‘Oh, well, that’s all right then,’ Jessica shot back. ‘A prick in a suit signs it off and some lad ends up going down for something he’s not done.’

‘Are you saying he didn’t take part in any of those initiation rituals?’

Jessica didn’t have time to reply before the waitress came over with Garry’s sandwich. He squeezed three packets’ worth of brown sauce – good choice – onto it and took a bite.

‘I’m going to tell you something here I shouldn’t,’ Jessica said, watching him eat. ‘Everything you’ve printed is true.’

Garry’s eyes widened – he hadn’t expected that. ‘Are you praising something we did?’ he asked.

‘Let’s not go that far. My point isn’t that any of it is wrong; it’s that people are going to put two and two together and get five. Yes, he admitted to those initiations – although I’m not confirming that on the record – but that doesn’t mean he had anything to do with Damon’s death. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t – that’s what we’re going to spend our time trying to figure out. You’ve put the two side by side and made it look like they’re connected – he’s not been charged with the assaults yet, let alone anything else.’

‘A story’s a story, Jess. This is what we do. You said it yourself: everything we’ve written is true.’

‘Someone’s trying to stitch him up.’

‘Are you on the record?’

‘Of course I’m bloody not.’

‘Why are we here then?’

Jessica looked around the setting again; it certainly wasn’t the type of place they’d been to together before, nor was it the type of place she’d usually go to. All the more reason for it to be here.

‘If anyone bothered to notice where I was going, they’d think I was doing the weekly shop.’

‘Why would anyone be watching where you were going?’

Jessica suddenly felt a little silly, exposed in front of someone she didn’t even know if she was friends with. ‘It’s complicated – things are different at work. Everything moved really quickly yesterday with this Potter case. One minute we had found Cassie Edmonds’ body and were looking into that, the next it was all systems go on nailing Holden.’

Garry finished chewing his next mouthful, leaving a smear of brown sauce on his chin. ‘Why are you telling me this?’

‘Because there’s something going on at the station that I can’t figure out.’

‘You said that.’

Jessica sighed, knowing she wasn’t getting herself across very well, largely because she wasn’t entirely sure what she was doing either. She finished the rest of the orange juice in her near-empty cup. ‘Your story was written by a name I didn’t recognise.’

‘He’s one of the newer guys – we’ve hardly got any staff nowadays but he’s not long out of uni.’

‘Did he tell you who he got the story from?’

‘Yes. I’m news editor – I wouldn’t have run it otherwise.’

‘Who was it?’

Garry took another bite of his sandwich and shook his head. ‘You know a reporter’s source is protected.’

‘Perhaps I’m asking because there’s something bigger going on?’

‘Is there?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘I can’t tell you anyway.’

‘Did whoever leaked it tell you that a lot of the other club members altered their stories? At first they said they’d seen Holden all evening on the night Damon died, then they changed their minds. That’s why you were able to link the initiation ceremonies to the actual death.’

‘Is that on the record?’

Jessica crunched the paper cup into the table. ‘Will you sod off with your “on the record” shite?’

‘I’m a journalist, what do you expect?’

‘Well, it’s not on the record. I’m telling you because I want you to know the full story if anything else gets leaked. If and when this ever goes to court, people are going to remember the rich kid who shoved things up new recruits’ arses. It’s only a short step from that to believing he forced some other kid to drink himself to death, or hid the body at the absolute least – he’ll never get a fair trial.’

‘That’s probably what his lawyer will argue.’

‘We both know that never works.’

Garry took the final bite of his sandwich and leant back into his chair with his cup of tea. ‘What do you want me to do?’

‘If you won’t tell me the source, then nothing, I suppose. I just wanted you to know this stuff.’

‘Perhaps you should talk to your chief inspector?’

Jessica mocked surprise. ‘Well, why didn’t I think of that? Whatever’s going on involves him – even if it’s someone above him putting pressure on.’

‘Fine. I’ll keep an ear out and let you know if I get anywhere.’

‘Thanks.’

‘And you’re still invited to my wedding, by the way. You’ve not returned the invitation yet.’

Jessica motioned to stand then stopped herself. ‘Hang on a minute, are you going through this whole ritual – bribing a girl to marry you and inviting a bunch of people – just to get me into a dress?’

Garry stood and winked. ‘Got me.’

At Longsight Police Station, there was a strange atmosphere. Everyone was so busy that no one had a moment to stop. To Jessica it was as if people were avoiding her but then she knew she was feeling paranoid anyway and there was every chance it was in her imagination. Fat Pat did slide his bag of crisps further under the desk when he spotted her, so at least he’d noticed her.

In her office, Jessica read through the notes of everything that had happened overnight, which only made her feel more marginalised. She dialled Izzy’s extension and waited for the sergeant to pick up.

‘. . . No, I don’t bloody have it,’ Izzy’s voice shouted away from the speaker. ‘Tell him to check his own bloody desk then. Hello.’

‘Busy morning?’

‘Aren’t they always?’

‘Have you got five minutes?’

‘Yeah, I’ll come to you.’

A few minutes later, Izzy sighed her way into Jessica’s office, looking particularly bedraggled. She screeched a chair around until she was next to Jessica’s desk and then slumped on it. ‘We really do work with morons.’

Jessica nodded at her hair. ‘What happened to you?’

‘We were staying at Mal’s mum’s house last night. I looked at the weather forecast before we left and it said dry, so I only had my regular clothes with me. I got this wet walking across the car park this morning, then it’s been dip-shit day in here today. It’s like there’s a convention on.’

‘Did you see this?’ Jessica said, pointing at her monitor.

Izzy nudged the Post-it note stuck to the side with her fingernail. ‘The Samaritans’ phone number?’

‘No, I think Dave left that there for a laugh. I meant the fact that they brought in all nine of the people I wanted to talk to about Cassie Edmonds last night.’

Izzy peered in closely at the screen, reading the information for herself. ‘Since when do they let the night team do things like that?’

Jessica shrugged. ‘I have no idea. When I left last night, I thought we’d be charging Holden with GBH and sexual assault and that he’d be in court this morning. Instead, they interviewed him again first thing this morning before I got in.’

‘What’s going on?’

Another shrug – what else was there to do? ‘I read the report – Holden says he knows nothing about Damon’s death but they’ve been hammering him on it. He had the exact same story as he told Archie and me and was surprised when they told him his alibi had fallen apart. He kept saying he was at the party for the entire evening and that his friends must be mistaken. That’s what he kept calling them – “my friends”; he didn’t even know they’d stitched him up.’

‘Have they charged him yet?’

‘No one would likely tell me if they had – it was only my case in the first place because I got called out. It could have been another inspector on call. It’ll only be a matter of time – if they don’t do him for manslaughter, they’ll get him for the assaults, and see if they can dig anything else up while he’s in custody.’

‘You don’t think he’ll get bail.’