Lilja cut him off. ‘You can start by having a seat.’ She waited until he had obeyed. ‘Let me tell you where things stand. We suspect the perpetrator is one of your party members.’

‘Okay.’ Landertz checked his watch again and then folded his hands and started twiddling his thumbs. ‘I’m not sure what to say to that. I obviously hope you’re wrong.’

‘Does any particular member spring to mind, off the top of your head?’

‘No, who would that be?’

‘I don’t know. But there’s always bad eggs whose views make them stand out and who might even resort to violence to make themselves heard.’

‘I’m sure there are. But unfortunately, that’s not something I would know anything about. And I have to say it’s a bit rich that the first thing you do when the victim turns out to be of foreign extraction is to come here and cast aspersions on our members. I can tell you that our membership base consists primarily of ordinary, upstanding citizens who pay their taxes, recycle and stay home at night watching TV.’

‘Proper model citizens, in other words. Not a xenophobic racist among them.’

‘No, just people who are concerned because the country they helped build is buckling under the weight of mass immigration, which is only going to get worse. That I can promise you. This is nothing compared to what lies ahead.’

‘Since you’re apparently so pressed for time, maybe we should try to stick to the subject. Which is to say, your members. And to save even more time, I suggest you just give me access to your membership lists, so I can go through them at my leisure.’

Landertz looked uncomprehending. ‘But that’s impossible.’

‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way.’ She allowed herself another smile.

‘But you have to understand. It would be political suicide to give you details about our members.’

‘Assuming that it gets out, which is entirely up to you. Either you give it to me now, and it stays between us. Or I go to the prosecutor and come back with a warrant and a press gaggle who will see to it that there are really big headlines about how the supposed law and order party is in fact obstructing a police investigation and protecting a murderer.’

Landertz nodded and took a deep breath before meeting her gaze. ‘All right, then go talk to your prosecutor.’ The smile spreading across his face revealed that he had not only called her bluff, but that he was relishing it.

And he was right. The membership lists of political parties were among the hardest things to get access to, and in this case they didn’t have close to the evidence required.

Landertz stood up, looking at his watch. ‘As I mentioned, I’m short on time and I have to ask you to—’