[Beth Woodcock first appeared in 'The Friends', in Short Stories 2021]

DI King stops by my desk. "Got a minute, Beth?" She nods back along the corridor. "Someone's got a little job for you."

In a neutral meeting room, I'm shown a chair across from a uniformed Chief Superintendent.

"Detective Sergeant Woodcock, take a pew." The Chief Super shakes my hand. "DCS Neil Milligan, Moor Lane. Congratulations on making Sergeant, I gather it was recent."

"Thank you, sir. Confirmed last month." Moor Lane is the most central of Eastern Counties Police's headquarters campuses, and houses all sorts of specialist departments. By keeping it vague, Milligan has already told me this concerns one of these – not least because he's CID but in uniform. I wonder what I've done to come to their attention, but King is sitting quietly in the corner. This is not her interview.

"I'll keep this brief, we're all busy people." Milligan nods at my boss. "DI King tells me you have a personal connection to Burtonheath."

"I have...a...friend who lives there, sir." I've kept my long-distance relationship with Claire pretty quiet, but the DI found out a couple of years ago, when a last-minute call-in to support a public order incident meant I had to explain why I was two hours' drive away. "I go and stay when I'm off-duty."

"Had much to do with the local nicks down there? Thinking of Carford in particular."

"No, sir."

"Good." The DCS smiles. "Would you like to see a bit more of your friend?"

"Potentially, sir." The arrangement's worked OK for three years, but since Claire turned 30 last year, she's started wondering aloud how we could manage living together. I quite like keeping work and Claire separate, but work does keep me from her more often than we'd both like. "I can ask."

"I'd like to propose a transfer to Carford CID, say six months, initially? They're a hand or two short anyway, and God knows they could use a capable DS for a change."

For a moment, I stare at the wall behind Milligan's head. I've had some bizarre interviews in my time, usually where I'm asking the questions, but this one is up there. There's only really one reason why an unknown HQ Chief Super, based nowhere near the station I'm being asked to move to, would want to talk to a lowly new DS like me. I haven't done anything wrong, and am being offered a transfer which lets me spend more time with my girlfriend. Someone needs someone to do some dirty work.

Milligan is patient. "You understand why I'm asking, DS Woodcock?"

I glance at the boss, but she's still sitting quietly, not giving anything away. I level my gaze on Milligan. "I suspect you're PSU, sir." Professional Standards Unit, the coppers who police the Police. "You need someone unknown, not one of yours, to go down and keep their eyes and ears open."

"Correct." Milligan smiles again. He has a gentle smile, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "We have some history with the boys and girls down at Carford. I can't send anyone else. I'm not asking you to snoop, to any great extent. I'm just curious."

"Mm-hmm." I do sometimes feel apart from my colleagues, but being commanded to spy on them – even ones I don't know – is a big ask. On the other hand, one bad copper risks the rest of us. I remember my professional manners. "Sir."

"You know that smell?" Milligan rubs his fingers across his thumb. "Where something's gone a bit past its best? Let itself get a bit soft, a bit eaten-up from the inside?" He watches me nod. "I want to pluck that bad fruit, without spoiling the good stuff."

"Save the barrel."

"Indeed." Milligan grins. "I'll take that as assent?"

"Sir."

Behind me, DI King relaxes visibly. "I'm sorry, Beth, to put you in this situation. And to lose you."

I shrug. I get to move in with Claire on a trial basis, but still keep part of my life to myself. "I'll do my best to help."

Milligan stands up. "Thank you, DS Woodcock. You'll report directly to me, and obviously not discuss this with anyone outside this room. I'll be in touch." He shakes my hand briefly. "If things don't work out with your friend, we can arrange accommodation for you. But we do need you down there."

I've already thought about how nice it'll be to relax after a work day with Claire, as it is to relax on days off with her. It'll mean a change in our relationship, but one that we can probably cope with. I'm also unable to resist the opportunity to ferret out wrongdoing. "No-one likes a rotten apple, sir."