Back in the kitchen, I found the kettle had boiled dry and heated up to a fearsome degree over the gas burner. When I wrapped a cloth round the handle it gave off a smell of singeing, and the first gush of fresh water exploded into steam when it hit the base.

One or two of the other lads were starting to come round. Whinger blundered into the kitchen, scrubbing at his eyes and muttering, ‘Fucking phone – it’s never stopped all night.’

As if to back up his complaint the local line rang. It was Anna, spitting with rage. She’d only just got the message I’d left the night before. Her people were useless, she said, idle and stupid. Now – how could she help me?

The older you get, the more cynical you become. I couldn’t help wondering if she was really that furious – or was she acting up a bit? Had she got my message hours earlier and deliberately done nothing about it?

Whatever the truth, she caught up fast. I’d barely finished outlining events when she said, ‘If it’s Samashki, it’s certainly one of the Gaidar brothers you’re dealing with. You know the big man who was shot in the apartment?’

‘Of course.’

‘That was Aslan, so-called Keet, the Whale. His second brother, Usman, calls himself Akula, the Shark. He’s been building a big house for himself down there near Grozny, a kind of fortified palace, in the mountains. That’s the Gaidars’ home territory. The three of them are the Chechen Mafia.’

‘Who’s the third?’

‘The young one, Supyan, calls himself Barrakuda. That hardly needs translating.’

‘Are there pictures of this place at Samashki? Any air shots?’

‘The FSB have some, but they’re poor quality. The Chechens tend to shoot at any aircraft that comes over. And anyway, the pictures are out of date.’

‘You mean the house is still being built?’

‘The house is complete, but there’s still work in progress on the perimeter fences and some of the outbuildings.’

‘Listen,’ I said. ‘We’re going to hit that place – provided we can confirm the hostages have been taken there. Can you bring over any information you’ve got about it – the pictures, exact location?’

‘With pleasure. But I can tell you the location anyway. It’s one kilometre north of the River Sunzha, half-way between Samashki and the next village, Sernovodsk.’

‘Say those names again.’

As she spelled them out, I scribbled them down in the notebook tied to the phone for message-taking.

‘Thanks, Anna. How soon can you get here?’

‘In an hour?’

‘Terrific. Do you have any photos of this fellow Shark?’

‘Certainly. There were some on the disk I gave you. But I can bring you prints as well.’

Already the Satcom was ringing again.

‘Geordie,’ went Tony. ‘It’s still there. Hasn’t moved.’

‘Can you give me the co-ordinates?’

‘Sure. Coming up.’

I took down his figures.