D.S. Farmer was known by reputation as a blunt speaker and Jill liked that. She was quick, sharp and instinctive which hadn't always worked in her benefit during her career. Jill wasn't going to work with her though as Harriet was leaving for pastures anew in Yorkshire.

'Just as well we'll never be on the same case. You'd go off me very quickly' she said, lighting up. 'It's a side effect of working with me. Ask Sam Ryan. And a few other people.'

Sam Ryan was a legend around these parts. Jill would have considered it a privilege to work with her but she had left a while ago. Harriet flicked a well-practiced eye over the young woman.

'Time for the new charge to lead the way. You'll do well here, I'm sure.'

'Looking forward to your new post?'

Harriet shrugged.

'New challenges. Different scenery. Going back to my roots. Thereabouts. I'll be able to visit my mum a bit more. She complains that she never sees me then proceeds to criticize me whenever I'm there. The usual.'

She produced a lighter and offered a cigarette, lit it for Jill. The younger woman found it gratuitously attractive.

'Where are you from?'

'Bradford.'

Harriet lapsed into broad Yorkshire every so often. In the last decade she'd learned how to speak in a more refined manner and that melodious thrum in her voice lent itself well to the hodgepodge of her current accent. Jill could listen to it all day.

'She turned up her nose at me when she found out that I learned how to speak posh.'

Harriet smiled to show no hard feelings. She was deeply ambitious and had joined the police force after leaving school. She'd evaluated her career from the early days where she'd been told to turn a blind eye when a couple of policemen shared a prostitute in the cells. Now she was in a position to be able to demand all reports on unprofessional behaviour. It didn't always make her popular but she had no time for opinions like that.

Jill returned the smile. She had become aware that her upper-class accent gave people the impression of being a snob, yet marked her to be BBC news presenter trustworthy. She was learning how to work in the real world. She felt like having another cigarette so that she could be in closer proximity to Harriet's dexterous fingers. She kept casually glancing over at them as Harriet fidgeted. Left-handed. No rings. While Harriet Farmer had never been known to divulge her private life, there was something about her that pinged Jill's radar. She hoped she wasn't wrong.

They chatted about this and that, making their drinks last. Jill absorbed all the advice that she was given, from male colleagues to cufflinks and coffee, or the lack of good coffee available. Jill appraised the other woman covertly. She had a decade on her, outfitted in an old-fashioned skirt suit. Nobody wore those anymore. Although diminutive in height, she cut a striking figure with her crisp white collar neatly arranged over the lapels of her blazer and legs that stopped builders in their tracks. Jill was no stranger to that herself. She blinked as Harriet's next words drilled into her brain as she waved her cigarette around animatedly.

'Work and sex never mix.'

Jill tried to ascertain whether that meant she could be presumptuous this evening.

'Seen it too many times.'

Harriet mentioned when one of her best officers got involved with someone in the same department and it had ended badly. Badly as in they'd had created a cold atmosphere at work, Harriet had been furious that her most promising member of her team ended up applying for a transfer and extremely badly in that she'd ended up dead in an explosion. She'd never forget D.C. Kerry Cox.

'You'll lose people along the way. If you don't go first, that is' she warned her. Jill nodded, feeling annoyingly sober at the thought. There was nothing more draining than realising your mortality. They sat in silence for a while, making the most of the last few weeks before the smoking ban came into force. Jill supposed that she'd attempt to give up now. Harriet complained that being forced to give up was just as bad as being peer pressured to smoke.

'Which I was, of course. Everyone smoked before they left school. Maybe I'll make my mum happy and 'stop skulking outside to indulge in my filthy habit.' Maybe this will be the year I'll start testing out Nicorette patches.'

They laughed conspiratorially.

'I think I'd rather work my way through several boxes of chewing gum substitute' said Jill.

'If I did that my mum will tell me I chew like a cow. Very unladylike' she said, mockingly.

They ordered another double whiskey and continued. Harriet noticed that Jill was looking at her watch, a plain style.

'A leaving present from my parents. They were almost happy to get rid of me' she quipped. 'Too many of us and not enough space. I'm one of five.'

'Five kids? That is a lot.'

'Five daughters. Everyone else in the family are teachers. I didn't want to do the same. They weren't sure what to make of it.'

Jill could imagine how Harriet had caused waves in her family, had a reputation in her neighbourhood. She was not meant for suburban life and 2.4 children. Jill empathised. She had been expected to marry some nice boy whose father was big in banking and settle down on some country estate playing the aristocratic wife. That wasn't her scene. Luckily, her parents were progressive enough to let her do as she pleased.

'Nice cufflinks' Harriet nodded to them.

'Oh. Thanks. It was my leaving present.' Jill smiled at the memory of the neighbour's astonishment at the unconventional gift. Girls didn't get cufflinks. But her parents knew that there was no other piece of finery she'd rather have. They never insisted that she need follow the rules of their set. She was lucky to have such parents, she knew.

They finally finished their drinks and entertained the thought of leaving.

'Are you setting off tomorrow?'

'No, got a week to pack up. I'll start from tomorrow. Shouldn't take long.'

Jill smiled but made no attempt to move.

'Penny for 'em?' Harriet sat back down.

'Work and sex don't mix' said Jill slowly.

'That's right.' Harriet looked wary.

'But we're not going to be working together…'

Jill shifted the glass around the table with a finger. She looked a tad smug. Harriet looked appraisingly at her, gathering the meaning right away.

'Oh you are a surprise, Ms Raymond.'

She picked up her bag and walked to the door. Jill couldn't believe her luck. Harriet turned around by the door.

'Are you coming home with me?'