‘Over there!’ he hissed. Raising the radio to his lips, he pressed the transmit button and spoke the helicopter’s call sign twice.

Fabel found himself juggling radio conversations: he was keeping the Präsidium informed: an MEK unit was already on its way, but it would take nearly an hour before they were there. He told Kassel to sit tight and passed on the details of the location to the helicopter pilot and also to Sülberg and the Cuxhaven SchuPo units. The pilot confirmed that they would be able to land near the barns.

‘No. I don’t want to alert MacSwain to our presence too early. It could cost Anna her life. Fly clear of them and come down close to the main road. We’ll join up with Sülberg there.’

Fabel radioed Sülberg, who gave him a map reference. He turned to Werner, Maria and Paul. Each of them had a look of hard determination on their face. Paul had something extra: an anxiety that jarred with Fabel’s instincts and made him feel decidedly uneasy.

The helicopter set down in a clearing close to the main road. Fabel realised, as he ran, half crouched, from beneath the slicing blades of the chopper, that they were very close to where the two girls had been dumped. The untidy, squat form of Sülberg came running towards Fabel and the others.

‘Our cars are on the main road. Let’s go.’

Sülberg ordered the patrol cars to kill their headlights as soon as they hit the dirt track that led to the barns. A driver, Sülberg, Fabel and Maria were in the lead vehicle. The track was pitted and clearly seldom if ever used; the green and white Mercedes lurched wildly as it engaged its erratic topography. They approached a bend where they were shielded from the barns by a high, unkempt hedge. Sülberg ordered the driver to stop. The other three patrol cars pulled in behind.

Sülberg and Fabel went on ahead, crouching to keep their bodies concealed behind the hedge. There were two large BMWs parked, empty, in front of the barn. MacSwain was not alone.

To one side of the building was a largish window that spilled a cheerless, pale light out into the night, but its angle prevented Fabel and Sülberg from seeing inside. They carefully made their way back to where Werner, Maria, Paul and the four Cuxhaven SchuPos were waiting. They huddled into a circle, like some American football team choosing a game-plan.

‘Werner, you and Hauptkommissar Sülberg go around to the back and see if there’s a way in there. Paul, you and I will take the main door. Maria, you take a position out to the side, with a view of that side window, in case anyone makes a break for it that way.’ He looked at Sülberg before addressing the Cuxhaven officers. Sülberg nodded his consent. ‘You two cover the other side of the barn. Just make sure, if anything comes out, that it’s not one of us before you start shooting. And you two –’ Fabel indicated the remaining SchuPos – ‘take up positions on either side of Oberkommissarin Klee. The WSP have the route back to the boat covered.’