He sat down on the sofa and said, ‘Thank you, Pet. I couldn’t have done any of this alone.’ Pet looked a little embarrassed and there was a short, awkward silence.

‘No problem,’ she said, finally. ‘I get paid well. What are you trying to achieve, here?’

‘Just to find out who is doing this to me.’

‘Are you sure that is all?’

‘Pretty much.’

‘No desire for revenge?’

He shrugged his shoulders and kept his face impassive.

‘Tom, I’ve been working with Spooks and soldiers for a while now. One thing I have learned is that revenge doesn’t often satisfy those who seek it.’ She spoke earnestly while staring straight at Tom, who averted his gaze up to the ceiling.

‘I don’t know, Pet. I just need to unravel this situation. I can’t just leave it now. The only way back to my old life is to keep ploughing on.’ He let out a deep sigh of exasperation and rubbed his face with his hands.

The moment was broken by a burst of static from the laptop, followed by a curse in Serbian and a rapid-fire burst of indecipherable voices over the laser-bug. They sat up, Pet scrabbling for the laptop and making speedy adjustments on Wavepad. The static cleared, and a voice spoke from the computer’s tinny speaker.

‘Mother, we need food!’ in Serb. Aleks.

Tom couldn’t make out the reply but heard a loud gale of laughter from at least two other males.

A voice he didn’t recognise said, ‘What has the solicitor said?’

Aleks said, ‘He’s shitting himself like a baby. Father’s told him we’re on it.’

‘What’s the pig saying?’ the voice asked.

‘No one knows where Novak is; he’s disappeared. Apparently he has his phone intercepted, emails, bank, everything, and the bastard is still doing nothing,’ Aleks replied.

‘He’ll come soon; he has to. All the police are looking for him and they probably think he killed Ivan. Lucky that we got to Filip before the police got into the house, but it was far too close. Father sent him to Sarajevo, so he’s safe.’

Tom sat up at this news. Was he now a suspect for the murder of Ivan?

‘Is this recording, Pet?’ he asked.

‘Yes, straight onto the hard drive,’ she said. ‘What are they saying?’

‘Filip got away, the bastard,’ Tom said.

A commotion seemed to be occurring inside the flat as new voices were heard.

A gruffer voice came across the speakers, older than the others.

‘Papa, when’s the pig going to come up with something? This is taking too long,’ Aleks said.

‘As soon as Novak puts his head up. He will call me. He’d better, anyway, or he’ll have me to answer to,’ the gruff voice replied.