Gina rushed through the main entrance with Jacob closely following. The couple from the chip shop were standing in the queue waiting to be booked in. Behind them, their wavy haired young dealer nervously bit his dirty nails. Darren Mason skulked at the back, avoiding her gaze. Desk Sergeant, Nick, began the formalities. ‘When they’re all booked in, let me know,’ Gina said to Smith as he herded them all into the right area.

‘Will do.’

She pulled him aside. ‘As soon as you have their prints run them and send the results to Bernard. I want them crossmatched against our case.’

‘Will do, guv.’ Smith went back to the line and gestured for Kapoor to assist him.

As she went to leave, she heard the dealer speak when asked what his name was. ‘Westley Young.’

Gina turned back, almost bumping into Jacob. ‘Julia Dawson mentioned that her daughter had left with someone called Westley. It could well be him. You don’t hear the name Westley mentioned much.’ Gina walked over to the desk and checked the paperwork Nick was filling in. Westley was currently living in Worcester. She pulled Smith aside. ‘When he’s booked in, I want to interview him and then we need to speak to Darren Mason.’

Smith nodded. ‘I’ll give you a shout when he’s ready.’

Gina continued along the corridor towards the incident room. ‘Looks like O’Connor and Wyre have headed home.’

‘Lucky them. Of course, they have good reasons to want to go home,’ Jacob replied as he turned the desk fan on. A few of O’Connor’s loose papers flew off the desk. ‘I’m just going to head back out the front, keep an eye on what’s happening. I could do with getting away some time tonight.’

‘Date with Amber?’

‘Definitely not. She said we’re over. She’s apparently met someone else. Oh well. I’m just tired, I guess.’ Gina could understand that. It had been a long day for them all.

As Jacob left, Briggs walked in, eating a slice of pizza. ‘I heard the place is packed out. Nice operation, looks like we nailed a dealer.’

‘Yes. It’s was Smith’s victory and a good stakeout. Guess what?’

‘Go on.’

‘The dealer is called Westley. A missing girl, Christina Dawson, left with someone called Westley. It’s too much of a coincidence. And that’s not all, one of the punters is only Darren Mason. The young man with the van our mystery girl came from. What is going on? They must know something. I’m hoping our partial print found on the cellophane in van girl’s clothing matches one of them. Their prints will be going right over to Bernard and Keith for cross-checking.’

‘Let’s hope for a match. Our dealer may show himself to be the one who supplied the girl in the van.’

‘From what I read earlier, we have spoken to a lot of people in the Winyates area of Redditch, spoken to pubs, shops, gone door to door and not one person remembers seeing a girl of her description just before she turned up in Darren’s van.’

‘It’s odd that our Darren turns up again in the same investigation. Coincidence or not?’

Gina looked at the strip light reflected in the darkness of the smeared window before turning her attention back towards Briggs. ‘That’s what I’m hoping to find out. You look tired.’ It made a change, her having to tell Briggs he looked tired. She was almost pleased for getting that statement in before he did.

‘I suppose I am. The other night when you called…’

‘I hung up, sorry.’ She didn’t want him to know that she’d heard Annie speaking in the background.

‘I can tell when you’re hiding something. You forget how well I know you. You heard her, didn’t you?’

‘Who?’ Their eyes met in the silent incident room. ‘Okay, chief detective, so I heard her. It doesn’t matter. We’re friends.’

‘Are we?’ He smiled. ‘Just so you know, it was a mistake.’

‘Like we were?’ She could have kicked herself. Her jealousy was now showing. He’d know.

‘That was never a mistake. You gave me some wonderful memories. The other night was a mistake.’

‘You don’t have to tell me, really. I don’t want or need to know any more, sir.’

‘I want us to stay friends. Friends talk about things like this so I just thought I’d tell you. Want some pizza? It was a mistake, but I can’t say it won’t happen again. I get lonely now and again, what can I say? Anyway, Harte, I have half a big pepperoni in my office and it’s just waiting to be scoffed. It will be a good half hour before you get to speak to anyone. They’re probably having their prints and mugshots done as we speak.’

‘I don’t know—’

‘It’s just pizza. Are you hungry?’

She nodded. ‘Starving,’ she replied as she followed him down the corridor, the smell of grilled cheese hanging in the air. The biscuits she’d eaten in Smith’s car hadn’t even touched the edge of her hunger and she’d burnt off a fair bit of energy chasing their dealer. Just as she reached his office, Jacob came running down the corridor.

‘Young is ready for his interview.’

Gina took a large bite from a slice of pizza and swallowed. ‘Right, I’ll interview Westley Young with Smith and you can take Darren Mason with Kapoor? We can pool findings after. It’ll be quicker.’

Gina dragged her phone out of her pocket, almost dropping it as it slipped through her greasy fingers. ‘Damn.’ She’d missed a call from Hannah two hours ago. She read the message.

Damn it. She should’ve have known that slip up would come back to haunt her.