“At the moment they are speculating that it’s all part of a gangland war that involves the three dead bank robbers. Let’s hope it stays like that.”

Paz picked up his remote and aimed it at the giant eighty-inch TV screen on the wall opposite his desk. He flicked the channel on to CNN and, sure enough, the shooting was being shown from multiple angles. He kept the sound muted and continued with his act of deference towards Franklin.

“What do you want me to do now, Señor?”

“I still want you to find the contents of our fucking box. Work on García’s friends, workmates, relatives, anyone with a connection to him. Someone must know something. I suspect the cops won’t stop looking for the stash, so neither should we. And, Paz, try and be a bit more subtle with your methods. We really don’t want any more killings unless they’re absolutely essential. Later tonight John is taking part in a live TV debate with four other nominees. He is creaming it in the polls and a strong performance will almost guarantee the nomination. In a few months’ time, I’ll be the father of the next president of the United States. That’s why I won’t feel safe until I know everything has been destroyed.”

* * *

Vargas was holding court in the open-plan office at police headquarters, debriefing his team on the morning’s events. The safe-deposit robbery, which had occurred ten days before in Buenos Aires, was now leading the world news. He was the man in charge of the investigation and yet he didn’t actually have a clue about what was really happening.

“García was taken out by a highly trained sniper. A completely different M.O. to the other four killings. We need to check out every building within a mile radius that has a direct line of sight to the courthouse.”

Torres interrupted his boss. “Chief, we’re already on it. We’ve been looking at Google Earth and it seems there are four contenders. As soon as we finish here, the guys will check them all out.”

Vargas nodded and continued. “The reality is, whoever did the hit is probably already out of the country. But there’s a much bigger picture to consider here, and, right now, we haven’t got a handle on what’s actually going on. This case is not really about a bank robbery any more. We’re facing a highly skilled and motivated organisation that wants its property back at all costs. They’ve walked away from millions of dollars in pursuit of whatever was in their box and they’ve ruthlessly killed nine people along the way, including one of our own. Now it looks like they brought in an outside contract killer to take out García, which tells us they are extremely well funded.”