‘To a chemicals warehouse in Sandouville, about sixteen kilometres from Le Havre. Nazim and his crew will be waiting for it there. The drivers are expecting to unload the crates there, get paid and go home. That isn’t what’s going to happen, unfortunately for them.’

‘Why unfortunately? What will they do to those poor men?’ Margot gasped.

‘Chérie, what do you think?’ Segal replied sadly, then turned back to Ben. ‘The warehouse is owned by ETZ International, which is a front for a variety of terror operations. The official owners don’t exist. The real owners have arranged for it to burn down afterwards. Five hundred gallons of kerosene will make sure there’s no trace left of the missing drivers, or anything that could link back to Nazim and his crew.’

‘That’ll do it,’ Roth said.

‘Meanwhile, the plaster Lamassu will have been removed from the crates and broken open. The fentanyl is contained inside two hundred sealed aluminium drums weighing forty-five kilograms apiece. Nine tons, to be divided into ton-and-a-half payloads aboard six smaller commercial vans driven by Nazim’s men, which will then make their separate ways to Paris. They’ll rendezvous at a secure location in the city and wait for evening. Come nightfall the processing plant will be getting into full swing, subdividing the fentanyl into nine thousand kilo bricks for fast distribution via the jihadist network.’

Ben asked, ‘How the hell do they expect to carry nine tons of merchandise in two hundred metal drums underground through a ventilation shaft at street level without anyone noticing?’

‘Haven’t you been following the news?’ replied Segal. ‘Tomorrow night is Saturday. Every weekend the anti-government disturbances are getting worse. The whole of Paris is braced for another round of anarchy and violence. The police will have their hands full. It’s the perfect diversion for Nazim to do whatever he wants.’ He shook his head. ‘If the authorities think the situation is falling to pieces now, wait until the effect of nine tons of lethal free drugs begins to hit the population of Paris. Things will degenerate very quickly. And that’s just the first shipment. There will be more to come.’

There was silence for a few moments as they deliberated. Roth said, ‘Way I see it, we have two options. Plan A, we hit them at the warehouse as they’re unloading the crates. Plan B, we head back to the city, wait for tomorrow night and jump on them as they make the drop-off.’

Ben didn’t agree. ‘Either of those plans involves us getting into a battle with the full force of Nazim’s men. There are only two of us, remember?’

‘Then we call in the cavalry,’ Roth said. ‘The GIGN boys will be itching to get even after what happened last night.’