46

"How much did you tell the Commissioner of Police?" I asked.

"Janet Mason is in a very delicate position," Sandra said, "so I am cautious."

"I realised as much," I said, "and that's why I asked."

"I reminded her of the times she and her cohorts at Scotland Yard had messed things up and wanted me to save their skins. Not all the time, mind you, we only had the whole twenty-four hours. And I couldn't use the whole time chatting. In fact, I used up most of the time listening to her. Janet is not as happy at work as she once was, and not as indispensable, either. Once upon a time, the fact that she had no job title and no job description worked in her favour and she could make herself helpful in lots of ways, and in places, and there was no political restriction against any of them. She knew everybody and everything, and everyone came to him when they needed a bit of extra thinking done. Now, all her original team are gone, everything is compartmentalised, and sh