Danny Caxton was almost at the height of his success by 1967, Banks remembered. Everyone knew who he was. He was still a handsome devil, too, or so hundreds of mums thought. Christ, even Banks’s own mother had sat fixated in front of the screen drooling over him while his father snorted and Banks disappeared upstairs to listen to his Rolling Stones and Who records.

“I’ll give you a brief outline,” McLaughlin went on. “There’s a useful bio and a summary of events so far in the folder before you. Take it away and study it later. He certainly had an eventful sort of early life. Overcame a lot of adversity. He was born in Warsaw in 1930. His parents saw the writing on the wall and got Danny and his brothers and sisters out in 1933. They got split up, and he grew up with distant relatives in Heckmondwike.”

“That could have a serious effect on a person’s mental health,” said Banks. “I mean, just trying to pronounce it.”

There was a brief ripple of laughter, then DCS Gervaise said, “Be careful, Alan. My dad came from Heckmondwike. Anyway, it wouldn’t be too hard. Just omit the vowels and it’d be perfect in Polish.”

McLaughlin waited for the laughter to die down, then went on. “For the moment, I want you to consider the following. The complainant in this case is a woman called Linda Palmer. She was fourteen years old at the time of the alleged assault.”

Banks had heard of Linda Palmer. She was a poet, lived locally, had been written up in the paper once or twice. Been on BBC2 and Radio 4. Won awards. “The poet?” he said.

“One and the same. She first called Childline, and they told her to get in touch with us.”

“And why do we believe her?” asked Gervaise.

“Same reason we believe any claim of historical abuse,” said McLaughlin. “Her story’s convincing, and we hope it will be even more so after you have all finished your tasks.” He glanced toward Janine Francis. “The CPS has given a green light to continue with this, even on what little we have so far. That’s why what Mr. Moss said about managing the media is so important. We don’t want to draw flack the way some other county forces have done. On the other hand, we don’t want to appear to be operating in secret. And we know how difficult it is to keep a low profile in a case of this magnitude. You’ll just have to do your best for as long as you can.”

“What are the facts?” Banks asked. “Briefly.”

“That’s what we want you to find out, Alan. You’ll be conducting the initial interview with Linda Palmer. You’ll also be interviewing Danny Caxton. Mr. Burgess here will be monitoring the case nationwide.”