Ten minutes later, ritually cleansed, heads bowed and arms folded, they stood side by side on the prayer mat, a very different mother and son from the pair who had met the evening before. When they were done, she whispered the words of the Ayat-ul-Qudsi and blew them across his face. Her mother had done the same for her every night when she was a child, telling her the verse of the Quran would protect her.

‘What is that for?’

‘The world is full of sharps and shards. I can’t save you from them – I have come to terms with that now – so I place you in the protection of Him in whose hands and control my life rests. He is all people like you and I have,’ she said. ‘He is all we have.’

CHAPTER 41

‘Some men are here to search the house.’ Maria’s voice came through Jia’s dream, waking her up. She dreamt of the events that led to Zan’s death so often that it took a few moments for her to realise this time it was real. It was starting to get light outside. Maria was standing by the bedroom door in her pyjamas, much older than the last time she’d said these words. She should have been tucked up in bed beside her husband, but had stayed over to comfort Sanam Khan, who was still having trouble sleeping alone and suffered bouts of insomnia. The coincidence that led to this moment of déjà vu was not lost on Jia.

She picked up her mobile phone to look at the time, noting a couple of missed calls on the log. She’d have to check them later. She hurried downstairs and looked at the video screen. There were five of them, all dressed in black, waiting by the gates to the house. ‘We are here to search your premises,’ said the lead officer, speaking into the intercom. It took a moment for Jia to recognise her. She cast her mind back: it was the officer whose reputation she had sullied in court a few years back, the one she had accused of having an affair with the wife of one of Nowak’s men. She was glad that Maria had been smart enough to leave her out in the cold.

‘Do you have a warrant to search the premises, Officer Swan?’ asked Jia.

‘We don’t need one,’ she replied. Her face was still, but her eyes flashed with anger. Jia could see that that day in court had changed her, and she had been nursing this grudge for quite some time, waiting for the day she would show Jia Khan who was boss. But this wasn’t that day.

‘I’m afraid I can’t let you in.’

‘You are legally obliged to allow us entry,’ said the officer.

‘You don’t have a warrant.’