CO-VID 2020: It's a Treasure Hunt, in the middle of a pandemic

Jan Branch, an old friend of Melia, has come back to Salford. Her mother has died. She wants to clear the house, and return home to the Far East, getting back to her serious business of gun-running. But she is distracted. She is accosted (and not in a nice way) by one of the youngest members of the Batter family, who seems to have got the idea that Jan can help him find his grandfather's buried 'Treasure'. Jan has to slap to kid down, but she is intrigued. Jimmy Batter's lost fortune? It's worth more than a tired old house, she thinks, and determines to join the hunt. The kid seemed to be under the impression she had to clues to the location. If only she could remember! Then the money would be hers. She decides to stick around.

Besides, she could do some business while in town. There is an Arms Fair in Manchester that week, and she realises she might pick up some bargains. First, though, she picks up an ugly litte squirt called Bim Turkay, a sometime 'partner' in her guns business. Bim tells her he is there to 'kill two birds with one stone'. One of those birds is Melia.

Bim is an unlikely assassin, but there is money on the table, provided by a consortium of armaments dealers, who haven't forgotten that Melia was responsible for the death of their dear old pal Tryst, (while she was on a previous mission, undercover). Melia, of course, has moved on, and needs prompting to remember the incident. She has other things on her mind - like an attractive young man called John that she happened to meet on the briefest of holidays recently. He is still in Spain, but he promises to join her in Britain later, and also, please, can he help her find a dear friend of his who seems to have disappeared? The victim is called Paul Batter. Now there's a coincidence.

With people so focussed on their own issues, it's no wonder that the continuing pandemic is almost forgotten. The public is getting reckless.