“Yeah, well, you can keep your zero tolerance if it means bashing me on the head with a baton.” She took a hearty swig of wine.

Banks thought for a moment. “I suppose they’d say they were defending their patch. It can’t be an easy beat, Wytherton. And we come in like some invading army. No wonder Carver defends them.”

“Me and Gerry? An invading army?”

“You know what I mean.”

“That man Carver’s a stuffed uniform,” said Annie.

“But why was he so unhelpful?” said Banks. “That’s the point. You’d think he’d have a bit more about him. Have some idea what’s going on in his manor.”

“He turned a blind eye.”

“I don’t know,” said Banks. “But I can’t help finding myself wondering if there isn’t something he’s trying to keep under wraps.”

“Like what?”

“Those two coppers who gave you a rough time—”

“Reg and Bill. Pair of pillocks.”

“Right. They weren’t on duty the night Mimosa Moffat took her last ride, were they?”

“They said not.”

“What if Mimsy was a problem? Their problem.”

“Problem? Mimsy? What are you talking about?”

“But what if she was?” Banks said. “I’m just thinking out loud. What if they were involved somehow?”

“You mean Reg and Bill were having sex with underage girls?”

“Exactly. It’s not beyond the bounds of possibility, is it? Maybe they found out what was going on, and that was their price for turning a blind eye? Maybe Mimosa threatened to blow the whistle. I know there’s still a lot of loose ends, like nobody knowing she was going to be walking up the lane and so on. But as a working theory, does it hold water? Maybe they were planning on killing her at the other end of her journey, later, away from their own patch.”

“Reg and Bill? But they said they didn’t know what was going on down the Strip. Even Carver didn’t.”

“Why couldn’t they be lying? I doubt that it would have been hard for them to get hold of a car we couldn’t trace. One of the cars on the CCTV was stolen, wasn’t it?”

“True,” said Annie. “But Reg and Bill?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time police officers have lied to protect themselves. I’m merely suggesting that maybe you should have another chat with them. Find out exactly where they were last Tuesday between one and three in the morning.”

“Carver will love that,” Annie said.

“Fuck Carver. It’s our case. Work around him.”

“You know, you might have a point. And the more I think of it, the more I’m convinced those two blokes in the takeaway were lying. You should’ve seen their faces when I said we’d be able to match the food we’d bought with the victim’s stomach contents.”

“You told them that?”

“Yeah. So?”