At 7.42 a.m., less than an hour since their arrival, Nazim and the remaining terrorists on deck scrambled down the ladder to the boat, which was sitting somewhat lower in the water with nine tons of cargo aboard. The engines roared into life, the ropes were cut and the cruiser sped away from the drifting hull of the cargo vessel, now just a ghost ship. Keeping the boat’s lights turned off he set a wide, sweeping course back towards land. By the grace of Allah, they would not be spotted.

The Normandy coast wasn’t far away. And there, the ultimate victory awaited him.

Chapter 53

By 7.42 a.m., Ben, Roth and the Segals had already long since left the hotel. It had been Ben’s decision to check Margot into a cheap guest house across town, where Nazim’s people couldn’t find her while the three men headed for the port to meet the ship. Once she was safely ensconced in her room and her husband had said his reluctant goodbyes, they jumped back into the Alpina and hustled over to the docks with a few minutes to spare before the ship was expected to come in.

Even before they got there, it was becoming clear that something was wrong. Police sirens were wailing all over Le Havre and they were overtaken by several Gendarmerie cars that were obviously in a great hurry, heading in the same direction as them. Roth said, ‘Hello. Wonder what’s up?’

Ben didn’t like it. ‘Something tells me we’ll find out soon enough.’

And they did. The Port of Le Havre was teeming with police. Sirens were whooping and screeching and flashing lights everywhere illuminated the greyness of the dawn with swirling reds and blues. ‘What do you suppose has happened?’ Segal asked anxiously from the back seat.

Ben parked the Alpina a discreet distance away from the action, killed the engine and said, ‘Wait here.’ He stepped out into the drizzling rain and walked from the car, mingling with the crowds of dock workers and police. The port was a fairly frenetic place at any time, but now there was an electric tingle in the air that told him something serious had happened.

As a docker in orange overalls and a hard hat came past, Ben stopped him and asked in French, ‘Excuse me, but do you know what’s going on?’ The guy was about sixty. He gave Ben a bemused look as if he couldn’t quite believe it himself, and replied, ‘A ship was attacked offshore earlier this morning. We’ve only just heard. The coastguard patrol found it dead in the water about twenty minutes ago. They say it was pirates.’

‘What?’