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battery to go flat was as bad as letting your car run out of petrol. Both things happened now and then, but it was better if they happened to someone else. Finally, he left the flat. For once, even the smell of the morning traffic was like a breath of fresh air. He was unsettled by his conversation with Matt. He hoped his brother wasn't having to cope with too many worries at once. There were certainly some decisions to be made about the future of Bridge End, though. The new farming support payments favoured the more productive farms in the valleys, and an upland farmer's income could be halved, unless he changed his ways. The suckler herd might have to go, for a start - no matter how environmentally friendly and picturesque they were, grazing cattle were becoming as economically unviable as sheep. Matt could intensify the dairy herd, or leave part of the land unfarmed, in return for environmental grants. On the other hand, he could abandon the idea of running a profitable farm altogether and get himself a job stacking shelves in a supermarket. On his way through the market square, Cooper pulled out his mobile and chose a number from his phone book. His call was answered almost straight away. 'Hi, it's me. How are you this morning?' She sounded pleased to hear from him, and the sound of her voice alone made him feel better. He didn't know how she did it; perhaps it came of being a civilian. 'Oh, I'm fine, too,' he said. 'No, really. There's nothing wrong at all. I just wanted to find out how you were.' He listened to her talk for a while, neither of them saying much, but enough to put a smile on his face as he crossed Hollowgate towards the Raj Mahal and the pedestrianized area.
    He had to end the call when a couple of acquaintances stopped to say hello. Cooper couldn't place their names at first. But he knew so many people around Edendale that it wasn't surprising. Faces from his childhood haunted him constantly. He'd see an old schoolfriend passing in the street, then immediately another and another. It was like the way a phrase he'd heard for the first time suddenly seemed to be repeated everywhere, as if someone was trying to send him a message. What sort of message could these familiar faces be trying to convey? This is where you belong, perhaps.
    Later that morning, Cooper found himself watching a man in a grey sports jacket approaching a cash machine outside Somerfield's supermarket. Running his finger along the edge of the card slot, the man glanced over his shoulder with an apologetic smile. He wasn't sure whether he liked being watched or not. There were two ATMs at Somerfield's, both set into the outside wall near the trolley park, about fifteen yards from the main entrance. A small queue of shoppers had formed at the other machine, fidgeting with their carrier bags and purses. 'If you feel an obstruction of any kind, don't use it. That's the best advice. Usually there are a couple of tiny prongs. Here, see?' With a flick of the finger, the man pulled out a thin, clear sleeve of rigid plastic. He held it up to reveal a loop at the back. 'This is the old Lebanese Loop trick. The loop retains a card when it's inserted. Since the machine can't read the magnetic strip, it keeps asking you to re-enter your PIN. Someone standing behind you watches you tap your number in. When you walk away, the suspect removes the card and empties your account. Bingo.' 'Surely that type of device is easy to detect?' said someone in the watching group. 'We just saw you do it.'
    'But I know what to look for.' PC Steve Judson had greying hair, a little longer than favoured by most police officers. He worked with the Plastic Crime Unit, a team struggling to deal with a mounting wave of cash and credit card fraud. According to the latest figures, it was big business - worth at least forty million pounds a year across the country. Judson looked at the queue for the adjacent cash machine. 'This is a typical location. The ATMs would be more