Roberta leaned her back against the wall of the hallway. It was several seconds before she realised that she’d been holding her breath for what seemed an eternity.

She bolted the door closed on the inside and slowly let out her breath. If… if whoever it was that had just attacked her, was serious it would not hold them back for long. Her assessment of the situation was that she needed to call for reinforcements and pronto. The only problem with that was that her phone was up one flight of stairs in her home.

She dashed up the stairs and took refuge in her small bedsit, by locking the door behind her. Luckily, she’d already closed the curtains on both windows that overlooked the road below. Even so, she wasn’t taking chances and kept well away from them as she moved into the kitchen and grabbed her phone.

She dialled ‘999’.
“Police Please,” she said rapidly when it was answered.

“My name is Roberta Galbraith, Detective Constable Galbraith. I’ve just been attacked outside my home with someone using a crossbow. They missed and the bolt is in the front door of the house where I live.”

“Yes. That is where I am, flat 6. I have no idea where they are now. I am in my apartment which is on the first floor. The curtains are closed and the door is locked.

“Please send help, and can someone inform DS Mitchell from Tottenham nick?”

“Thank you. I’ll wait for the uniforms to arrive.”

She hung up and sank to the floor of the kitchen. Her heart was racing. There was nothing to do but wait for the ‘cavalry’ to arrive.

After what seemed an eternity, Roberta heard the sirens of approaching Police Cars. She began to breathe more easily. She looked at the clock on the wall. It read 22:35. It was going to be a long night.

The first office rang the bell to her home. She saw a PC in the video system that controlled the entrance. She recognised the officer as one of those she'd been at Hendon with. Feeling reasonably safe, she buzzed him in only to realise a few seconds later that she’d bolted the front door. She’d have to go downstairs and let him in herself.

“It is open now”, called out Roberta as she backed away from the door.

The front door opened and PC Lambert walked in. The crossbow bolt was still embedded in the door.

“Roberta?” called out the PC.

“I’m here Dave,” said Roberta from the shadows.

“Are you injured at all?”

“No. I’m good,” she replied as she approached him.

The PC smiled at her.
“DC Galbraith, now?”

“Only just, and very temporary,” replied Roberta.

“We all knew that you were going places, but to have someone out to top you so soon in your career is a bummer.”

“I know who it is. It is a Russian hit woman. I’ve clearly gotten too close to solving the case I’m working on for the NCA.”

The PC stiffened up when Roberta mentioned the National Crime Agency.
“We need to get you out of here ASAP, if I recall the lecture on victim safety from Hendon correctly? I’ll call into to the duty Inspector. Can you get a bag packed safely?”

“I can do that.”
Roberta made a move to go to her bedroom but stopped herself and said,
“You need to call in SOCO. I think that there is something nasty on the tip of that bolt. See the yellow colour?”

The PC looked at the bolt. He smiled.
“Gotcha on that. I’ll tell the inspector.”

Before he could make the call, another officer, this time a Sergeant appeared at the doorway.

“Constable, have you identified this young lady? We can’t have civilians impersonating Police Officers can we?”

“Sarge,” said the PC.
“This is Roberta Galbraith. We were at Hendon together.”

The sergeant visibly relaxed.
"Sorry about that. We have had several 999 calls in recent months from people pretending to be officers when they weren't.

“That’s ok Sarge. You are just doing your job. Is it ok if I go and pack a bag? I’m not staying here tonight.”

“Do you have somewhere to go?” asked the Sergeant.

“I do but please don’t ask where. The fewer people who know about this the better. I hope you can understand. It is likely that the person responsible for this has already killed one person before I became involved with the case, and that same person is wanted in several countries for murder.”

“Are you trying to pull the wool over my eyes on this?”

“Sorry Sarge, I’m not trying to do that. I’m working indirectly for the NCA on this case.”

“But… you are only a year or so out of Hendon? How can that be?”

“Sarge,” said PC Lambert
“Roberta was marked out as the one from our class who was going places.”

“Thanks David, but it was more of a case of being in the right place at the right time.”

The Sergeant shook his head. It was clear that he had his doubts but another glance at the tip of the bolt sticking out of the door convinced him that he had to act. Questions could come later.

“Go and pack a bag. I’ll make sure that SOCO are on their way. I’ll admit that when I got the call about an attack using a crossbow, I was a bit sceptical, but to see a bolt sticking out the door was a real eye opener.”

Roberta smiled at the Sergeant and headed upstairs. While she packed a bag in he bedroom, she made a brief call to her father.

“Hello Daddy. I need a place to crash tonight. Someone tried to kill me tonight.”

“No, I can’t talk about it on the phone. I’ll see you in a few hours when I’m done with the formalities.”

“I will try to keep safe. Don’t I always.”

She hung up. A bed would be waiting for her at her father's flat on the other side of the river Thames, but that would only work for a day or two. Her current place was no longer secure… that was clear. She’d either been followed home or there was a leak somewhere in the ‘force’. Roberta was more inclined to believe the latter especially if there was enough cash involved.

---

The ‘few hours’ that Roberta had told her father turned out to be almost six. London was coming alive when she punched in the door security code to her father's London home. She hoped that he'd given up and gone to bed, but that was dashed when she’d seen the lights on from the street. She’d been given a lift from Stratford nick in an unmarked car that was normally driven by a DCI. A call from the NCA had helped oil the wheels in that respect.

As the lift took Roberta up to the top floor of the block, she tried to work out how she was going to explain this to her father. Lying would not work with him. He’d always know when she was not telling him the truth.

Roberta had just gotten through the door when two arms wrapped themselves around her body.

“Daddy! I need to breathe!” gasped Roberta.

Her father relaxed his grip.
“Sorry darling. I was just so worried about you.”

“I’m fine. It was a close call but you know me and steps… I tripped and the next thing I knew there was a crossbow bolt sticking out of the door.”

Her father shook his head in amazement at his daughter.
“Every day I pray that you will be safe in your life… but this is too much.”

“Daddy… I’m fine and we know who it is so it is only a matter of time until we have her locked up.”

“Her?” asked her father who was suddenly very alert.

“She’s Russian and goes by the name ‘Andropov’.”
For some unfathomable reason, Roberta decided at the last moment not to tell him that Antoine was alive.

It took her father a few seconds to grasp what she’d said.

“Are you saying that she is a he or that he is a she?”

“I don’t know but at the very least, it seems that the assassin is able to pass as either gender.”

“Something like that.”

He shook his head.

“How did they find your place? Do you think that they followed you from the station?”

“That has to be it. I wasn’t really thinking about the possibility that she’d follow me and… Well, I just wasn’t.”

“How high does this go?”

“You mean in the Force?”

“I do.”

“The NCA are involved. The Fine Art people as well.”

He smiled and shook his head at the same time.
“That’s my girl. You certainly don’t do things by halves do you?”

Roberta smiled.
“That’s not how this family of ours works as you well know.”

Once again, her father hugged his daughter.
“Now… and this is an order from your father. Go to bed and stay there until I return from the House. Then we can go out to dinner. It has been far too long since we did that.”

“You say the nicest things and I’m going to have to as the Americans say, ‘take a rain check on that’.”

“Why?”

“Because I am expected to give a statement to CID at Stratford nick to a DCI and a Chief Super, early this afternoon.”

“That’s too bad as I have some news of my own.”

“I’m all ears.”

“I’ve been seeing someone from the ‘House’.”

Roberta laughed.
“Not Lady Fawcett?”

Her father laughed with his daughter.
“Not her even though she’s been trying to date me since your mother’s funeral. No, I’ve been dating a lovely lady called, Frances Dawson. She’s an assistant to the Lord Chancellor. We met in the restaurant at the House.”

“How long? Have you been dating her?”

“Five months.”

Roberta smiled.
“Good for you dad. It has been far too long. You know that you have Mum’s blessing.”

“I know but finding someone who is even close to your mother is not easy.”

“Go for it, dad. You need someone good in your life.”

Roberta didn’t wait for an answer but headed off to bed. Her father’s news had taken the edge off of what had happened earlier.

---

Unbeknownst to Roberta, her interview at Stratford Police Station had been moved to the NCA HQ. She received a text message just before midday informing her of the change of venue. No reason was given. She knew that the attack on her would cause some ripples in the hierarchy of the Met Police. Any attack on an officer would do that but to attack one of their own using the same method as had been used on the crime that she was investigating was enough for a mini-Tsunami to form.

“Good afternoon, Sir,” said Roberta when she arrived at the NCA HQ in central London.

Waiting for her was DCI Gavin Saunders.
“Please take a seat DC Galbraith.”

Roberta did a small double-take. This was unduly formal for her liking.
“Sir?” she said as she sat down.

“That was quite an incident last night.”

“Sir? It was purely luck that I wasn’t hit by the bolt.”

“You were indeed very lucky. We received the report on the bolt about an hour ago. The tip of the bolt had been dipped in Batrachotoxin. In case you don’t know, it is one of the top five most deadly poisons. It is right up there with Sarin and Ricin.”

This news visibly shook Roberta.
“As a result of this attack on you, we at the NCA are taking over the investigation. It is getting too dangerous to have just one officer in effective charge of the case.”

His words made sense. She’d thought that this could happen all along.

“I can see that you are not entirely surprised by this move. Am I correct?”

“Sir…” began Roberta.
“I have considered this a distinct possibility every day since you became involved in the case. Once I’d received the text telling me to come here rather than go to Stratford to make a statement, was enough for me to guess the rest.”

She swallowed hard before continuing.
“I’d need three to four hours to finish writing up my notes if that is agreeable with you?”

The DCI shook his head. He’d been told how unflappable DC Galbraith was. He was now seeing it at first hand and was impressed. Many other officers would have protested loudly. DC Galbraith took it on the chin and accepted it. He’d been told by her Sergeant from Tottenham that this would be her reaction but had dismissed the warning as him being overly protective. Now, he regretted being mentally, so dismissive of her.

The DCI smiled back at Roberta.
“What we’d like you to do, is come and be part of the team while we work on this case. You know more about this case than anyone. Where we are today on the murder and everything else, is largely down to you and your intuition or gut feel, tenacity or whatever. What do you say?”

“Sir?”

“Don’t look so surprised. Your people at Tottenham are already on board with the idea.”

“It is just… I don’t want to appear as someone getting favourable treatment.”

That brought a grin to the face of the DCI.
“I was told that you are modest. This is just a secondment to help us with this case, not a permanent transfer even though, we could do with officers of your undoubted talent in the NCA.”

“Sorry sir. I will accept your request for a temporary assignment.”

“Good. Now, there is the little issue of your home. That is no longer viable while this case remains unsolved. Do you have a girlfriend that you can stay with for a week or so?”

Roberta’s face remained expressionless while she tried to process what he’d said.

“Sir… I stayed last night with my father, Lord Regis. The house goes into recess in a few days so I could stay there.”

The DCI shook his head.
“DC Galbraith, I am beginning to see why you don’t want your fifteen seconds of fame. As I said before you are more modest than almost any woman I have ever met inside or outside of the force.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Don’t thank me DC Galbraith. Even if the House goes into recess, the place can still be traced to him. Once that happens, it would not take a genius to target your father as a way of getting to you. I’ll talk to one of my DS’s. One of them is bound to have a spare room.”

Roberta’s long face told him that she was disappointed.

“Don’t be down DC Galbraith. I want you to have a long and successful career in the force. And… that means us looking after you and everyone around you. Besides, the last thing I want is to lose one of my team.”

Roberta shook her head.
“Sorry sir, but please cut the crap about me having a long and prosperous career in the force. As soon as my past is exposed, far too many of the force hierarchy won’t give me the time of day. If it is possible, then I’ll go and stay with one of your team for the duration and then I’m going back to my desk on Tottenham High Road. I’m still a rookie in the eyes of many and they aren’t that wrong. Even the Duty Sergeant and the SIO from last night had doubts about my authenticity as a police officer. It was only because one of the uniforms was in the same class at Hendon as me that I wasn’t arrested for wasting Police time.”

The DCI smiled.
“Your DS told me that you could be firm but you are quite unlike any other officer I have ever met.”

He stood up indicating, that her time with him was up.
“Roberta, make your statement about last night and then I’ll introduce you to the rest of the team. I should have an update on where you will be living for the time being by the end of the day.”

“Thanks Sir. I’ll need to go back to my fathers’ place. My overnight bag is there.”

“Sorry DC Galbraith. I’ll send a DC to meet with your father at the house. They will get your things. The less contact that you have with him the better if you get my thinking.”

“Ok Sir. I’d better give him a heads up, first though.”

“Do that but don’t forget to make the statement.”

“Thanks sir… for being so understanding.”

Roberta left his office fairly pleased with what had transpired. She was going to get a chance to see how the NCA worked from the inside. She hoped that this experience would help her to improve her powers of deduction and detection, but there was still the little matter of someone out there amongst the millions of people in London who wanted her dead.

Slowly the enormity of what happened the previous night made its way through her psychological defences. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if she had made the right choice when she decided to become a Police Officer. At that time, she had an offer to study for a PHD in Criminology on the table. It was a fleeting moment.

Roberta returned to writing up her reports. Pondering about what could have been was not something that she did. Life was to be lived even if someone wanted her dead.

[to be continued]