"Mmfff!" said the Inspector, due to a combination of oversized coat and small space having driven her face into her constable's shoulder. She levered herself slightly more upright via the application of pointier elbows.

"I say," she addressed the surrounding aliens, "I seem to have caught my coat on your trap. Would you mind terribly assisting me?" As she spoke, she dug for her quantum spanner just as furiously as she had earlier for her BOOTH key.