‘Come on,’ said MacSwain without impatience, ‘I’ve something to show you.’

Anna gave a small involuntary shiver as she stepped out of the car, although the evening was far from chilly. MacSwain missed it, because he was reaching into the back seat to remove the wicker hamper. He closed the door and used the key-ring fob to lock the car and set the alarm. He extended an elbow, the hamper in his other hand, indicating that Anna should take his arm. She smiled and did so. They walked along the pontoon towards Überseebrücke. Suddenly MacSwain stopped beside a small but sleek and expensive-looking motor cruiser.

‘Here we are … she’s small, but she’s comfortable and she’s fast. Nine point three metres. Three-metre-plus beam.’

Anna stood and stared at the craft. It was pristine white with a single blue line along its bow. In prestige and elegance, it was the water-going equivalent of MacSwain’s Porsche.

‘Beautiful …’ Anna’s voice was dead and empty. At that moment she didn’t have a clue what she would do next.

‘Fuck! He’s got a boat.’ Paul stared wildly at Maria. ‘If Anna gets on it and he takes it out of harbour, we’ll lose them. Shit. We never thought he’d have a boat. I’m calling in the team to pull her out of there …’

Maria Klee frowned. ‘But that’ll blow the whole operation. We can’t arrest him for anything … he hasn’t done anything wrong. All we’ll succeed in doing is blowing Anna’s cover and alerting MacSwain to the fact that he is under suspicion. And Anna isn’t calling us in yet.’

‘Christ, Maria … if he gets her out onto the water she is totally unprotected. We can’t leave her exposed like that …’ He grabbed the radio. Maria placed her hand over his.

‘Wait, Paul,’ said Maria. ‘We can get the Wasserschutzpolizei and maybe even a helicopter out here. We’re sitting smack bang in the middle between the WSP river police Kommissariat on the Landungsbrücken and the Wache in the Speicherstadt … we can get water-borne support out here in minutes. Move the team in but keep them out of sight. If we suspect Anna’s in trouble then we can move them in before he clears his berth.’ She snapped up her cell phone in a decisive gesture. ‘I’ll get on to the Wasserschutzpolizei …’

Anna’s mind raced. This was an element she had not factored into her plan. She simply stared blankly at the sleek lines of the craft as if she were looking at a loaded weapon pointing in her direction. Her guard was down and MacSwain noticed.

‘Sara? Is there something wrong? I hoped you’d be impressed …’

MacSwain’s voice snapped Anna back to the task in hand. She turned to him and smiled weakly. ‘I’m sorry. It’s just that boats aren’t really my thing.’

‘What?’ MacSwain mimicked shocked surprise. ‘You’re from Hamburg, aren’t you? The sea’s in your blood!’ He climbed down the small metal ladder, carefully carrying the hamper in his free hand. He placed the hamper on the deck and held his hand out to help Anna down from the quay.