Apart from the usual crop of drink related offences, most of them dealt with by uniformed branch, there were only a couple of domestic disputes that developed into assaults. Early in the New Year when Superintendent Edwards paid him a visit, the worst he had to report was a trio of unsolved burglaries. ‘The MO’s the same in all three, so it looks as if we’ve a new kid on the block,’ Nash told her. ‘I reckon we’ve got away lightly.’ Nash had often warned DS Mironova and DC Pearce about saying things were fine. It was, he thought, a sure way to court disaster. Unfortunately, as he spoke to Ruth, he’d forgotten that. The first part of any operation was always the hardest. In this case though, despite the elaborate and seemingly insurmountable obstacles, it was ludicrously easy. All he’d needed was to create a diversion. Then make his entry and exit before the enemy could react. Their set-up may have looked professional, but in practice, they were mere amateurs. Surveying the area, he soon found a way to divert attention.
