‘I can imagine why,’ said Fabel.

‘I have to add,’ said Maria, ‘that the only reason the Ukrainians are giving more weight to Vitrenko’s disappearance than a standard missing person is his importance as an anti-terrorism and organised-crime specialist. As far as they’re concerned, the only crime he has committed is to desert his post.’

‘What about the Berkut … this counter-terrorist unit to which he belonged?’ asked Fabel.

‘Basically they’re the Ukraine’s all-purpose riot-squad and counter-terrorism unit. Concerns about their conduct have been raised by Amnesty International. They are run by the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior. From what I can gather, Vitrenko’s brief went far beyond the Berkut’s usual operational parameters. He was a high-flyer with an expertise across the board of civil, political and terrorist crime. The Ukraine has a real problem with organised crime and there are massive tensions between the minority Russian and majority Ukrainian populations. Added to this, they have probably the highest incidence of serial murderers in the world. Which is why they lead the world in tracking down serials.’

Fabel rubbed the twenty-hour-old stubble on his jaw. ‘If Vitrenko’s father is on a one-man crusade to track him down, who is the girl who is working with him? And why?’

‘I think I have an answer for that,’ said Maria, again shuffling through her notes to find the relevant fact. ‘I suspect she is Lieutenant Martina Onopenko. She was, until recently, an officer in the Kiev police.’

‘A detective?’

‘No … uniform branch. But she has some military experience. It also turns out she is the younger sister of the journalist who was killed. She, apparently, shares the old guy’s conviction that it is truly Vitrenko who is guilty of her sister’s killing. She resigned from the police force when they refused to reopen the case.’

‘It’s an unlikely partnership,’ mused Fabel. ‘The sister of a victim and the father of the chief suspect …’

Maria shrugged. ‘I’m merely assuming that’s who your girl is. They certainly were active together in the Ukraine after Vitrenko’s disappearance.’ She handed Fabel a head-and-shoulders photograph of a young woman. ‘I had this e-mailed to me by our Ukrainian friends …’

Fabel examined the photograph. In many ways the girl in the photograph was similar to the old Ukrainian’s assistant, but the hair was darker and the face more oval.

‘She looks similar, but this isn’t her …’

‘I know. This is the murdered Kiev journalist. Valerie Onopenko.’

‘Then this is definitely the sister of the woman with Vitrenko senior. This entire case seems to be about bloody families.’

‘Speaking of which –’ Werner eased to the front of the gathered team – ‘I checked out our friends the Eitels. I know we’re not looking at them directly for the murders, but they both have solid alibis for the first killing. The father has a corroborated alibi for the second and Norbert Eitel for the third. I’ve spoken to some of our financial and corporate crime guys on the second floor, but they say they’re not looking at the Eitels for anything at the moment, although they are now taking an active interest in these allegations of property fraud. I’ve handed over a copy of our file. They were able to give me a full breakdown of the registered companies and interests controlled by the Eitels or in which they have an interest. And, right enough, they are directors of Neuer Horizont.’ It was Werner’s turn to flick through his notes. ‘They also have an interest in Galicia Trading. It is a holding company that seems to be doing on-paper trade with the Eitel Group’s property wing. It’s this news that has whetted the appetite of the financial and corporate crime squad. I’ve been able to establish that Galicia Trading is co-directed by Wolfgang Eitel, Norbert Eitel, Pavlo Klimenko and an American businessman called John Sturchak. Galicia Trading has been buying quite a bit of Hamburg real estate recently.’