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with magnets. Most stuff like this is sleight of hand but this is another way if you’re trying to conceal something slightly different.’ He tipped the cup upside down and a red plastic disc dropped on to the table, before he turned it back the right way to show them the hidden compartment. Then he dropped the disc back in and tipped it up a second time, when it didn’t fall.
    ‘Where would you get that from?’ Jessica asked.
    ‘Maybe a magic shop but probably over the Internet.’
    Jessica turned the ring over in her fingers then noticed a small “CP” engraved in the metal. She took out an evidence bag and dropped it in. ‘Dave, you call in and see if we’ve got a match on the watch and I’ll put a few calls in to see if there has been anything else found this morning. I doubt we’ll get anything from the tram station CCTV, so let’s assume it was left by someone else unrelated to the ring itself. We can always check it if something comes up.’
    Forty minutes later, Jessica, Dave and Hugo were sitting in a small staff area at the back of the ticket office at Oxford Road train station. It was the first place Jessica had called and, after five minutes trying to get through to an actual person, someone had helpfully told her that one of their cleaners had left a sealed brown box behind the counter just in case anyone came to collect it. Given they had now found three – and there were likely more out there – Jessica wondered if it was just the Piccadilly transport police who were either on the ball enough, or jobsworth enough depending on which way you looked at it, to shut down the entire station.
    Now familiar with the procedure, Jessica removed a smaller box and then opened it to reveal a blue plastic jug and another note with “HAVE FUN” written on it. She tipped the jug upside down and tapped it, before shrugging and handing it to Hugo, who grinned.
    ‘I can show you this with water if you like but it’s better with something colourful.’
    ‘Go get some milk from the shop next door,’ Jessica said as she nudged Dave.
    ‘Are you going to give me the money?’
    ‘It’s only a quid, stop moaning.’
    ‘If it’s only a quid, then why don’t you pay?’
    ‘Because I need to stay here and make sure Hugo doesn’t tamper with evidence. Now get on with it.’
    Dave returned a few minutes later, still complaining, before handing the bottle to Hugo, who emptied the contents into the jug until it was around three-quarters full.
    ‘Anyone got a newspaper?’ he asked.
    ‘Dave?’ Jessica asked.
    ‘I haven’t.’
    ‘Well go get one then, you’re holding everyone up!’
    Dave again rose to his feet and left, grumbling even louder, before returning a few minutes later with a copy of the Manchester Morning Herald, which he handed to Hugo.
    Hugo rolled the paper lengthways into a cone shape and then tilted the jug, pouring the contents steadily into it until there was only a quarter of the liquid left in the container. He put the jug on the table while gripping the paper tightly with his other hand.
    ‘Paper’s feeling a bit damp,’ he said warily, before wobbling and throwing it at Dave, who covered his head and yelped.
    The perfectly dry newspaper bounced off Dave as he jigged from one foot to the other, before straightening himself out when he realised he wasn’t wet.
    ‘What was that?’ Jessica asked disdainfully. ‘You sounded like a dog when someone steps on its tail.’
    ‘I thought he was throwing milk at me,’ Dave protested.
    ‘You’re such a baby,’ Jessica added, although she had taken a half-step sideways to get out of the path.
    Hugo was grinning, clearly pleased with himself.
    ‘Let’s hear it then,’ Jessica said with a smile.
    Hugo picked up the jug and twisted it around for Jessica to see, showing her a small hole just underneath the spout.
    ‘The jug can only be three-quarters full,’ he said. ‘When you tilt it, the liquid flows into the hole instead of the paper.