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a DVD with “Snow White” written on it.
    “‘Snow White?’” I asked, as he placed the laptop on the table.
    “Need some kind of a cover,” he said. “Couldn’t just be seen wandering into here with a blank DVD.”
    “So of course the first DVD you turn to is ‘Snow White,’” I said. Nodded at Martha. “Logical.”
    “Does Ancient Jill star in this version of Snow White?” Martha asked.
    “No, she—”
    “Do you spray Ancient Jill with your snow—”
    “Quit it, the pair of you,” Lenny shouted, his face flushing. “I’m—I’m a Detective Inspector. A detective inspector with morals, principles, authority.”
    I wanted to say, “The same morals, principles and authority that’s paying me one million quid to catch a killer?” but I figured I’d done enough Lenny-baiting for one day. Nearly.
    “Anyway here we… here we go.”
    We all held our breath, Martha and I secretly praying that another porno would appear on screen.
    To our disappointment, it was just a shot of the station from the front.
    Lenny tapped on the screen. Tapped at the empty car parking space underneath the streetlight. “Here’s the vehicle parking space in question at nine p.m.”
    We stood and watched as the seconds and the minutes ticked by in real time. When it got to nine twenty-nine without incident, I was really craving a Halls throat sweet or nine.
    “You do know there’s a fast-forward button, don’t you?”
    “Ssh,” Lenny said, jabbing a finger out at me.
    I tensed my neck at Martha. “Quiet. Wouldn’t want to affect the contents of the screen by talking.”
    We waited longer. Waited, as the sky on the tape grew gradually darker. The number of people walking past lessened. Still no sign of the squad car.
    “Do you even know what time—”
    “There,” Lenny said. He poked a finger so hard at the screen that it discoloured.
    But when it readjusted, I saw it.
    The squad car moved slowly into the otherwise deserted car park. Pulled up right underneath that streetlamp.
    “This better be the right car,” I said.
    “Oh believe me,” Lenny said. “It is.”
    The car came to a stop. I squinted into the grainy darkness. Waited for our perp to step out.
    “Please tell me he’s not a fan of sitting around twiddling his thumbs,” Martha said.
    And right on cue, the driver’s door opened.
    We all went quiet. Went quiet, as the guy in the driver’s seat stepped out, as he opened the back door, pulled out the girl, placed her on top of the car. All in the eyes of the general public, all on show, right in the police station car park.
    And then he wiped his hands against his black hoodie, grinned, and skipped away out of the car park.
    “Now that, my friends, is a fat dumbass if ever I’ve seen one. I can’t believe I’m actually paying you a whole million to catch someone this inept. I mean, the police department could’ve caught this guy, for God’s sakes!”
    My heart pounded as I tried to get my head around what I’d just seen.
    Or rather, who I’d just seen.
    “That’s… that can’t be your perp,” I said.
    Lenny frowned. “What do you mean it’s not our perp? The fatso just lifted a dead girl out of a squad car—a stolen squad car, may I add—and plonked her on top of it. If he’s not our perp then—”
    “Get someone down to the Black Bull right away,” I said. “Get someone in there and get a man called Gus in for questioning. But don’t… It can’t be him. It can’t be.”
    Lenny looked from me to Martha and then back again. “What… who is Gus? Do you… what does Gus have to do with this guy?”
    I cleared the frog in my throat. Tried to wrap my head around everything, but it just didn’t add up, didn’t make sense.
    “Gus is that guy.”

TWELVE
    “Get your bloody foot on the pedal. Quick!”
    “Alright, alright!” Martha struggled to start the engine of her Fiat Punto, then spun around out of the police station car park. “Why don’t you volunteer to drive next