‘How so, sweetie? Didn’t I tell you I’d be accompanying you on your big journey?’

Now Querky laughed too. ‘I’ve got the screwdriver, the spray can and the list of security cameras for you. Listen, Lisa, I’ll tell you where and how you’ll find everything!’

16

Nautical time: 08.30

49°40’ N, 07°30’ W

Speed: 27 knots, Wind: 15 knots

Swell: 1.5–4 feet

Distance from Southampton: 219.6 nautical miles

Celtic Sea

On the steel door it said ‘CREW ONLY’, and the red paintwork was sufficient to warn unauthorised people that they were unwelcome here.

Dr Elena Beck swiped her key card through a reader, prompting a buzzing that sounded like an electric razor.

‘Let’s get one thing straight,’ she said, pushing the door open with her shoulder, ‘I don’t think it’s a particularly good idea to let a strange man see her…’

‘Really?’ Martin said. ‘And I thought that fierce look was because you missed out on giving me an injection yesterday.’

The doctor was expressionless.

‘But,’ she said, continuing her train of thought, ‘I’m very pleased that a psychologist is going to look after Anouk; someone who knows about violence and traumatised victims. That girl can do with all the help she can get.’

He followed her up a high doorstep and into a brightly lit, narrow corridor.

On deck A, just above the waterline, the service corridors had very little in common with the passenger area. You walked on linoleum instead of thick carpet, the walls were painted grey and you’d search in vain for framed pictures.

‘Where’s our coward, then?’ Martin asked. He was tired and felt as if he hadn’t slept for even an hour. After his shower yesterday he’d lain naked on a bed far too large for one person, and stared at the ceiling until the sun rose over the Atlantic again. Then he’d taken his first pill and picked up the phone to give Bonhoeffer hell and demand when he’d finally be able to see Anouk Lamar. Now it was shortly after half past eight nautical time (on the westward transatlantic route the clocks were put back by an hour every night); in total he’d had to wait three hours before Dr Beck came to fetch him from his cabin.

‘Are you referring to the captain? Why he’s not accompanying us?’ She walked half a pace ahead of him, her blond plait bobbing from shoulder to shoulder, and the soles of her sneakers squeaking. Under her left arm was a clipboard and her officer’s hat.

‘He’s got an officers’ meeting in the planetarium and so asked me to fill in for him. He has a lot on his plate.’

Martin giggled. ‘I can well imagine. A child abduction like this can keep you awake at night, can’t it?’