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The squad hums in the unexpected silence.

‘We’ve no longer got eyes or ears on the suspect,’ Maidstone says. He glances at Niall. ‘Any ideas on his emotional state?’

‘Agitated. Scared face,’ Niall answers.

‘Right – we need the silent drills.’ Maidstone looks across at the officers responsible for drilling through the walls in the warehouse with equipment so quiet a hostage-taker won’t hear. ‘Please take this as authorization to get started.’ He turns to Niall. ‘Anything you want to add?’

Niall sucks in a breath. He really thinks he needs to get Deschamps talking. ‘I want a line to him. Now, please. And I want the wife here.’

Maidstone blinks. It’s an unusual move, but not unprecedented. ‘I need to check the protocols.’

‘No you don’t; I’m telling you this is what’s best,’ Niall says. This is always the way of it. The protocols. The risk aversion. The ‘system doesn’t allow it’. The red tape.

‘Let me raise it with the gold commander.’

‘He’s a family man. His wife is his literary agent. They will know how to communicate with each other. They are used to it. I want her here.’

‘I said I will raise it,’ Maidstone says shortly. ‘Meantime – I want you in dialogue with him before I authorize anything further.’ He raises his hands up. ‘Your negotiation’s going well, maybe I grant you a new privilege.’

‘I need to get a look at him before I do anything,’ Niall says. The drillers are already leaving. ‘As quickly as possible.’ He needs to see if he’s hyped up. If he’s calm. Niall’s actions will be different if Deschamps looks angry, if he can’t sit still, if he is tapping the gun off the back of the hostages’ heads …

‘Yes,’ Maidstone says. ‘And see if that gun is pointing at all towards the hostages …’

Niall says nothing. There are a thousand ways to hold a gun, and only a few of them point to a likelihood of shooting. ‘Aiming doesn’t mean shooting.’ One of the many things Niall learnt on his training is that there are facts and there are assumptions. Niall tries to deal only in facts.

‘No, Niall,’ Maidstone says. ‘If he’s turning off CCTV and pointing a weapon at the hostages, then – then we go in. Armed.’