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his oppo’s got the boot open.
    â€œThey kept on at me about the car being stolen, and I kept telling them, yeah, I knew that, ’cos I was the person it had been stolen off, but they just wouldn’t listen. Then the guy looking in the boot came round with this Sainsbury’s plastic bag, and he’s waving it in my face saying, ‘And I suppose the villains that nicked your car decided to leave you a little something for your trouble?’ Well, I had no idea what was in the boot, did I? So I told them that, and they just laughed, and bundled me into their car and brought me here. Next thing I know is they’re on at me about a parcel of crack. And that’s when I thought, uh-oh, I need a brief.”

    Richard sat back and looked at the two of us. “It’s an unexpected bonus, getting Brannigan as well,” he added. “How soon can you get me out of this dump, Ruth?” he asked, gesturing round the shabby interview room.
    â€œThat depends on several things. Being absolutely honest, Richard, I’m not optimistic that I can avoid them charging you, which means you won’t be going anywhere until I can get you in front of a magistrate and apply for bail, which we can probably manage tomorrow morning. I still have some questions, though. Have you at any time opened the boot of the coupé?”
    Richard frowned. “I don’t think so,” he said hesitantly. “No, I’m pretty sure I haven’t. I mean, why would I?”
    â€œYou didn’t check it out when you bought it? Look to see if there was a spare wheel and a jack?” Ruth asked.
    â€œThe salesman showed us when we took it for a test drive,” I interjected. “I certainly don’t remember Richard ever going near it.”
    He managed a grin. “We didn’t have it long enough for Brannigan to take it shopping, so we didn’t need the boot.”
    â€œGood,” Ruth said. “This carrier bag that they produced from the boot. Had you ever seen it before?”
    Richard shrugged. “Well, I don’t know. It was just an ordinary Sainsbury’s carrier bag. Brannigan’s got a drawer full of them. There was nothing about it to make it any different from any other one. But it wasn’t in the boot when that rattlesnake showed us the car on Monday. And I didn’t put it there. So I guess it’s fair to say I’d never seen it before.”
    â€œDid you touch it at all?”
    â€œHow could I? I said, I’d never seen it before,” Richard said plaintively.
    â€œThe officer didn’t throw it to you, or hand it to you?” Ruth persisted.
    â€œHe couldn’t, could he? His oppo had me cuffed already,” Richard replied.
    â€œYes, I’m a little surprised at that. Had you put up a struggle? Or had you perhaps been a little over-energetic in the verbal department?” Ruth asked carefully.

    â€œWell, I wasn’t exactly thrilled at being bodily dragged out of what was, technically, my own motor when I hadn’t even been speeding and I’d been on the Diet Coke all night. So I suppose I was a bit gobby,” Richard admitted. If my heart could have sunk any further, it would have done. Add resisting arrest to the list, I thought gloomily.
    Ruth was clearly as cheered as I was by this news. “But you didn’t actually offer any physical violence?” she asked, the hope in her voice as obvious as a City supporter in a United bus.
    â€œNo,” Richard said indignantly. “What do you take me for?”
    Diplomatically, neither of us answered. “The keys for this coupé—did you have both sets?”
    Richard shook his head. “No, Brannigan had the others.”
    â€œHave you still got them?” she asked me.
    I nodded. “They’re in the kitchen drawer. No one but the two of us has had access to them.”
    â€œGood,” Ruth said. “These two women you were