Martin’s footsteps were muffled by the carpet; Bonhoeffer didn’t hear him coming. The captain suspected nothing as he kicked away the holder of the heavy entrance door. Martin grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back as the door closed slowly.

‘Hey, what’s—’ a shocked Bonhoeffer asked.

He didn’t get any further. The first blow to the stomach took the captain’s breath away. The second broke his nose.

24

There was a crunching sound as if the captain’s nasal septum had been put in a nutcracker. Streams of blood poured from Daniel Bonhoeffer’s face.

He didn’t appear to feel any pain at first; at least he wasn’t screaming. But he collapsed to the ground with both elbows held protectively in front of his face.

Martin grabbed him by the collar and hauled him like a wet sack into the outer corridor that circled the planetarium, dragging him as far as the lavatories. The captain’s attempts to dig his feet into the carpet were fruitless. Martin pulled him into the gents’ and hurled him against a wall of bright tiles opposite the row of washbasins.

He checked the urinals and cubicles. All empty, as might be expected given that there wasn’t an official function on and the officers were already in the planetarium for their meeting.

When he returned to Bonhoeffer he stood beside the captain and gave him a kick.

‘What’s going on here?’ he yelled at him.

‘I don’t know what—’ Bonhoeffer was holding his nose and mouth with his left hand. Without much success. Dark blood dripped through his fingers and down his chin.

Martin slowly and menacingly clenched his fist.

‘Hey, chill. Stay calm, please. I know you’ve got every reason to be pissed off, but please let me explain my part in all this,’ Bonhoeffer pleaded, sounding as if he were suffering from a serious cold.

‘Your part?’ Martin bellowed. ‘Anouk Lamar was raped.’ He had to refrain from taking another swipe at the captain.

‘I know, and it’s horrific.’

Bonhoeffer looked at the smooth wall for something to help pull himself up. A stainless steel hair dryer was out of reach.

‘Two mothers. Two children. They disappear. And both times the man in charge on the ship is you.’

‘I can see how that might sound a bit suspicious.’

‘Sound? It is suspicious. After all, you found Anouk again. You!’

‘That’s just a terrible coincidence.’

Daniel had made it to his feet and was staring at the mirror in horror. He looked like the sole survivor from a terrible accident.

‘Coincidence?’ Martin barked. For a split second he was back outside the Warsaw prison from which he’d been released five years ago. He felt just as angry, just as desperate. Just as empty.