thrown briefly by the change of direction. ‘Oh, that. Yeah, maybe. I don’t know yet. Listen, I’ve got to go, but I’ll catch you later.’