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Beck sneered.

‘That was lovely,’ he said. ‘Really nice. Such a shame you’ll never see her again.’

‘That aerosol can is empty, Frederick.’ Poe removed a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. Real ones, not the plastic ones Beck had thrown him. ‘Please, hand it over so I can put these on you.’

‘I still have my—’

‘And don’t say you still have the gun you used to kill Estelle’s father, because we both know you haven’t. People like you don’t walk around with a gun. It’s in a drain in Northumberland somewhere.’ Poe took a step forward. ‘If you don’t pass me that aerosol can, Freddie, I’m taking it from you and I’m warning you, I won’t be gentle.’

Beck took one look and realised Poe wasn’t kidding. He offered the aerosol on the palm of his hand, the same way you might offer a horse a sugar lump. Poe took it and put it on the table. He then cuffed Beck to the rear and emptied his pockets. Mathers’s team would bag it all for evidence when they came in.

‘Come on,’ Poe said. ‘Time for you to meet some of my colleagues. It’s toilet wine for you from now on, I’m afraid.’

Poe walked Beck out of the facility. Mathers met them at thedoor and took custody of Beck. She led him to a waiting police van. Before he could be put inside, he turned and shouted, ‘I’m immortal now, Sergeant Poe.’

‘Maybe, Frederick,’ he replied. ‘Unless, of course, we happen to discover you conducted human experiments to prepare for all this. Oh, by the way, some officers from the Japanese National Police Agency are flying over to see you. They want to discuss some dead Han Chinese. I wonder how this’ll play with your adoring public?’

‘Bastard!’ Beck screamed before being bundled into the van.

Mathers walked over to Poe. She slapped him on the back then shook his hand. They watched Beck leave in a convoy of flashing blue.

‘I can’t believe that actually worked,’ she said.

‘You need me to make a statement?’

‘It can wait, Poe. There’s a lady waiting over there for you. She mentioned something aboutFour Weddings and a Funeralearlier. I didn’t understand the reference, but it seems you did?’

Poe glanced across. Doyle was in the back of an unmarked car. Bradshaw was sitting beside her. Henning Stahl and Flynn were in the front. They were all looking his way. Bradshaw flashed a smile and a thumbs-up. Flynn winked. Henning Stahl was making notes. Doyle looked the same way he felt – nervous.

‘You were listening?’ he said.

‘The server room was wired,’ Mathers said. ‘It was the one thing I insisted on when DI Flynn brought this to me. We didn’t tell you as we wanted it to seem natural.’

‘I’m glad you trusted us.’

‘I thought it was insane,’ Mathers said.

‘Then why—?’

‘Because sometimes insane is what it takes.’

They shook hands again and said their goodbyes. Poe walked over to the waiting car.

‘Oh and, Poe?’ Mathers called out.

He turned. ‘Ma’am?’

‘Don’t mess this up.’

He smiled. ‘I won’t,’ he said.