Quickly enough, at least, for him to realise that the attacker was on top of him and ready to strike again, this time with a taser. Instinctively Martin jerked his knee up between the killer’s legs, but this merely made the assailant writhe rather than bend double. At least they dropped the taser, which meant that both of them were now scrabbling for the weapon on the bare metal floor.

With the powerful blow to the side of his head still affecting his reaction speed, Martin lost the contest. Although the taser had fallen closer to him, it was now back in the killer’s hand. The other hand was gripping Martin by the throat with a force he would not have believed possible; the arteries in his neck were being squeezed.

Blue flashes flickered before Martin’s eyes.

The attacker had already activated the taser, now just a few centimetres from his head, ready to shoot ten thousand volts through his muscles. Martin felt the damp breath of his opponent in his face and wondered how on earth this thin, delicate person could possibly be responsible for all those crimes that had been committed on the Sultan. Abduction, rape, murder. He thrashed out again to shake off the killer, but found himself hitting thin air.

Where? Where are you?

The hooded attacker was no longer above him, but must have moved to the side to ram the taser into his flank, like before on the naturist deck. As a warning.

Timmy is dead. Next time you will be too.

But the time for warnings had passed.

Instinctively Martin pressed both hands to his body and kicked in the direction where he suspected the killer to be. Then he heard a horrific scream, followed by the noise of crunching bones.

Martin, who again had failed to hit his attacker, pushed himself up on his elbows and now could at least see some clearer outlines with one eye.

The killer on the ground.

Elena beside the killer.

With a laptop in her hand and her body trembling, she stood beside a motionless figure at the bottom of the platform. The head lay in a red puddle slowly growing bigger beneath the hood.

‘I… I…’

Elena was gasping, unable to believe what she’d done.

‘I aimed for the head… and…’ As Elena wiped the tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her dressing gown, she dropped the notebook. It hit the floor with a clunk. She pointed at the head lying at an unnatural angle. The attacker’s neck had been broken in the fall from the steps.

Martin crawled on all fours to the body and removed the hood from the head.

‘No!’ Elena screamed. Her horror at the sight of the corpse intensified once more, causing her to pass out and collapse next to the body. Martin, who managed to cushion the fall by thrusting his arm beneath her head, felt for her pulse.