It took only a few calls to locate DCI Larry Burrows.

‘Never understood golf,’ Bryant said, as they headed down the fairway to the ninth hole of the Staffordshire Golf Course near Wombourne.

Recently renamed, the course claimed to be the most picturesque golf course in the Midlands. Even the avenues of pines, rhododendrons, and sixty-foot fir trees wouldn’t persuade her to part with over eight hundred quid to join, despite the fact it was popular with at least three local police forces.

‘Hit a ball and then follow it. Hit a ball then follow it,’ he said, shaking his head.

Kim reckoned most sports could be reduced to a similarly basic description, but with golf she certainly had to agree with her colleague.

‘There he is,’ she said, spotting the exceptionally tall male among a group of average-sized men. She recalled being introduced to him, briefly, when she had first joined the force. He had looked her up and down and dismissed her and then continued to talk to her male colleague.

That one simple action had told her all she’d needed to know.

‘DCI Burrows,’ she said, pushing herself into the middle of the group. ‘DI Stone and DS Bryant, may we have a word?’

He looked from one to the other and frowned. Although retired he clearly didn’t appreciate his golf game being interrupted.

‘One of your old cases, sir,’ she said, affording him the respect his position deserved.

‘Can’t it wait?’

‘Not really, sir,’ she answered, shortly.

He looked to his friends and sighed heavily as they moved away.

‘Really, my dear, couldn’t you have called and arranged—’

‘Chief Inspector Burrows, it’s regarding a fifteen-year-old girl named Lorraine Peters,’ she interrupted. She would allow his endearment to pass. Just once.

His tanned face remained blank.

‘She dived into an empty pool at Heathcrest Academy. It was your case in the mid-nineties.’

‘Yes, I know the one you mean. You’ll have to excuse an old man’s memory, love.’

‘Inspector,’ she said.

‘Yes?’ he answered.

‘Not love,’ she corrected. ‘Inspector or Stone. Either is fine.’

His face coloured slightly at the rebuke, but she didn’t care. She would remain respectful, but she would not tolerate blatant sexism to her face. Prejudice in the force was not yet completely behind them, but the era of resigned silence and acceptance was.

‘One of my officers is requesting the case files as we speak but we’d also appreciate your insight,’ she said.

He shook his head. ‘I can still see her now,’ he said, placing his golf club back into the bag. ‘Such a tiny thing lying at the bottom of that bloody pool.’

‘It was ruled an accident,’ Kim said, falling into step as he began to walk behind the others. ‘Did you agree?’

‘Not at first,’ he said.

‘Why not?’

‘You’ll see in my reports,’ he said, bristling.

‘Could you tell us now?’ she pressed.

‘It’s nothing,’ he said.

Kim stopped walking. ‘Sir, there’s clearly something about this case that still bothers you,’ she observed.

‘It’s my Midnight Express, Inspector,’ he said.

‘Sorry?’ she asked. It wasn’t a term she’d heard.

‘Haven’t you seen the film?’

Kim shook her head.

‘It’s about a guy imprisoned in Turkey for drug smuggling. To cut a long story short he’s eventually placed with the crazies who walk endlessly around a pole in the middle of the room. Our guy joins them but he’s walking the opposite way.’

Kim got the analogy. ‘You thought there was more to it and other people did not?’

‘I did indeed, and my boss agreed with me, initially, and allowed me to run with an investigation, but eventually I got shut down. Costing too much money with no clear motive never mind a suspect.’

‘The baby?’ Kim asked.

He smiled ruefully, realising they weren’t quite as different as he thought.

‘Yeah, that was my logic too. I wanted to find the father but the funds…’ he shrugged as his words trailed away.

‘How far did you get?’

‘DNA samples from the kids, well, the ones that were old enough, anyway.’

‘Teachers?’ she asked.

He shook his head. ‘Not before the money ran out.’

‘Then what?’ she asked.

‘That was it. Couldn’t go any further. I was assigned new cases, and by the time the inquest was done I almost agreed that I’d been mistaken in the first place.’

‘About what?’ she asked, wondering what had caused his doubts.

‘The placement of the body,’ he admitted, reaching for another club.

Kim recalled her own feeling on the placement of Sadie’s body and realised that this man would be far more disturbed than he realised if he understood just how similar they were.

There was an instinct that he possessed that was similar to her own. It was something that could not be taught. Except there was one small difference. She believed in her gut and had learned to argue on its behalf. He had not.

‘What about the placement?’ she pushed.

‘It didn’t look right. Too far away from the diving board.’

‘You’re saying she didn’t dive from the board like the accident the inquest ruled?’ Kim asked.

He shook his head. ‘Not even close and there was nothing accidental about it.’