‘As your friend has indicated, we have an interest in the same case. Prior to her death, Frau Blüm was investigating certain property transactions involving the Eitel group of companies, yes?’

Fabel gave a non-committal shrug.

The Slav smiled. ‘These property deals were established to benefit Klimenko International, which is a Kiev-based consortium. These premises we are in have only recently been vacated by Klimenko International.’

‘These deals were illegal?’ asked Fabel.

The Slav waved his hand dismissively. ‘Technically? Probably. They depended on information being passed on to Klimenko from official sources in the Hamburg government, perhaps more predictively than the authorities would have liked.’

‘Let me guess, the focus of these deals would be the Neuer Horizont partnership?’

‘You are perhaps more familiar with the situation than I thought. Yes, Herr Fabel, that is correct. There are pieces of real estate all around Hamburg that are, in themselves, of little commercial value. But once it becomes known that an area is due for regeneration or high-value development, then the value of the ground itself on which each piece of real estate stands appreciates spectacularly.’

‘So Klimenko International and Neuer Horizont stand to make a fortune by buying cheap and early.’

‘That was the idea. I will tell you something now that I will never again repeat and which you will never be able to prove. Klimenko International is a front for my government. The Ukraine is a poor country, Herr Fabel. It has, however, the potential to become a very wealthy and influential part of Europe. There are those who would use any – and I mean any – tool or weapon at their disposal to ensure that this potential is fulfilled. Klimenko International was one such tool. To answer your question … the reason I was at Frau Blüm’s apartment was to find out if there was anything there that would incriminate my government or which would aid me in fulfilling my mission here. I will explain the objectives of that mission shortly. I thought there was a chance that your people might have missed some paperwork or information that would not have been immediately associated with the killing but would relate to the Klimenko operation. I underestimated you.’

‘That wasn’t all down to us. Whoever killed Angelika Blüm wiped her computer and, we suspect, removed files from her apartment.’

The Slav stared blankly at Fabel and ran his hand across his scalp, palming the coarse white bristle; then he continued in his heavily accented, grammatically perfect German: ‘There is a third element at work here. One of which you are already, in part, aware.’ He paused for a second, as if punctuating the delivery of the information to emphasise the importance of what was to follow. ‘The front man here for the Klimenko operation was Pavlo Klimenko, the putative head of the consortium. Klimenko is, in fact, an officer of the SBU secret service with an impressive service history with the military. Unfortunately for those behind this “enterprise”, other interests had already been at work for some time. You know the name Vasyl Vitrenko?’