“Let’s spend the rest of today learning everything we can about this outfit, and tomorrow morning we’ll pay them a visit. Odds are they’ll be at work on a Saturday given what’s going on, so I want a search warrant in place for their offices and arrest warrants for Núñez and whoever the CEO happens to be. Somebody give them a call and confirm they’ll be there. Plus, I want to know if they have any connection to the Franklin Corporation.”

Vargas arrived back at his apartment just after five and found Hembury in the same state he had left him several hours earlier, sitting at the kitchen breakfast bar in his underwear, working away at his laptop.

“Troy, that’s not a good look to come home to.”

Hembury laughed for the first time in a while. “You should be so lucky. How did it go with your arsonist?”

Vargas brought him up to speed on the interview with Bianchi and handed him a small file containing three pages of typed notes. “This is the outfit behind the killings, but, so far, we can’t find a direct connection with Franklin. The CEO is a guy called Matias Paz. The holding company that owns Theodor Consultants is based in the Cayman Islands and the shareholder breakdown is cloaked in secrecy. We’re going to raid them in the morning and see what we can find.”

Hembury studied the information in the file and then threw it down on the table. “Theodor is such an unusual name, yet that’s the second time today I’ve come across it. But what the hell was the reference?”

He returned to his laptop and, for the next ten minutes, retraced his history. Vargas opened a beer and waited.

Suddenly, Hembury snapped the laptop shut and rose from the chair. “Nic, at last we’ve got a connection with Franklin. I think this security company was founded by Martin Bormann, in his guise as Ronald Franklin. This morning, I spent a couple of hours researching Bormann. His father’s name was Theodor.”

Vargas punched the air in triumph. “Thank God for Wikipedia. This may not stand up in court but it’s another link to Franklin. It’s weird how these characters all felt the need to use names from their past as a way of coping with their new identities.”

Hembury grabbed a couple of fresh beers from the fridge. “Nic, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking today about our next steps. I’m going to book my flight back to LA for the day after tomorrow. I want to set up another meet with Franklin and it would be good if you were with me. We need some leverage over him, and I’ve got an idea for a play.”

Vargas sat back in his chair and nodded to Hembury to continue.