What was going on here? The resemblance was so spooky it made the hairs on the back of Petra’s neck stand up. Where the hell had they found this cop? With looks like this, no matter what Carol Jordan’s background, she’d have been drafted in for this assignment. She could imagine the guys thinking that if anyone was going to make Radecki drop his guard it was this particular British cop. And she supposed they had a point, though it was the kind of coincidence that would freak her out if they’d pulled a stunt like this on her. It would certainly make Radecki’s sidekicks suspicious, but the man himself probably wouldn’t be able to resist Katerina’s doppelgänger. She gazed down at the picture and a slow smile spread across her face. For the first time since Plesch had briefed her, she was looking forward to this.

Back at her hotel, with time to spare, Petra decided to check her e-mail. There was nothing particularly interesting or urgent, so she turned to her favourite news site on the web to see what had happened in Germany since she’d left. She browsed the index of the day’s stories till something buried far down the list caught her eye. LECTURER BRUTALLY MURDERED IN BREMEN, she read with a sinking feeling.

Hastily she clicked on the link that would bring her the full story.

A psychology lecturer was found brutally murdered in her home on the outskirts of Bremen last night. The victim’s boyfriend, who disturbed the killer, was also attacked and left for dead.

Johann Weiss, 46, an architect, was battered unconscious by his assailant when he arrived at the home of Dr Margarethe Schilling, 43. He alerted police when he regained consciousness and discovered the murdered body of his partner.

Dr Schilling was a lecturer in experimental psychology at the University of Bremen and the mother of an eight-year-old son from a previous marriage. The boy lives with his father near Worpswede.

Police are refusing to release details of the crime, but a source close to the investigation revealed that Dr Schilling’s body was bound and naked. Her body had been mutilated in a ritualistic manner.

A police spokesman said, ‘Investigations are continuing into the death of Dr Schilling. We are pursuing various lines of inquiry. This was a particularly brutal and callous murder and we are determined to bring Dr Schilling’s killer to justice. We would like to appeal for any witnesses who saw anyone in the vicinity of Dr Schilling’s home yesterday evening to contact the police immediately. We are particularly keen to speak to the driver of a dark-coloured Volkswagen Golf.’

Petra gazed at the screen, appalled and excited in equal measure. It looked as if the killer had struck again, and on German soil. And this time, there might just be a lead to pursue.