M: Good idea. He could make it look like a triumph for traditional police work, if I persuade him right. I’ll try in the morning.

P: let me know how it goes.

M: Tomorrow night?

P: i’ll try. make it late, though. midnight. if everything goes right, jordan will be working late, which means i might have to as well. sleep well, babe.

M: Slaap ze, liefje. Tot ziens.

Tadeusz Radecki excused himself from the restaurant table when he saw that the number calling his mobile phone belonged to Darko Krasic. In the passage leading to the toilets, out of earshot of his respectable companions, he answered its insistent chirrup. ‘Yes?’

‘When will you be home, boss?’ Krasic asked. ‘I’ve got some news for you.’

‘Good or bad?’

‘It’s nothing that needs urgent action.’

‘Won’t it wait till tomorrow?’

‘I think you’ll want to know this.’

Tadeusz looked at his watch. ‘Meet me there in an hour.’

‘OK. See you then.’ Krasic ended the call and Tadeusz walked back into the noisy restaurant. They were already at the coffee stage, so the party would be breaking up within the half-hour anyway. And since he had no intention of offering to escort home the single woman his four comfortably coupled friends had invited along for his benefit, there would be no problem in getting back home within the hour. Darko had sounded very enigmatic on the phone. But wondering about something he couldn’t guess at was a waste of energy, and Tadeusz had never been inclined to worry about anything before he had to. He joined in the conversation round the table as if his call had been of supreme unimportance, but precisely thirty minutes later, he pushed back his chair and announced that he had an early start in the morning. He dropped a sheaf of banknotes on the table to cover his share of the bill, kissed all three women on both cheeks, hugged his male friends and left.

The familiar black Mercedes was sitting outside his apartment building when he turned the corner into the street. As Tadeusz approached the front door, Krasic emerged from the car and fell into step beside him. ‘So, what’s this mysterious news?’ Tadeusz asked as they entered the lift.

‘It’ll keep for a few minutes longer,’ Krasic said.

Tadeusz laughed. ‘You are so cautious, Darko. I promise you, this lift isn’t bugged.’

‘It’s not that. You might want a drink when you hear what I have to tell you.’

Tadeusz raised his eyebrows, but said nothing more until they were both inside his apartment. He poured two glasses of Armagnac and handed one to Krasic. ‘Now, tell me what it is that is so terrible I need a brandy before I can hear it.’