The noise level in the café was high enough to make their booth as private as Tadeusz’s sitting room. Krasic shrugged out of his overcoat and made a circle with the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. ‘Sweet,’ he said. ‘I don’t know, you’d think every fucker in the Balkans who wanted a gun would have half a dozen by now, but their appetite’s endless.’ The waiter approached and Krasic ordered a black coffee and a large Jack Daniels. ‘There are a couple of nutters looking for something more serious. I said I’d see what we could do.’

‘We’ve got that shipment coming in from our friends in the east next week. There should be something there to satisfy them,’ Tadeusz said. ‘Nice work, Darko.’

‘Oh, and I checked with my cousin – Marlene’s kid is still tucked up tight. No sign of anyone looking for her out there. Everything quiet at this end?’ the Serb asked, wondering what was on his boss’s mind, hoping nothing else had gone up in smoke in his absence.

‘Yes, no problems at all.’ Tadeusz stirred his hot chocolate, the lines between his eyebrows deepening. ‘But something very strange happened to me last night.’

Krasic was suddenly on the alert, like a guard dog who senses the air has changed. ‘What’s that?’

‘I was at the opera. And a woman came to my box at the first interval.’

‘Most blokes would see that as a welcome distraction from all that screaming.’

‘I don’t think this is grounds for humour, Darko,’ Tadeusz chided him. ‘This woman was English. Her name is Caroline Jackson. She claims to have known Colin Osborne. She says she was about to do some business with him when he was killed. She also says she can step into his shoes and do a better job of dealing with our illegals at that end.’

‘Sounds like good news to me, if she is who she says she is. Did you get enough details to check her out?’

‘I made a couple of calls last night, and she seems to be on the level. And I met her again today and got a lot more out of her. But I want her turned over top to bottom before we even think about doing any business with her.’

‘You don’t trust her?’ Krasic scowled.

‘I trust her far too much, Darko. That’s the dangerous thing.’

Krasic looked bemused. ‘I don’t get it.’

Tadeusz opened the silver case sitting in front of him and drew out a cigar. He took his time clipping and lighting it. Krasic waited, the years having taught him that his boss couldn’t be budged until he was good and ready. An unreadable expression crossed Tadeusz’s face, then he said, ‘She’s Katerina’s double.’