‘Fuck, she’s gorgeous, Noor. But you don’t want to cross her. She’s Yimi and Khalti Sadie mixed together, you know.’

LeBrac laughed her throaty laugh again and Bish wanted to be in on it. He wanted to know what it was about Yimi and Khalti Sadie that produced someone like Violette.

He interrupted them. ‘We need to work out what her plan has been, and what it is now,’ he said, removing a map from his pocket. He had spent the night in Rye marking every place where Violette and Eddie had reportedly been spotted. A red asterisk for a confirmed sighting, black for unconfirmed. ‘We’ll start with France. Why that trip? It wasn’t to see you, Sarraf. She could easily have stayed in London and just crossed the Channel any time she wanted. So why an eight-day tour of Normandy?’

Neither of them spoke. Bish didn’t know whether it was because of the guard or because they didn’t trust him. He got to his feet and scribbled down a number, tearing the page from his notebook and handing it to the guard standing outside the door.

‘Ring it,’ he said. ‘Tell whoever answers that I can’t have a guard in this room if they want me to get the job done.’ He went back in and sat down.

LeBrac and Sarraf were staring at the map. ‘Violette spoke to him,’ Sarraf said, referring to Bish. ‘So it seems he’s got more to tell us than we do him.’

LeBrac stared at Bish in surprise. ‘When?’

‘Yesterday.’ He reached across the table and tapped the red asterisk at Olympic Park in Stratford.

‘You actually saw her?’

‘Didn’t know she was there until it was too late. She phoned.’

‘What did she say?’ LeBrac demanded.

‘She spoke about her father. His watch. I got a history lesson.’

‘Nothing else?’

Bish shook his head. He didn’t think now was the right time to bring up the conversation about sex.

‘Start with what you know,’ Noor said. ‘When did she fly in?’

‘The day before the tour began. According to Home Office intel she was only planning to stay for two weeks and then was flying out of Heathrow.’

He pointed to the red asterisks at St John’s Wood Tube station and Buckland Hospital in Dover. ‘What we know is that she stayed with Georgette Shahbazi, then went to see the three injured kids.’

LeBrac was silent, studying the map. There was a knock on the door, and without a word their guard was beckoned out, leaving them alone.

‘I know Eddie’s your son,’ Bish said. ‘I know where he was born and who delivered him.’

LeBrac’s eyes met his. He couldn’t read her expression. She turned to her brother. ‘Have you been in contact with anyone in Australia, Jimmy?’

Sarraf didn’t respond, but LeBrac was staring at her brother with a strange expression. Bish realised she had read something in his eyes that told her he had more information.

‘The federal police there are monitoring the LeBrac phone line,’ Bish said. ‘So who’s Violette going through to get a message to her grandparents?’