‘Nah, that’s the sound of the dinner bell in your old people’s home! Off you run, you don’t want to let your soup go cold – isn’t that what they give you, cos you can’t really chew any more?’

‘Cheeky bugger! The French Connection?’

‘Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider.’

‘Wasn’t he the cop – the Chief of Police – in Jaws?’

‘Now you’re getting there.’

‘Yep, I remember now, vaguely. The French Connection – didn’t it start with Gene Hackman in bed with some bird in handcuffs?’

‘Trust you to remember that bit. What I’m talking about is the car, the Lincoln Continental that the villain, Fernando Rey, shipped over to New York from Marseilles.’

Branson paused to nod greetings to some of his team, who’d entered the room for the morning briefing which was due to start in a few minutes. ‘Gene Hackman had it weighed and realized it was wrong – it weighed more than a proper Lincoln should have.’

‘Got it, yes! I remember now, good movie!’

‘It was well brilliant. Yeah, so that’s how the Border Force officer rumbled the Ferrari, because it weighed more than it should have.’

‘Not surprised, with six million quid’s worth of Class-A stashed inside it.’

‘Top-quality cocaine.’

‘Don’t I get any credit for the tip-off?’

‘I suppose so, since you asked so sweetly.’

‘Sod you! How’s the investigation going?’

‘Slowly, thanks to the silence of our courier.’

‘The one who’s been potted?’

‘Yep. Michael Starr. Went no comment in all interviews. So far, the Ferrari’s a ghost car that was en route to a suspect company. LH Classics appears to have no formal management structure. The staff there, one full-time and two part-time mechanics, have all been interviewed. The company computers and phones have been seized. The company’s owned by a Panama shell with nominee directors and a CEO listed as a Swiss citizen, Hermann Perren – but so far the only person of that name we’ve been able to trace was killed in a climbing accident on the Matterhorn nearly thirty years ago.’

‘I presume you’re following the money?’ Grace said. ‘Any progress on the info we’ve given you on Mr Big – the Diamond?’

‘I think we’re getting close to an arrest. We’re all over it, like a rash. Emily Denyer from the Financial Investigation Unit has been seconded to the team.’

‘Smart lady – that’s great.’

‘She’s super-smart – very glad she’s on our side! She’s already done some useful background work, finding out the details on LH Classics. Oh, and there is one possible breakthrough: a member of the public off the same ferry handed in a phone he found lying in the road outside the Customs shed. It’s a burner with Starr’s prints on it, and Digital Forensics have put in a cell-site analysis request on it.’