‘But this isn’t some run-of-the-mill killing. And murder can be part of their brief. I checked it out on their website. Where there are international implications, they’ve got a responsibility to act as an intelligence clearing house for murder as well as the organized crime stuff.’

Maartens shifted in his seat. ‘They’ll think we’re too stupid to manage our own cases,’ he grunted.

‘I don’t think so, sir. I reckon they’ll respect us for sussing out that we could be looking at a serial killer. It could be a feather in our caps. We’d go down as the ones who had the brains to see the implications of what we were looking at and the courage to say, “We want input from other jurisdictions.” They’ll be able to hold us up as an example of how cross-border co-operation should work in the new Europe.’ Marijke turned on all her charm as she spoke, desperate to persuade Maartens into the course of action that suited the plans she and Petra had already made.

Maartens considered for a moment, then swung round to look at Tom. ‘And you think this is a good idea, do you?’

Tom waved a hand over the paperwork on his desk. ‘We’ve exhausted every conventional avenue and we’ve got fuck all. The way I see it, we’ve got nothing left to lose. And we might have a lot to gain.’

Maartens shrugged. ‘OK, we’ll give it a shot. Marijke, put something on paper for me, and I’ll see it gets sent off later today.’

‘I’ll have it on your desk within the hour.’

Maartens got to his feet and lumbered towards his office. ‘That doesn’t mean we stop working the case,’ he growled as he disappeared behind his door.

‘Nice one,’ Tom said. ‘Smooth as butter, you are.’

‘Yeah, well. We both know that if it works out, it’ll be down to Maartens. But if we end up looking stupid, it’ll be thanks to me.’

‘It’s good to know that in a changing world, some things always remain the same,’ Tom said with a smile.

And some things we can force to change, Marijke thought cheerfully as she booted up her computer. This was it. The big chance. And she was determined not to blow it.

Carol felt as excited as a teenager on a first date. He’d come to Berlin after all! She’d woken up after her dramatic night at the opera to an encrypted e-mail from Petra, revealing that Tony was staying in the same apartment building and drawing up a profile of the serial killer. And that he was expecting her this morning. But what more could Petra say? She had no idea of the complex matrix that was the relationship between Carol and Tony. She had no idea how much like salvation his arrival would feel to Carol.