‘The sea was rough that night and at the end of my shift I was on my way to the infirmary to check that everything was okay, when the girl ran into me. At first I thought she’d got lost in the dark, but she looked strangely familiar. What was also odd was that she wasn’t wearing the bracelet that all children have around their wrists here on board – a rose-coloured plastic band with a tiny microchip. This allows them access to the area reserved for children and they can use it to buy soft drinks, sweets and ice creams at the bars.’

‘And personal data is stored on the chip?’ Julia asked, without averting her gaze from the picture of Anouk that Daniel had handed her. It had been taken in a room flooded with artificial light; in the background she saw a white cupboard with a red cross.

‘Precisely. But once we’d got to the infirmary we were soon able to establish her identity, even without the bracelet. When I took her to Dr Beck her first thought was that it could be Anouk Lamar, and then we got confirmation by comparing her to a passenger photo taken two months ago.’

‘Unbelievable.’ Julia rounded her lips as she breathed out. ‘What about the mother?’ she asked.

‘She’s still missing.’

‘And the girl’s father?’

‘Died of cancer three years ago. There’s just a grandfather left near Washington.’

‘How did he react to the news that his granddaughter’s still alive?’

‘The granddad? He didn’t. We haven’t told him.’

Julia frowned in disbelief. ‘Why ever not?’

‘For the same reason we haven’t spoken to the authorities yet.’

‘What, you mean the police haven’t been informed?’

‘No. Not in Germany, nor in the UK or the US. If we’d done that, we wouldn’t be on our way to New York now.’

‘Hang on,’ Julia said, stretching out the ‘a’ for an unbelievably long time. ‘A young girl, first declared missing some weeks ago, then dead, suddenly turns up again as if from nowhere – and it’s all swept under the carpet? Just like that?’

That’s why there weren’t any reports in the newspapers.

‘Not just like that,’ Daniel objected. ‘It’s very complicated. You don’t understand.’ Tears welled in the captain’s eyes. ‘Shit, you don’t even understand why I’m telling you all of this.’

That was true. She’d come to see him to discuss her concerns about Lisa and now the conversation had turned into a confession by her godfather.

‘Enlighten me then,’ Julia said softly.

If they’d been standing closer Julia would have reached for his hand.

‘I’m sorry, I’m at my wits’ end. I’m being blackmailed and I don’t know what to do.’

‘Blackmailed? How? And by whom?’