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Christina was rescued by the tap of a spoon on a glass andthe words of the toastmaster, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, pray silence for the best man.’

William rose nervously from his place, relieved to find Ross had returned his speech, even if the pages were no longer in the correct order.

‘My lords, ladies and gentlemen,’ began William, who paused, looked up and said, ‘there are no lords and certainly no gentlemen present today, but several ladies and one in particular I wish to address. So let me start by telling you, Alice,’ he said, turning to face the bride, ‘that I don’t know anyone more likely than your husband to drop a colleague in a hole – or anyone who would then do everything in his power to dig them back out and take the blame himself.’

The laughter that followed rather suggested there were several officers in the room who’d suffered from the same experience, while Ross looked rather pleased with himself.

‘Ross has made so many appalling decisions over the years,’ continued William, ‘it came as a complete surprise that he was capable of making such a sensible one when it came to how to spend the rest of his life. However, I still can’t understand how such a bright, beautiful woman could possibly have fallen for him – and then I remembered that Alice is a headmistress, and having to deal with errant children is simply part of the day job. Now she’s on overtime. Truth is Alice,’ said William looking directly at the bride, ‘Ross has won life’s lottery, while you have ended up with a losing ticket.’

The loud laughter and applause that followed allowed William to turn the page.

‘Allow me to end,’ said William, before realizing he had turned to the wrong page, but quickly replaced it, ‘by saying how proud and honoured I was to be invited to be Ross’s bestman. I wasn’t his first choice. In fact, six others turned the job down before he asked me. Unfortunately, the first three are on the “most wanted” list, the next two are on remand awaiting bail, and the sixth has yet to complete his sentence for daylight robbery. So, you ended up with a man’ – William turned to face his closest friend – ‘who admires you for your courage, integrity and possession of a moral compass that continues to guide us lesser mortals. The truth is, Ross, you’re one in a million. And frankly, one is quite enough.’

William had to wait for the laughter to die down before he could continue.

‘Allow me to try and end for a second time,’ said William, but was stopped in mid-sentence when he looked up and saw three uniformed police officers entering the hall.

William immediately recognized the senior officer, who was heading towards the top table, but was taken by surprise when he spotted Miles Faulkner standing in the doorway, a huge grin plastered on his face. The senior officer only stopped when he reached Ross’s side.

‘My name is Derek Sinclair,’ he said, ‘and I am head of the anti-corruption unit.’ Ross stared at a man he’d crossed swords with several times in the past. ‘Inspector Hogan, I’m arresting you for attempting to pervert the course of justice by planting evidence on a defendant in the hope that it would influence the outcome of a murder trial in which you were the arresting officer.’

Beth immediately jumped up, put her arms around Alice and tried to comfort her, while Jojo wondered if this was something that always happened at weddings during the best man’s speech.

‘Don’t say a word,’ said an authoritative voice coming from behind them.

‘Who are you, sir?’ asked Sinclair, looking at an elderly gentleman who had appeared out of nowhere.

‘Sir Julian Warwick QC and I will be representing the defendant.’

‘That’s your choice, of course,’ said Sinclair scornfully, as two officers took hold of the prisoner.

‘Is that really necessary,’ interjected William, ‘when the groom is about to leave on his honeymoon?’

‘Wasabout to leave on his honeymoon, Chief Super-intendent,’ said Sinclair, ‘and in any case I can’t risk Hogan leaving the country only days before the trial.’

‘You’re a shit, Sinclair,’ said William, standing between them, ‘and don’t forget I outrank you.’

‘No one outranks an anti-corruption officer, Chief Super-intendent, as I feel sure I don’t have to remind you,’ said Sinclair as he pushed the prisoner forward.

The best man followed the bridegroom as he was escorted across the dance floor by Sinclair. When they reached the door, Faulkner was waiting for him.

The two men faced each other like heavyweight boxers waiting for the bell to ring.

‘Sorry to have interrupted your speech, Chief Superintendent Warwick,’ he said, ‘or is it Commander? But I just had to give Ross a wedding present, after all he’s done for me in the past.’

William didn’t flinch.

‘Sadly, your friend will not be spending his honeymoon in Dublin, as originally planned, but in a prison cell bereft of his bride,’ continued Faulkner, landing the first blow.

‘Then let’s just hope for your sake you don’t both end up in the same prison,’ said William, parrying.

‘I can’t wait to hear what you have in mind, Chief Superintendent,’ provoked Faulkner.

‘Life imprisonment,’ suggested William.

‘For buying a Rolex watch from an ex-con who was set up by your friend?’ said Faulkner. ‘I don’t think so.’

William clenched his fist, looked his nemesis in the eye, but at the last moment somehow managed to restrain himself.

‘In fact,’ said Faulkner, the smug smile remaining in place, ‘Mr Booth Watson assures me if your friend is the main prosecution witness, the case will never come to court, because as a convicted criminal he won’t be able to lay a finger on me. So glad to hear your wife is pregnant,’ he added, looking at Ross as he passed. ‘If it’s a girl you can call her Avril.’

Ross hurled his captors aside, leapt forward, raised a fist and with a single blow knocked Faulkner out.

‘That’s hardly going to help your cause,’ suggested Sinclair, as his two officers grabbed Ross and handcuffed him.

‘You may well be right, Superintendent,’ said Ross, as he stared down at the prostrate body, ‘but I can assure you it was worth it.’