‘This one here.’ Gerlinde removed it from a drinks holder set into the armrest of her wheelchair. ‘As you can see from the almost-empty batteries it must have been in permanent use.’ She switched on the little torch and demonstrated its weak, barely visible beam.

‘I would have told you about this much earlier if you hadn’t dashed out of my cabin like a Dervish, just because I mentioned the name Bonhoeffer.’

Martin gave her a wary look.

‘The teddy wasn’t the only thing that Anouk threw in the bin.’

‘Okay, fine. So she also had a torch on her when she was found?’

Besides the teddy.

Gerlinde nodded. ‘So you’re not as dense as you always seem.’

‘Oh, yes, I am. What’s it supposed to mean?’

‘That there’s finally some proof for my Bermuda Deck theory.’

Martin recalled the term, underlined twice, on the board in Gerlinde’s study.

‘What the hell is the Bermuda Deck?’ he made the mistake of asking. He’d offered the old lady a perfect opportunity, which she promptly made use of.

‘I’ll tell you in a sec. But first a question of my own: Why is the girl being hidden?’

‘If the ship is seized it’ll cost them millions,’ Martin said, gesturing to the door. ‘Please, Frau Dobkowitz…’

‘And jeopardise the deal with the Chilean investor, correct. But sooner or later the FBI’s going to come rushing on board, isn’t it?’

‘Not if the girl vanishes again.’

‘Yes, she will. Of course she’ll vanish again. But not until they’ve got a cover-up they can present the authorities with.’

‘I’ve heard the captain say something similar,’ Martin muttered, but unfortunately not softly enough to prevent Gerlinde from hearing.

‘Bonhoeffer?’ Gerlinde crowed irately. ‘Don’t believe a word he says. He’s deep in it too. Let me tell you what I think. No one’s intending to kill the girl. The poor child just has to disappear as quickly as possible back to where she came from and in a way that doesn’t induce the authorities to comb every nook and cranny of this boat looking for her.’

‘How’s that going to happen then?’ Martin asked, now curious after all.

‘By giving the police the wrong culprit and the wrong hiding place, to divert them from the right culprits and hiding place.’

‘Why should the cruise line go to such an effort?’

Martin took off his boots in the hope that this would be a clear signal. If it didn’t work he’d have to push the old woman out himself.

‘Because the Sultan’s real business is not transporting passengers, but what happens on the Bermuda Deck. Look.’

From underneath her she pulled out a transparent sleeve with a pile of typewritten pages. ‘This is precisely the topic of the book I’ve been working on for years with Gregor.’