P.C. Reed answered a call to respond to a burglar alarm in Mike Baldwin's flat in September 1981. Hilda Ogden had just been taken on as his cleaner and had yet to come to terms with the vagaries of his alarm system, failing to turn the key in the control box before the twenty seconds allowed for the task was used up.
P.C. Reed found Hilda about to leave the flat with one of Mike's suits in a bag which he'd asked her to take to the dry-cleaners. She got flustered when he questioned her and as a result only told him she was Mike's cleaner part-way through the conversation. Mike was summoned and was impatient with Reed who wanted proof of his identity but was unable to provide any as his driving licence was back in the office and he'd sent his passport off for renewal. Reed refused to allow Mike to leave the flat until his identity was confirmed and he was further warned that there was a £25 fee for a false call-out!