'What about me, Sarge?' asked Shepherd.

'You stay where you are,' said Fogg. 'Keep the hatch secure until the Noddy suits get here. We don't want Alleyne claiming we planted a meth lab on him.' Fogg headed downstairs. 'Lurpak, start on the kids' bedroom. No stone unturned.'

c.o.ker removed his protective gloves and took a pair of purple search gloves from the pouch on the back of his belt. He put them on as he climbed the stairs. 'I just hope they're not bed-wetters,' he said, as he pa.s.sed Shepherd.

Shepherd took off his helmet. He watched Parry and Simmons methodically searching the main bedroom. Parry went through the drawers of a pine chest while Simmons stripped off the bedding and tilted the mattress on its side. Shepherd heard footsteps on the stairs and turned to see Kelly and Turnbull heading up. They, too, had taken off their helmets and replaced their bulky protective gloves with purple plastic ones.

'How did it go?' asked Shepherd.

'He banged his head a bit getting onto the bus,' said Kelly.

'Against KFC's knee,' said Turnbull.

The two officers went into the small bedroom where c.o.ker was sorting through a large tea chest full of toys. Turnbull went down on his hands and knees and checked under the bunk bed, while Kelly opened the doors to a wardrobe and began pulling out clothes and dropping them onto the floor.

There was a crash from the main bedroom and Shepherd jumped. He went to the door. Simmons was standing in the middle of the room, looking at the shards of what had once been a gla.s.s vase. 'Whoops,' he said.

'b.u.t.terfingers!' shouted Turnbull.

'I'd give you a hand but Foggy says I've got to guard the hatch,' said Shepherd.

'Yeah, in case it runs off,' said Turnbull, pulling off a pillowcase and feeling his way along the pillow.

Shepherd turned. Across the hallway he saw c.o.ker holding something. It looked like a towel, but when he unwrapped it Shepherd saw that it was a gun. A revolver. c.o.ker held it up and said something to Kelly, who turned from the wardrobe. As he did so, c.o.ker slid the gun inside his stab vest. As he adjusted the vest, he saw Shepherd. Their eyes locked. There was no telltale bulge where c.o.ker had put the gun, and for a second Shepherd wondered if he'd imagined it. But there was no mistaking the hardness in c.o.ker's eyes. Shepherd swallowed but his mouth had gone dry. He coughed to cover his discomfort. c.o.ker continued to stare at him, his face impa.s.sive. It felt as if they had locked eyes for hours but Shepherd knew that it had only been a few seconds at most. He gave c.o.ker the slightest of nods, then turned his back on him and watched Simmons carefully picking up the pieces of gla.s.s in the main bedroom.

c.o.ker and Kelly said nothing in the van as the team headed back to Paddington Green and they went off to the canteen together as soon as they'd parked up. By the time Shepherd had changed out of his uniform there was still no sign of them. He waited until he was back in the house in Kilburn before phoning Charlotte b.u.t.ton and telling her what he'd seen. 'So c.o.ker's bad,' she said.

'I can't see any other reason for him taking the gun,' said Shepherd.

'And he hasn't spoken to you?'

'Went AWOL as soon as we got back to base. I'm guessing he was hiding the gun somewhere.'

'And Kelly saw it?'

'c.o.ker said something to him just before he slid it inside his vest.'

'So that's two,' said b.u.t.ton. 'Well done. What about Fogg? Or Dawson?'

'Dawson was at the back of the house, and I didn't see him connect with c.o.ker or Kelly. Fogg was downstairs when c.o.ker took the gun.'

'Be nice to know if either of them knows what c.o.ker did.'

'Agreed,' said Shepherd. 'But it's a difficult subject to bring up in general conversation. c.o.ker knows I saw him, so I guess he's going to have to mention it at some point. If nothing else he's going to want to know what I'm going to do.'

'There's no doubt about what you saw, or that he knows you saw him?'

'It was definitely a gun, a revolver, and we had eye-contact. He was looking right at me.'

'Okay,' said b.u.t.ton. 'So let's let it run a while longer, see who else you can nail.'

'No problem,' said Shepherd.

'You don't think c.o.ker will see you as a threat now?'

'It's possible, but I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself.'

'I've no doubt on that score,' said b.u.t.ton. 'But if you need anything, let me know.' She ended the call.

Shepherd switched on the kettle and opened the fridge door to see what he had to eat. He'd been so busy at work that he hadn't had time to do any shopping so all he had was a pack of corned beef and two eggs that had pa.s.sed their sell-by date. His mobile rang and he closed the fridge door. The caller had withheld his ID. Shepherd pressed the green b.u.t.ton to accept the call. 'Is that Mr Shepherd?'

'Yes,' said Shepherd, hesitantly. 'Who's this?'

'DC Cooper at Hereford. Where are you, Mr Shepherd?'

'I'm not sure that's any business of yours,' said Shepherd.

'Are you in Hereford?'

'Why do you want to know?'

'I'd be grateful if you'd answer my questions, Mr Shepherd.'

'How grateful?'

'What do you mean?' said Cooper, confused.

'You said you'd be grateful. I asked how grateful.' The kettle switched itself off and Shepherd held the phone between neck and shoulder as he spooned coffee into the cafetiere.

'I hope you're not going to be difficult.'

'Why? Are you going to arrest me for being difficult?'

'I don't understand your att.i.tude,' said the detective.

'I think there's a lot that you don't understand,' said Shepherd. 'Why are you bothering me?' He poured hot water onto the coffee grounds.

'I need to know where you are, Mr Shepherd.'

'And I need to know why you need to know. And if you don't tell me I'm going to end this call right now.'

There was a long pause, and Shepherd guessed that Cooper had put his hand over the mouthpiece and was talking to someone else, probably his sergeant. Eventually Cooper came back on the line. 'Jorgji Talovic has gone missing, and I need to rule you out as a suspect,' he said.

'I don't know anyone called Jorgji Talovic,' said Shepherd.

'The man who was threatening you,' said Cooper. 'The man you claimed poisoned your dog.'

'The man who threatened me and the man who killed my dog was called Imer Lekstakaj,' said Shepherd.

'Mr Shepherd, I don't understand your hostility,' said Cooper.

'This isn't hostility, this is contempt,' said Shepherd. 'Put Hollis on the phone.'

'I'm handling this inquiry,' said Cooper.

'Put Hollis on now or I'm ending this call,' said Shepherd.

'Mr Shepherd...'

Shepherd pressed the red b.u.t.ton to end the call. He poured himself a mug of coffee and took it through to the sitting room. He was channel-surfing when his phone rang again. This time there was a number on the phone's screen. Sergeant Hollis. Shepherd took the call. 'You've managed to upset my colleague somewhat, Mr Shepherd,' said Hollis.

'You can't imagine how happy that makes me,' said Shepherd.

'He's all for dragging you in here for questioning,' said Hollis.

'He'd have to find me first and I get the feeling that he couldn't find his d.i.c.k even if he used both hands,' said Shepherd. 'I don't owe the little s.h.i.t any favours and you can tell him that for me.'

'I understand your position entirely,' said the sergeant. Shepherd figured that Cooper was standing next to Hollis and could hear his side of the conversation. 'As my colleague explained to you, Imer Lekstakaj has disappeared and we believe that there is a good chance he has been killed.'

'More bad news,' said Shepherd. 'My cup runneth over.'

'In view of the problems you'd been having with Mr Lekstakaj, we'd like you to account for your movements yesterday.'

'There you go calling him Mr again,' said Shepherd. 'He's a wanted murderer who threatened my family and poisoned my dog. He doesn't have the right to be called Mr. If something's happened to him it's nothing to do with me.'

'Where are you, Mr Shepherd?'

'On my sofa.'

Hollis sighed. 'Which city?'

'London.'

'Why London?'

'I can't tell you that. It's cla.s.sified.'

'And how long have you been in London, Mr Shepherd?'

'I got here Sunday evening and I'll be here until Friday.'

'I'm going to need someone to corroborate that.'

'My word won't do, then?'

Hollis chuckled. 'Much as I enjoy your sense of humour, Mr Shepherd, this is a murder inquiry. I'm going to need you to account for your whereabouts.'

'I already said I'm in London.'

'Where specifically?'

'I can't tell you.'

'Because?'

'Because I'm in the middle of a very sensitive investigation, and I can't risk you or PCDC jeopardising that investigation.'

'So how do you suggest I verify your whereabouts?'

'What happened to Lekstakaj?'

'We're not sure.'

'That doesn't make any sense. How can you be involved in a murder investigation if you don't know what happened?'

'Mr Lekstakaj has disappeared. And there are signs of a struggle.'

'What sort of signs?'

'I'm not at liberty to divulge that information, but we do suspect that a crime has been committed.'

'Well, not by me,' said Shepherd. 'I already told you that I work for SOCA. I solve crimes, I don't commit them.'

'Nevertheless I need to know your movements over the past week.'

'Look, Sergeant, what do you want me to say? I'm in London, and I've been in London all week. I'm on a SOCA case and there's no way that I can give you details of that case. The best I can do is to give you the number of my boss and she can confirm that I'm working and give you a character reference if you need one.'

'Who is your boss, Mr Shepherd?'

Shepherd gave him Charlotte b.u.t.ton's number. 'Can you at least tell me why you think there's been foul play?' he asked.

'A neighbour reported hearing sounds of a struggle at the house,' said Hollis. 'And she heard a vehicle being driven away at high speed. There's a small amount of blood splatter on the garage floor, and damage to the wing mirror of his car. It looks as if he got home from work and we think that someone was waiting for him in his garage and they attacked him.'

'One of the wing mirrors was cracked when I went around to his house.'

'When was that?'

'The time he threatened me. After he threw the brick through my window. You should check your notes.'

'And you can remember a cracked mirror?'

'I've a good memory,' said Shepherd. 'Basically, you've no real evidence that he's been the victim of a crime, have you? Not like when I told you about the brick through my window and my dead dog.'

'It's not the same thing, Mr Shepherd.'

'No, it's not, is it?' said Shepherd. 'You have a nice evening.' Shepherd ended the call. He smiled to himself as he tapped out Jack Bradford's number. He told his friend that he and his brother could drop the surveillance on his house. Again, Jack didn't ask any questions. 'I owe you and Billy, big-time,' said Shepherd.

'Happy to be of service. Gave us the chance to get a good look at Katra again. She's fit, Spider.'