When they arrived at the Thomas Lyell Centre on Monday morning, it seemed to Nikki like a different place from the one that she'd left behind in Friday afternoon. Security officers were crawling all over the place, watching the people that worked there like hawks, determined to prevent any unauthorised information being leaked to the press. That, in itself, didn't bother Nikki because they'd dealt with high profile cases before and she was used to ignoring law enforcement types who wanted to throw their weight around. What upset her more was that Sam Ryan appeared to have taken it upon herself to move herself back in. She had set up camp in Leo's office, sitting in the large, high backed leather chair behind the desk that Harry always joked made him look like he should be stroking a fluffy white cat like an early James Bond villain while Leo perched awkwardly on the sofa. He looked a little disgruntled by the situation, but also resigned, like he knew that putting up a fight would be futile.

'She doesn't waste much time' Nikki remarked as Harry ambled up alongside her. The previous morning they'd had breakfast together and after that he'd gone home. She hadn't seen him for a little short of twenty four hours and in that time she'd forgotten how dreadful he'd looked lately so when he appeared at her side she was momentarily taken aback by the sight of his sallow skin and eyes that were ringed with red and glazed over from lack of sleep. 'Making herself at home'

'This was her home for nearly a decade, Nikki' he replied calmly, refusing to rise to the bait or fall into the trap of bitching about the woman who was once one of his closest colleagues. Nikki would have loved to feel that at least one of them wasn't still completely and utterly under Sam Ryan's spell, but as she glanced up and gave a wave that Nikki knew wasn't directed at her, Harry's face split into a broad grin. For a couple of seconds he was the old Harry again, and immediately she disliked Sam Ryan even more because selfishly she'd wanted to be the one to put the smile back on Harry's face.

'Harry, I'd like you to assist me' she heard Sam announce as he pushed open the door and stepped inside. Instead of following him in as she normally would, Nikki hesitated for a moment because she was under no illusions that she wasn't welcome. She had no part to play in this reunion and she felt almost embarrassed about being there at all. She knew that if Harry or Leo knew that she felt this way then they would be mortified (and that they'd probably privately think that she was losing her marbles) but as she glanced at Sam and caught her eye, just for a second, she wondered whether insecure was exactly how the other woman wanted her to feel. 'Leo's going to work on Mr Kumasi's driver and you and I are going to work on his bodyguard'

'What about the other victims?' Harry asked. He sounded suspicious but that was because over the last few months he'd grown used to being protected as if it were for his own good. Generally when a case was high profile, especially as high profile as this one, he found himself being babysat by one of the others. He hated it with a passion but they still did it because they both privately felt that he needed protecting, from his own demons as much as anything else.

'I'm sure Doctor Alexander is more than capable' Sam replied, finally turning to Nikki and giving her a terse smile. For a couple of seconds Nikki basked in what was as close to a compliment as she thought she was ever going to get from Sam Ryan, but then she glanced down at the handful of files that Leo had pressed into her hands and realised that there were three sets of records there.

'The mother and daughter from the Volvo and one of the police motorcyclists who died in the night' Leo offered, seeing her confusion. 'Is that alright, Nikki'

'Fine' she replied slowly, feeling more pushed out than ever because while the other three were being painstakingly thorough about the two victims that the security services were keen to know about, she'd been given the grunt work. She was going to have to plough through three autopsies and when she'd finished nobody was going to care what she found because all their attentions would be focussed on the people linked to an African diplomat that none of them had even heard of before his car hit a crash barrier. There was no point in discussing it further though, so she decided to save her breath and instead she turned on her heel and walked over to her desk, making a show of rustling through her paperwork because she didn't want anybody to realise that inside she was seething had being so obviously sidelined. It was only when she heard somebody clear their throat nervously beside her that she realised that Harry had followed her, and that he had an expression of boyish bemusement on his face.

'Have you got some kind of problem?' he enquired hesitantly, perching on the edge of her desk and fiddling with a biro between his fingers. 'With Sam?'

'No, no problem' she replied, forcing a smile onto her face but she feared that it came out as more of a grimace that did nothing to convince him that she actually didn't have a problem. 'I'm fine' she added, fully aware that she didn't look or sound it. 'Why would there be?'

'Well you're...' he trailed off. He was an intelligent man, and even lost in a mire of self pity as he currently was he was still just about astute enough to realise that giving her a list of potential grievances that she might have against Sam Ryan probably wouldn't be the smartest thing he'd ever done. '... Never mind'

'Shouldn't you be with the great Professor?'

'Leo or Sam?' he asked looking faintly amused, but equally knowing the answer already. 'I told them I needed to check something on my desk and then I'd be with them'

'Well check it then' she retorted although she knew that the thing that he wanted to check on was her. She watched as he hesitated for a moment, not really believing her protestations that she was fine, and then he turned away. She was still a crisis but one that would wait until later and probably wouldn't worsen in his absence. The wrath of Sam Ryan, on the other hand, was something that he'd go out of his way to avoid.

'You're not really fine, are you?' Charlie, the mortuary assistant, asked once he was gone and they were alone. She was supposed to be analysing stomach contents but as ever she was doing more gossiping than working.

'A piece of advice' Nikki replied without glancing up from the notes that she was scribbling furiously on. 'Never meet your idols. You'll only be disappointed'