‘Fine.’ She booted up her computer and headed straight for the Europol section of their database. This was where any bulletins from Den Haag ended up. To her satisfaction, there was a message with that morning’s dateline.

‘You want a coffee?’ The Shark asked.

‘Are you making fresh?’

‘I suppose so.’

‘Then I’ll have one.’ She opened up the bulletin. There was some boring admin stuff at the beginning. She scrolled through it and halfway down the second page she found what she was looking for. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FROM POLICE IN REGIO LEIDEN, HOLLAND, she read. ‘Yes,’ she hissed softly.

It was short and straightforward:

Detectives in Leiden, Holland, investigating a murder are concerned that the killer may be a possible serial offender. They have asked us to circulate member forces with details of the offence with a view to comparing any similar crimes in other jurisdictions. The victim was Pieter de Groot, a professor of psychology at the University of Leiden. His body was found in his home, bound and naked. He had been tied to the desk in his study, on his back. His clothes had been cut away from him. The cause of death was drowning. The method appears to have been by insertion of a funnel or tube into the mouth, into which water was poured. There was post-mortem mutilation, which took the form of the scalping of the victim’s pubic area. The genitals themselves were undamaged.

Member forces of Europol are requested to check their files of unsolved homicides to see if there are any similar offences outstanding in their jurisdictions. Information should be passed directly to Hoofdinspecteur Kees Maartens at Regio Leiden, with a copy to the Europol Intelligence Section.

Petra couldn’t help smiling in satisfaction. She was rereading the text when The Shark loomed up at her elbow. ‘What’s that, then?’ he asked, placing the mug by her left hand.

‘Europol bulletin,’ she said.

‘You’re the only person I know who bothers with that bumf.’

‘That’s why I’m the only one around here who’s going places, Shark.’

He leaned over her shoulder, reading the bulletin. ‘Wow. That sounds nasty. Typical of the Dutch, though. Too dumb to solve their own murders so they try to play pass the parcel with them.’

Petra scowled. ‘You couldn’t be more wrong. It’s extremely smart of the Dutch to read the message of this crime and understand that this has all the hallmarks of a potential serial offender. And very courageous of them to ask for help.’

‘You think?’

She tapped a key to print out the relevant page of the bulletin. ‘I don’t think, I know. And you know what’s most interesting about this murder, Shark?’

‘I’m about to find out, right?’ He moved to one side and perched on the edge of her desk.