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Chambers’s shortcomings. “What might have happened under different circumstances isn’t our concern here. Certainly not at this point.”
    “No, sir,” said Chambers, with a quick glare at Annie. “Forgive me. I was simply trying to get a general sense of events. Did anyone telephone the Doyle house, try to talk to the father and assess the situation?”
    Gervaise paused. “We felt that a telephone call might cause too much consternation, given that Erin’s mother had already told us that her daughter was distraught, and that Erin and her father were expecting DCI Banks to be in touch.”
    Chambers raised his eyebrows. “Though that is standard procedure before sending in the cavalry, isn’t it?”
    “Let’s move on to the incident itself, Reg,” McLaughlin said.
    “By all means.” Chambers turned to the young AFO. “Constable Warburton, would you care to tell us briefly, in your own words, what transpired at Laburnum Way? Just stick to the facts and keep it simple. Don’t embellish.”
    “Yes, sir,” said Warburton, sitting to attention, if such a thing was possible. He went on to describe how the team had waited while the local police knocked on the door and announced themselves.
    “But no one answered, is that correct?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “How long would you say transpired between the first officers announcing themselves and your forced entry?”
    “It’s hard to say, sir,” said Warburton. “Time can behave very strangely in circumstances like that.”
    “I acknowledge that one’s perception of time can be affected by stress,” said Chambers, “but surely you can give me a rough estimate? Seconds? Minutes? Hours?”
    “A few minutes at most, sir.”
    “Minutes? Very well. A minute can be a long time.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “And during that time did you hear anything?”
    “Hear anything?”
    “Yes, from inside. Any sounds? An argument or anything like that.”
    “I thought I heard voices at one point, sir. People talking.”
    “Arguing?”
    “Impossible to say, sir. They were muffled.”
    “But could they have been raised?”
    “I suppose they could. I couldn’t tell.”
    “Very well. What happened next?”
    “When it seemed apparent that no one was going to answer the door, we thought it necessary to force entry. That is, WPC Powell and I did. Anything could have happened since the first reports. The girl could have been holding her father at gunpoint. She could even have shot him.”
    “Nobody’s arguing with your judgment, son,” said Chambers. “Though the press might take a slightly more jaundiced view of things.”
    “I feel that I acted in accordance with the law, sir, and with my training. I’d do the same—”
    “Yes, yes. All right. Spare us the self-justification, PC Warburton. What happened when you entered the house? You entered from the front with Constable Nerys Powell, am I correct?” Chambers glanced at PC Powell, and it was clear to Annie, even from such a short look, that he disapproved of the presence of a woman on the team. They both worked at County HQ. Perhaps they had clashed before.
    “Yes, sir,” said Warburton. “We entered the building as instructed, WPC Powell and me.”
    Nerys Powell gave him a sad smile of encouragement. “What happened next?”
    “The hallway was very long and dark. It was daytime, but there was no direct source of light.”
    “Did you have a torch?” McLaughlin asked. “Yes, sir, on my belt.”
    “Did you switch it on?”
    Warburton paused before answering. “No, sir,” he said. “There was just no time. It all happened so quickly. I did flick a light switch on the wall as we entered, but the bulb blew.”
    “Tell me what happened next.”
    Warburton drank some water and rubbed his face with both hands. “Just as we entered the hall, by the bottom of the stairs, a door at the far end opened, to the right. I knew from my briefing that this was the door to the kitchen, and the kitchen was where the…. where