‘I tried the landline first,’ Françoise Schell said. ‘That was the phone she called me on. But there was no reply. Now I know why, of course. So then I called the mobile, and you answered. But I still don’t get it. Why didn’t she go to the police? Why come to me?’

‘You heard her,’ Ben said. ‘She didn’t know what to do. She was scared and confused. Maybe she felt she needed to gather more information before making any move. Maybe she wasn’t completely sure that her suspicions were right. Maybe she respected her boss too much to want to believe he was capable of trafficking with criminals. She saw you as someone with knowledge and connections that might be able to help.’

‘Maybe. But that doesn’t tell us what she overheard.’

‘A shipment,’ Ben said. ‘That’s the key to understanding this.’

She nodded. ‘That was the thing that caught my attention, too. The rest of it is just run-of-the-mill stuff that I hear all the time, conspiracies, paranoia, people convincing themselves of all kinds of crazy delusions. But crazy people rarely mention anything this specific.’

‘It has to have come out of the conversation she witnessed. Or else it was what made her suspicious enough to sneak into the warehouse to listen in. Either way it’s obviously part of this criminal conspiracy she’s talking about. A shipment of what?’

She shrugged. ‘Ancient artifacts, I suppose. The objects you could see in the background. I can’t see what else it could refer to, can you? If we had a consignment number I could probably run a trace on it. I know some people.’

Ben shook his head. ‘Segal doesn’t need Nazim and his connections for that. Exporting recovered historic art treasures from those parts of the world is what he’s been doing for years. That’s his whole business. And in any case, what could be less threatening and sinister than a cargo of old bits of stone? Museums are full of them.’

‘Then what makes this shipment so special?’ she asked. ‘Why would it have to be stopped, according to her?’

‘You’re the one who’s researched all this,’ Ben says. ‘You tell me.’

‘All I’ve researched is what’s in my article. I expect you’ve already read it?’

‘It’s been a busy day.’

‘It wouldn’t hurt for you to have a basic grounding in what we’re dealing with here.’

‘Walk me through the main points.’