When Chrissy and Tom Gorman returned from the canteen, the machine was still connected to the Police National Database.
‘It’s still going?’
‘What do you expect? I press a button and, hey presto, a perp pops out of the computer with his hands up saying “It’s a fair cop, guvnor, you got me bang to rights”?’
‘Nah, but I didn’t think it would take so long.’
‘It wouldn’t if your shot followed the corporate data model standards.’
‘What the hell are they?’
‘Basically the same as your passport photo. The old days of some poor sergeant taking a mugshot with whatever he had handy have gone. Because of the PND, all shots have to conform to the CorDM standards, or else.’
‘But perps don’t always sit still against a white background.’
‘That’s why your search is taking a bit longer. It’s checking facial characteristics, scars, tattoos and all the other stuff, looking for match. Your shot was taken on an analogue camera in the middle of a music festival. Granted, the pixel count is good, but there’s still a lot of noise in the picture.’
‘When’s it going to be finished?’
A message appeared on the screen.
‘You’re in luck, about now.’ His hands danced across the keyboard. ‘You have a hit.’
A mugshot slowly appeared on the screen. ‘According to the PND, this man has an eighty-nine per cent chance of being the same as the one in the shot. It won’t stand up in court, though.’
‘We have to go and interview him, don’t we? What’s his last known address?’
Tom Gorman leant forward. ‘He’s in Strangeways. Has been since 2016. Adam Jones was charged with two counts of kidnap, two of attempted kidnap, four counts of assault, possession of an offensive weapon, namely a hammer, dangerous driving and drink driving.’
‘They threw everything at him.’
‘And the kitchen sink. Sentenced to a minimum of ten years with little chance of early release.’
‘Are you sure it’s him, Tom?’
‘Well, the machine says eighty-nine per cent and machines, unlike humans, don’t lie… yet.’
‘Right, thanks for your help, I owe you big time.’
‘That’s what they all say.’
But Chrissy was already walking out the door, talking on her phone.