What if Dame Isobel Le Marchant, the Director General of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s Security Service, was the biggest fish in Kareem’s shoals? It was the link that made sense of all the narratives. Whatever was done outside the law, the killings above all, sub-contracted to Kareem and his expertly trained sidekicks. The technology and surveillance – the warnings too, maybe even the ‘burglary’ at her home – ordered in-house by Isobel with all the wizardry at her beck and call. The perfect lethal combination.

Forget about the law of unintended consequences; try instead an alternative law of intended consequences. The Morahan Inquiry had been sunk. All dangerous witnesses and evidence of the contract destroyed. Dame Isobel and Kareem himself more secure than ever, safe from any further probing or investigation.

Judge events by their outcomes.

Had they planned it together from the outset? If so, not just the big picture but tiny details too could be explained. The tortuous methods Sayyid used for delivering information, designed to tantalise an ageing judge – a Kareem manipulation. The overnight change in Sami and the precision both of what he did say and what he didn’t. The vile words about Isobel that Kareem whispered in the barn – a ploy to make any continuing relationship seem impossible. The anonymous texts – above all that last one to her at the farm, the one that had forced her last lie to Patrick.

How suckered she had been – not just by Kareem but, if she was right, by Isobel too. If only she had seen more clearly that it was not Patrick who needed to protect her, but she who needed to protect him, he might be alive now… even if their search would die.

For the first time since Patrick’s death – perhaps in some kind of penance to him – Sara felt energised. Now that the idea had gripped her, and even if, at this point, she might be the only person in a position to understand it, she couldn’t – and wouldn’t – let it rest. Ludo Temple had been in touch, saying how much they looked forward ‘after all this ghastly business’ to having her back at Knightly Court. Yes, she’d go back, but there would be a condition. The Chambers must fund a ful-time researcher to record and investigate all disappearances that could connect to Kareem and Operation Pitchfork. She herself must be allowed an agreed number of hours per week to work on the project. Somehow she knew Ludo would make his colleagues agree.

That was not enough. The Home Office, intelligence services, even Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee would, she was sure, be deaf or compromised. Instead her approach must be that of a citizen in a free democracy – to trust in the law and hold to account a secret state which should not be allowed to sign contracts with evil.