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Good … Fear and unease were their friends right now.

‘What are your plans for tomorrow?’ Flynn said when the room had cleared.

‘Sean Carroll says he’ll get back to us tonight with information on kite logos,’ Poe said. ‘There’ll probably be a lot of names so I’ll triage then set Tilly loose on them.’

‘You working here?’

‘From home.’

‘I’ll work from there as well, DI Flynn,’ Bradshaw said. ‘Poe sees things my program can’t.’

‘OK, makes sense.’

‘It does. As you said to Detective Superintendent Jo Nightingale: “He’s a pain in the … bottom but it’s like having Rebus on the f-word team.”’

‘Why’s it always me?’ Flynn said, exasperated. ‘Why don’t you ever remember some of the things Poe says?’

‘I do, but he adds things like “Don’t tell the boss that, obviously.”’

Poe smiled. After a while Flynn did too. Bradshaw stared at them quizzically.

Flynn said, ‘I have the morning briefing to attend and then a strategy meeting with Superintendent Nightingale and the assistant chief. I’ll join you at Herdwick Croft later.’

‘Not happening,’ Poe said.

Flynn’s jaw hardened.

‘Boss, the journey from the car park at Shap Wells is dodgy enough at the best of times but with half the hazards hidden by snow or standing water it’s bloody treacherous. I accept that pregnancy isn’t an illness but there has to be some common sense involved.’

Poe knew his words had hit home.

‘I’m just not used to all this inactivity,’ she said. ‘Did you know that when I did my Krav Maga exercises this morning I couldn’t even touch my toes? I’m a third dan black belt and I can’t touch my toes.’

Poe, who hadn’t been able to touch his toes since he left the army, said, ‘You’ve got a fully formed human growing inside you, boss. Perhaps it’s OK to take it easy for a while.’

Flynn gave him a weary smile. ‘OK, I’ll go to my meetings then rest up for the remainder of the day. See if I can get my ankle swelling down a bit. Maybe try and get a pair of normal-sized shoes on.’

She looked down at two emerging damp patches on her blue blouse.

‘Saying that,’ she said, ‘I’d be just as happy if my fucking tits stopped leaking.’

Chapter 28

Bradshaw arrived at Herdwick Croft while Poe was out walking Edgar. She was waiting for them when they returned. He’d told her to ring him for a lift when she got to Shap Wells. Evidently she’d fancied the walk.

Poe didn’t blame her. It was cold enough to sting the eyes but the morning was beautifully crisp and clear. His cough had improved overnight. It had progressed from tickly to hacking. He still felt weak and achy but he knew he was over the worst. A pale blue sky and a white horizon stretched on forever, the snow’s crust was crunchy underfoot and the standing water was covered in unbroken sheets of ice. Edgar crashed through them with sheer joy.

Bradshaw had collected his mail for him. There was another one from the council’s legal services. He threw it in the wood-burning stove without opening it.

‘What was that, Poe?’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said. ‘Come on, we have work to do.’

And they did.

Carroll had called Poe late the previous night. He’d been in contact with as many event organisers as he could but it would take time to hear back from some of them as they were still away for Christmas. He’d sent them both a provisional list just after 10 p.m.

Unsurprisingly, lots of kite enthusiasts preferred flying things when it came to choosing a logo, and the list, at over one hundred names, was already too unwieldy to be useful.