‘Lang is rumoured to run a paedophile ring. Him and his brother supply underage boys and girls to a bunch of rich bastards. Politicians, lords and businessmen. They smuggle kids in from group homes and host secret parties at David’s mansion in Essex. The guests are secretly filmed, to entrap them.’

‘Unsubstantiated rumours,’ the Voice said. ‘Street gossip.’

‘There’s more to it than that. I’ve heard that Lang has a taste for young girls as well.’

Mallet tilted his head at Bowman. ‘How do you know that?’

‘I heard it while I was doing an undercover job. Up in Liverpool. No one talks about it publicly, because they’re all shit-scared of the Langs, but it’s well known in the underworld. It’s his dirty secret.’

‘Even if that’s true,’ the Voice said, ‘we can’t threaten to prosecute Lang. It would never stand up in court.’

‘You don’t need to charge him,’ Bowman countered. ‘Just smear his reputation. You lot are experts in destroying lives. You must have a few tricks up your sleeves.’

Casey steepled her delicate fingers on the table. ‘That could work. Lang likes to think of himself as a legitimate businessman, after all. He’ll want to protect that.’

‘I’ll speak to our team,’ the Voice said. ‘See what they can do.’

‘What’s the plan once we’ve questioned Lang?’ asked Bowman.

‘That depends on his level of cooperation.’

‘What about the attack on Freddie?’

‘What about it?’

‘It’s all over the news. Lang is bound to find out that his brother has been poisoned. If he hasn’t found out already. What if he works out what’s afoot and calls off the meeting?’

‘We’ve anticipated that. Scotland Yard has been briefed. They’ve been instructed to withhold details of the investigation for a few days. News outlets have been told that the victim’s identity won’t be made public until his family has been notified. That should buy you enough time to complete your mission.’

Mallet leaned forward and looked round the room. ‘Any questions?’

Loader said, ‘What do you want us to do with Seguma?’

‘He’s a great friend of the British government,’ the Voice responded. ‘Make sure he doesn’t come to harm. That’s priority number one.’

‘Do you want us to bring him back with us?’

‘We can hardly leave him high and dry in Monaco, can we?’ The Voice was undeniably sarky despite its flat neutral tone.

Webb said, ‘Seguma won’t be pleased to see us, if he’s planning to strike a deal with the Kremlin behind our backs. He might cause us problems.’

‘Leave the president to us,’ said the Voice. ‘Just focus on getting Lang to tell us what he knows.’

‘There’s one thing I don’t get,’ Bowman said after a pause. ‘Why would the Russians kill the Lang twins, if they’re supposedly brokering some big deal with them?’