And it was, more than ever, now that Ben had run out of other options. If the ex-Delta operative knew anything about why US military intel had wrongly reported Nazim al-Kassar as being dead, maybe he had other information that could lead Ben in the right direction to find him. At this point, Ben didn’t care if he had to scour the earth to hunt for Nazim.

Keegan said, ‘I said he won’t talk to you by phone. But he’ll agree to a face to face. On his terms only.’

‘Which are?’

‘You have to go to him,’ Keegan replied. And then he told Ben where he’d have to go.

‘That’s got to be three thousand miles away,’ Ben said. Then had to remind himself that just a moment earlier he’d been prepared to travel the globe in search of Nazim.

‘Four thousand miles,’ Keegan corrected him with a chuckle. ‘Cost of doing business.’

‘What the hell’s he doing in the US Virgin Islands?’

‘Playing golf and fishing with all the other retired lazy bastards, I suppose. How the fuck should I know? So what shall I tell my contact?’

‘Tell him I’m on my way.’

‘And what about the favour you’re going to do your old mate in return for all this? Quid pro quo, remember?’

‘Some other time,’ Ben said, and hung up the call before Keegan could swear at him.

Alone again, the house seemed oppressively dark and empty. There was nothing more Ben could do here. He retraced his steps back downstairs and outside, across the park and over the wall to the car. It was nearly eleven o’clock. Sitting at the wheel he pulled out his smartphone again, this time to check flights to the US Virgin Islands. He found one leaving Paris before seven the next morning, sixteen hours end to end, with one connection in Miami and landing at Cyril E. King Airport on the Caribbean island of St Thomas sometime early evening, local time. He was reluctant to abort his hunt in order to go running halfway around the world, but he’d already admitted to himself that he had no choice.

Whether Roth would pay off was another question, one that Ben could worry about when he got there. If nothing else, a few hours on a plane might give him time to think.