Plesch had read her reaction in her face, in spite of her best efforts to keep it under wraps. She’d told Petra that she only had two choices. She could work with Jordan, or she could walk away from the whole Radecki investigation. Reluctantly, Petra had accepted the assignment. It didn’t mean she had to feel happy about it.

She consoled herself with the knowledge that the take-down would have to be carried out by German cops. The Brits wouldn’t be prosecuting this one. At the end of the operation, when they put Radecki away, Carol Jordan would be long gone. Petra Becker, on the other hand, would still be here, and she’d be the one who would be remembered as being instrumental in the final dismemberment of Radecki’s rackets.

She found a café, bought coffee and a couple of warm rolls and took them over to a table by the window. She pulled a slim file out of her battered leather briefcase and began to read.

Detective Chief Inspector Carol Jordan had graduated from Manchester University and gone straight into the Metropolitan Police. She’d been fast-tracked for promotion and had reached the rank of Detective Sergeant in the shortest possible time. She’d worked in general CID and also done a stint in the specialized major-incident team that dealt with murders and other serious crimes. When she’d passed her inspector’s examination, she’d left the Met and moved north to the industrial city of Bradfield. That seemed to be when her career had really taken off.

DI Jordan acted as liaison officer with Dr Tony Hill, a Home Office approved offender profiler, on a series of murders in Bradfield. Her work was instrumental both in uncovering the identity of the perpetrator and also in saving the life of Dr Hill. Petra read the dry words and made a mental note to check out the case on the internet when she had the opportunity. Serial killers always made it big on the world wide web.