Gandle placed his showy aluminium briefcase on the table and snapped open the locks. He produced a flat black rectangle with a cable protruding from one end. ‘This is an auxiliary hard drive that you can plug straight into your laptop. It’s preloaded with all the access codes you need to get into TECS.’

‘TECS?’ Petra asked.

‘The Europol dedicated computer system. It incorporates an analysis system like the one you’ve trained on, Carol, together with an index system. And we’ve just got the information system up and running, so you can access all we hold on Radecki and his known associates. Everything Petra and her colleagues have passed on to us is in there, at the touch of a key. There’s also an encryption system that will allow you to send secure e-mail to anyone who has the key. Petra, we’re also going to make that available to you, so Carol can communicate securely with you via e-mail, which will be much safer than phone calls.

‘And to keep it out of sight …’ His hand went back into the briefcase and came out with a blue rubber box with a stubby antenna coming out of one corner. ‘The coolest radio in town,’ he said. ‘You can buy them in all the smartest shops. Only, this one’s different. The techies stripped out the guts of it and inserted a miniature radio. It works just like the original, but when you open it up –’ he pushed a metal slider on the base of the radio and it fell neatly in half – ‘there’s a hiding place for your spare hard drive.’

Carol and Petra exchanged a look and burst out laughing. ‘Boys and their toys,’ Carol spluttered.

Gandle looked offended. ‘It does work, you know. Nobody’s going to give it a second look.’

‘Sorry, Larry, it’s very clever,’ Carol said, not wanting to alienate her British back-up. ‘And you’re right, it’s entirely unsuspicious.’ She reached for the radio and slotted the hard drive into place then closed it up. She pressed a small blue rubber button and static crackled out of the speaker. ‘Very good. It’s exactly what I need, even if it does make me feel a bit like James Bond.’

‘So, that solves your communication problems,’ Gandle said, closing his briefcase with a self-satisfied smile.

‘Only technically,’ Petra said.

‘I’m sorry?’ Gandle said.

‘It’s not enough. Undercover is shit. It’s the scariest, most isolated place in the world. And then you have the added risk of Zelig’s Syndrome.’

‘Zelig’s Syndrome?’ Gandle frowned.