“Becker pulls the child out of class. It’s a little girl, six years old. He takes us all to this dam, where there’s a road across the top. Stops the car in the middle, pulls the girl out of the car….” Katharina stopped speaking and just breathed for a few seconds, building up the courage to continue. “He goes to the edge and…” She pressed her lips together. “He holds the girl over the edge and dangles her. Two hundred feet up.”

JD’s face was thunderous. The rest of the team were muttering curses, their faces pale.

“The girl’s screaming,” grated Katharina. “But what I’m never going to get out of my head is the woman’s screams. She was absolutely hysterical. She confessed everything, straight away. She promised him anything, everything, because she knew he wasn’t bluffing.” Katharina lifted her head and looked at us. “He would have dropped her daughter, if she hadn’t broken. That’s the sort of person he is.”

“Didn’t you report him?” asked Gina.

“Of course. And an investigation was launched. But then his higher-ups quietly closed it down. Becker was just too good: he got results and that was all they cared about. By the time they realized what he was, he’d used his power at the BND to gather blackmail information on most of the politicians in Germany. Now everyone’s too scared to take him on.” She looked around at us. “Why does he want you?”

We told her about the mission in Berlin that ended with JD being captured. Gabriel showed her the photo of the guy who’d sold Becker the old Soviet document. “Becker killed him as soon as the deal was done,” he told her.

“I know this guy,” said Katharina. “Gennady Stasevich. He’s Russian mafia. Flew in from New York a week ago with the Malakovs.”

“Who?” asked JD.

“Russian mafia family, Vasiliy, his son Luka, Luka’s girlfriend, plus some bodyguards and your man Gennady - he’s one of Luka’s underlings. We’re keeping an eye on them while they’re in Berlin but it seems like they’re just on vacation. Gennady must have tried to do a deal while they were here.”

“This guy Luka might know what was in the file that Becker bought,” said Gabriel.

“Getting to speak to him won’t be easy,” said Katharina. “He’s surrounded by bodyguards and they’re going to be on high alert since Gennady was killed.” She thought for a moment. “Luka’s taking his girlfriend to the ballet tonight. Someone could try to intercept him there.”

“I’ll do it,” said Danny quietly. Everyone looked at him. “I’m the only one whose photo isn’t on the news.”