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“You can come in if you find out who it was bumped you into the traffic,” he said, handed her the address of the Kensington nick, and strolled off.

She studied him as he walked away, astonished.

The lads were standing around, and they waited until the crowds swallowed Timms up before they all turned and looked speculatively at the moped, still lying on its side on the pavement.

“I reckon that’s got Callum’s name on it, don’t you?” Gabriella said. PC Timms certainly wasn’t interested in it for its evidentiary value. To be fair, its number plate was missing, so it probably wasn’t going to lead anywhere, anyway.

The one dressed like a mod sent her an angelic smile. “I reckon so.”

They picked it up and walked with her as far as the slip road to headquarters, and then disappeared, wheeling it between them.

Gabriella found out how stiff she was when she had to climb the stairs to the double front doors, and Mr. Greenberg was waiting for her when she stepped into the foyer.

“What happened?” he asked. “I looked out of my office window and saw you were injured by the way you walked.”

She made a face. “Someone pushed me into the traffic.”

As she said it, Liz came out of the changing rooms, already in her street clothes.

“Pushed you into the traffic?” The horror in her voice was palpable.

“Tell me everything.” Mr. Greenberg gestured to his office. “Liz, could you make Gabriella a cup of tea?”

Liz nodded and disappeared into the staff kitchen, and Gabriella moved slowly into the office.

Every step she took now felt painful.

She sat down gingerly.

“The police came?” Mr. Greenberg asked.

“A PC Timms.” She hesitated. “But . . .” She sighed. “It sounds crazy, but it’s the second time it’s happened to me today.” She told him the name of the policeman for the first attempt.

“And it was the same person?” Greenberg asked, voice sharp.

She lifted a shoulder. “I honestly never laid eyes on the first person. The bobby said there was a spate of people being pushed in front of buses a couple of years back, and he hoped this wasn’t the start of it again, and I put it down to a random attack, because I was in my civvies, not my uniform.”

Liz arrived with the tea, and handed it to her before perching on the chair next to her. “What’s this about a bus?”

“I was waiting at the bus stop, and someone pushed me in front of the bus when it arrived.”

“Someone must’ve seen something.” Liz’s eyes narrowed.

“A few people said they thought the person who pushed me was young, tall, and male.” She sighed and took a sip of strong, sweet tea. “And the person who pushed me into the high street traffic also seemed quite tall. I couldn’t see his face to know if he was young, because he was wearing a motorcycle helmet, but he moved like someone who was young.”

“And this time you were wearing your uniform?” Mr. Greenberg asked.

She nodded.

“That’s good. I’m putting in a call to the local nicks to be on the look out. They know your job takes the heat off them, and they can keep an eye out to make sure you’re not hurt.” Mr. Greenberg turned to the massive map on his wall. “Where did these two incidents occur?”

She gave him the locations and he added pins that were the color he’d chosen to indicate attacks on his staff.

There were plenty of pins with the same colors.

She sighed. That was probably it. A random hater of traffic wardens. By the looks of Mr. Greenberg’s map, there were a lot of them.

“I’ll call you a taxi to take you home at the department’s expense,” Mr. Greenberg said when she set her tea down. “Liz, would you be able to go with her to make sure she’s all right?”