‘It’s a rush job,’ Torgau said. ‘And as you two are still out and about and haven’t had a score yet tonight – for which reason you must be hungry – it seems too good an opportunity to miss. Now listen … as far as I’m concerned, the Lorna Cunningham incident was a one-off. You underestimated her, Alyssa. Killing at close quarters is a skill that needs to be mastered but going one-on-one is always a risk. That’s why I send you out together. Anyway, nothing was really lost, and the snatch itself worked. In addition to which, a cock-up like that went against the grain of your general training, which up until last Sunday has been a story of achievement. The successful hit at the gym was proof that you’re back on track – especially as you plucked it out of thin air. It wasn’t planned, and I wasn’t there to observe, so it’s difficult for me to heap you with unmitigated praise as I don’t know exactly how it went. But it was a good move: you saw a chance and went for it. And now you have another chance … a chance to completely redeem yourselves.’

The two girls swapped glances.

‘But listen to me,’ he said gravely. ‘Be under no illusions, girls … if you let me down on this, it’ll be more than just a case of relegating you back to Category B or even Category C. Do you understand? From this moment, your training is technically over. This is the real thing, and there’ll be real consequences, maybe for all of us, if you let this go belly-up.’

‘We won’t let you down … we’re ready,’ Ivana said.

Torgau glanced at Alyssa, who was bright-eyed with excitement.

‘I can’t wait to get back out there,’ she said, to which he raised a warning finger.

‘Don’t approach it like that. This is the big league, Alyssa. You need to be professional at all times. Approach this thing coolly and analytically. Because this contract will test you at various levels.’ Again, his finger roved along the line of digits at the bottom. ‘All these scenarios I’ve prepared you for. So it’s vital that you remember your training.’

The next group of three letters referred to the perceived quality of the target, consisting of ‘s’ for ‘soft’, ‘r’ for ‘potential risk’ and ‘C’, which was upper-case, for ‘carrying’, in other words, ‘armed’. Though the actual method was always up to the contractor, the next group of three requested the specific type of job required: ‘q’ for ‘quick’, ‘s’ for ‘slow’, and ‘T’, upper-case, for ‘torturous’. The final group was not unconnected to the previous one, specifying the manner of disposal: ‘v’ for ‘make him/her completely vanish’, ‘n’ for ‘no particular preference’ and lastly ‘E’, upper-case, for ‘make an example’; in other words, the body had to be found and in a manner that would create horror.