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She kept the phone clamped to her cheek, even though the device was already hot to the touch. Charlie suspected she was probably frying her brain, but there was no question of hanging up on the control room. She needed the analysts back at Southampton Central to guide her to their prize.

‘Come on, come on,’ she urged gently. ‘I need a fix on him.’

There was a brief silence on the other end, before the operator eventually responded:

‘The signal’s coming from the junction of Broughton Road and Jennings Avenue. Can’t be more precise than that, I’m afraid.’

‘That’s good enough for now,’ Charlie replied, directing Roberts to head in that direction, before adding: ‘Stay on the line until we know more. I’m just going to put you on mute, whilst I update the rest of my team.’

Punching the mute button, she snatched up her radio.

‘Car one to cars two and three, over …’

After a brief crackle, both DC Rayson and DC McAndrew responded, confirming that they were standing by.

‘Proceeding to the junction of Broughton Road and Jennings Avenue,’ Charlie continued, keeping her voice crisp and clear. ‘Stay back, but stay local, over.’

Once again, both cars responded in the affirmative, so Charlie diverted her attention to the street, stowing the radio once more.

‘See anything?’

DC Roberts shook his head, gripping the steering wheel hard as he scanned the street.

They were approaching the end of Jennings Avenue, but as yet there was no sign of their quarry.

Charlie leaned forward in her seat, as the car slowed to a halt at the T-junction, turning to look down Broughton Road.

To her left, the street was empty, so pivoting she looked the other way, taking in the long vista ahead of her.

But this was empty too, not a soul around.

Puzzled, annoyed, Charlie unmuted her phone.

‘Any update on his whereabouts, control? I can’t see hide nor hair of … Hold on a minute.’

Lowering the phone quickly, Charlie peered down the road. A stocky man had just emerged from an alleyway and was walking down the street fast, drawing on a cigarette. He was only thirty feet away and would soon be upon them.

‘Turn right and then double back,’ Charlie breathed quickly, anxious not to draw attention to themselves.

DC Roberts did as he was bid, the car gliding past their subject. Charlie kept her eyes glued to the mirror, watching with relief as he now turned left into Jennings Avenue, seemingly none the wiser.

‘OK, you can turn now …’ she said with relief, as she snatched up her radio to update the other teams. ‘Suspect now proceeding east on Jennings Road, over.’

Rotating the wheel, DC Roberts carefully turned around, returning to the junction once more.

‘Easy now,’ Charlie cautioned. ‘He may have glimpsed us as he walked past, so let’s not get too close.’

Slowly the car rolled to a stop at the junction. The man was now a good fifty feet away, possibly more, so DC Roberts set off once more, easing the car around the corner in pursuit. The subject carried on unawares, tugging his phone from his pocket now to answer a call.

‘Is he active now?’ Charlie said, her phone still clamped to her cheek.

‘Yes, he just received a call.’

‘That’s our man then,’ she replied, satisfied.

‘And he’s just ended the call.’

‘Short and sweet. Thanks for your help, control. We’ll take it from here.’

‘Right then, DC Roberts, keep your eyes on the prize and …’

But Charlie now stopped talking, as their suspect had come to a halt.

The man, tall and built, wearing a bomber jacket, dirty jeans and docker’s boots, loitered outside a set of peeling wooden gates.

Pulling a set of keys from his pocket, he cast a cautious look up and down the street, as if expecting to be ambushed.

‘Pull in here.’

They couldn’t risk driving past him again, so DC Roberts quickly diverted the car into a nearby parking space, killing the engine.

For a moment, their quarry seemed distracted by their arrival, but then he turned away, taking one last look up the street, before unlocking the padlock on the gates and slipping inside.

Silently, Charlie counted to ten, then nodded to DC Roberts to get out.

Emerging from the vehicle, Charlie signalled to DC Roberts to proceed, whilst she turned her back to the gates, raising her radio to her lips once more.

‘Car one to cars two and three. Suspect has entered an industrial estate on Jennings Road. Request car two to park up on Langton Avenue, to cut off an escape from the rear of the property. Car three to remain mobile for possible intercept, over.’

‘Car two en route,’ came the first reply, swiftly followed by another.

‘Car three standing by.’

Clicking off, Charlie re-joined her colleague, who stepped back to allow his superior to take his place.

Sidling up next to the gate post, Charlie peered round.

A large scruffy courtyard gave onto a handful of outbuildings, the largest being a medium-sized warehouse about a hundred yards away.

Charlie watched on, intrigued, as the man entered the warehouse, shutting the door behind him.

Moments later, she saw him appear in the window, looking out briefly onto the yard, before dropping the blind and disappearing from view.

Turning to DC Roberts, she took in his eager, tense expression.

‘Right then,’ Charlie said quietly, trying to keep a lid on her own excitement.

‘Let’s do this.’