My immediate instinct was to return there at once and forget meeting Pritchard, but I rejected the idea just as quickly. Slavin’s death implicated me as the traitor, and unless I gave a plausible explanation for it, Pritchard would come hunting my hide with the full might of the Service. I’d have to give him the impression we were working together, while at the same time not allowing him to draw too close. It would be a delicate balancing act, especially if my thoughts about the rifle were correct, in which case he’d stick to me like glue. I could, of course, neglect to tell him about the rifle. But Pritchard had clout, and I might be able to use some of it to get some more answers.

I picked my shirt from the carpet and reached for the cigarettes in the pocket. There were twelve left in the pack. I wondered if I would find Anna before they had all been smoked. I changed the focus of the thought: I would find Anna before they had all been smoked. The phrase from Slavin’s interview that I had been trying to avoid thinking about once again slipped into my mind: ‘the one true love of her life’.

A muscle in my stomach tensed. It was partly hunger - except for a handful of peanuts at the Yacht Club, I hadn’t eaten anything since getting off the plane. It was partly fatigue - I’d been under huge strain and had only managed a few hours’ sleep. But I knew that it was also partly a sudden, overpowering longing for Anna. Something had awoken when Isabelle had touched me, but I had to put it to sleep. It didn’t matter if Anna had loved me, or I her - that was over twenty years ago, and a lot of blood had passed under the bridge since. She was a highly dangerous professional who had gone to extraordinary lengths to betray me, and who had almost certainly had a hand in murdering Father. This was not a woman to long for. This was a woman I had to find.

I finished my smoke, then felt for the case beneath the chair and lifted out the rifle. The night hadn’t been a complete waste, after all: I had found this. Perhaps, if I looked hard enough, it might offer up some clues as to what was going on.

It was in perfect condition. Even in the dim light, the laminated hardwood had a noticeable sheen. That meant it hadn’t been used yet - gum would have been applied to lessen its visibility in the field otherwise. I wasn’t sure if that meant anything, but I stored the thought anyway.