‘Liaising with the British mission to the EU, plus a bit of catching up with old friends.’

‘Timber Wolf being the only one?’

‘Not quite.’ She sipped her wine. ‘I wasn’t sure whether to tell you since it’s personal and probably unconnected with the case.’

‘A woman.’

‘Naturally. A French official, Monique something, forty-one, unmarried, part of the French mission to the EU. They too met in Geneva. She’s part of Timber Wolf’s cyber footprint because they also knew each other in Geneva and they still have occasional dealings, more official than Gareth’s sort. He pops up as being a contact of both of them.’

‘And he’s having an affair with her?’

‘Probably, knowing Gareth. It’s not absolutely clear, though it would doubtless be easy enough to find out if you were to do a proper job on both of them.’

Charles didn’t want to think about that. ‘So what do you conclude about Gareth and Timber Wolf?’

‘That they meet as and when he says they do, that they must talk about something, that it’s possible that Timber Wolf talks as Gareth says and also possible that Gareth consciously or unconsciously exaggerates or puts words into Timber Wolf’s mouth.’

‘And you think he does?’

She looked at him for a while, then sighed. ‘I think it’s more likely that he is exaggerating than that Timber Wolf is saying exactly what Gareth says he says. Partly for the reasons I gave in Swinbrook and partly because it’s too good to be true, all this bottom line stuff. I just don’t see why Timber Wolf should suddenly start doing it. He’s got nothing to gain, he’s hitherto been an evangelist for the EU project, for a USE, United States of Europe, and so far as I can see he doesn’t talk to anyone else in this way. I suspect Gareth not so much of fabricating as of embroidering, perhaps embroidering hugely, thereby hugely enhancing his own career, as he hopes. And at the same time providing excellent cover for seeing his mistress. Note that none of his trips are day trips, which they easily could be. He always stays a night, sometimes two.’

‘And what about expenses?’ asked Charles. ‘Is Timber Wolf taking money and, if so, for what? By your account, he can’t have any real expenses beyond perhaps the odd cab fare to the restaurant. Which he wouldn’t notice anyway on his salary. Gareth pays for their meals but his claims are way over what even the most exorbitant Brussels lunches cost. So where is that money going? Either Gareth’s on the fiddle, which I find hard to believe – he doesn’t need the money – or it’s going to Timber Wolf in undeclared payments for product. In which case, why not declare it?’