She’d come back to the office determined to get the next phase of her strategy off the ground. None of her usual sources had been able to give her any leads on Marlene’s daughter’s whereabouts. All she’d been able to establish was that Tanja had been picked up from school on the day of the shooting in a big black Mercedes. Nobody had noticed who was driving the car, or anything useful like the number plate. She could be anywhere by now. Given Radecki’s network, she might not even be in Germany.

But they had to try. So she’d marched into Hanna Plesch’s office and laid out her idea. Plesch had heard her out, frowning. Then she’d shaken her auburn head. ‘It’s too risky,’ she said.

‘It’s the only way. If we run it big as a missing child, we’re bound to get a response. Wherever she’s being held, someone must have seen her. Or, at the very least, noticed something a bit suspicious. We need to find the girl so we can make it safe for Marlene to tell us what she knows.’

‘And what if they decide to cut their losses and kill the kid? What do we say to the media then? Do you really think Krebs will give you the time of day if she thinks you’re the one who got her daughter killed?’ Plesch stared her down. She was clearly as determined as Petra was.

‘We don’t have any other choice,’ Petra said obstinately.

‘Petra, we’re getting nowhere with this. We might have to accept it’s another dead end. We’ll keep working the case, but I won’t put a child’s life at risk.’

‘The child’s already at risk.’

‘Krebs knows that. And she knows what she has to do to keep her child alive. You’re not going to change that. Petra, you might have to let this one go. There’ll be other chances.’

Petra glared at her boss. ‘Not from what I hear.’

‘Meaning?’

‘The word is that there’s going to be a big operation mounted against Radecki. And it’s not going to be ours. Boss, I’ve worked my arse off for years trying to build a case against that bastard, and if this is going to be our last chance to put him away, I don’t want to leave any stone unturned.’

Plesch looked away. ‘This job is not personal, Petra. You don’t have some sort of divine right to be the one who finally cracks Radecki’s organization. It doesn’t matter who closes him down, as long as somebody does.’