Morag sighed. ‘It wasn’t a question of if one of the guys got kidnapped. It became a question of when. I was getting phone calls with guys offering us fifty thousand dollars to go fix control consoles in Libya, but it was just too dangerous for a Scotsman to set foot over there. The guys decided to retire after we got a very good offer for our diagnostic equipment and spare parts inventory.’

‘Who from?’ James asked.

‘My memory’s not what it was,’ Morag said. ‘Stocky little Asian fellow with a Brummie accent. God, what was his name?’

‘Martin Jones?’ James suggested.

‘Yes,’ Morag said. ‘Lovely fellow. Most of his people called him Uncle. He took us all out for wonderful Thai food after we signed the deal.’

‘Cool,’ James said. ‘So when did you last see Kam and Gordon?’

‘Chris’s funeral, I suppose. They’d both moved down south, because they were always flying in and out of Heathrow. We’d courier parts to their hotels from our warehouse in Aberdeen, but I’d only see them in the flesh a couple of times a year.’

‘Did they have family?’

‘Chris was the family man. Three kids, seven grandkids. Lovely wife, who I still play bowls with twice a week. Frankly, I was stunned when Chris turned up dead in a hotel room.’

James wondered if she suspected foul play, but he was posing as an officer linked to the investigation, so he’d blow his cover if he asked.

‘And the other two, Kam and Gordon?’

‘Kam was divorced. Two daughters, but the break-up was horrible and I don’t think he sees much of them. Gordon, well …’ Morag paused for a sharp intake of breath. ‘I’m fairly certain he was homosexual.’

‘Right,’ James said, grinning at the un-PCness of her tone. ‘Well you’ve been very generous with your time, Mrs Henderson. I’ll try not to bother you again.’

‘Oh, I’m a lonely old bird,’ Morag said cheerfully. ‘You can bother me all you like.’

‘Did you follow that?’ James asked Ryan, after he’d hung up.

‘Most of it,’ Ryan said. ‘So Uncle bought up all the spare parts and a bunch of OME equipment. One of the three guys who can fix the control consoles is murdered in a hotel a few miles from here. The other two are missing, presumably murdered too.’

James shook his head. ‘What use are two dead engineers?’ he asked. ‘What use are all those OME control consoles to Uncle if there’s nobody alive who can fix them?’

Ryan nodded thoughtfully. ‘So what then?’

‘They say Islamic State is the wealthiest terrorist group in history. You know why?’ James asked.

‘Oil?’ Ryan guessed.