She didn’t know what the right answer was. He could be bluffing. He could know more than he was letting on, and this was a test to see how far she’d go to earn his good opinion. He might want her to be the killer, as evidence that she was prepared to be ruthless. Or he might be put off dealing with her if she claimed the kill, uneasy that her way of dealing with the competition might rebound on him in the worst way. ‘Why would I do that?’ she stalled.

‘To muscle in on his trade.’

She shrugged. ‘Why would I need to take that route? All I’d have to do would be to come to you with a better deal. I suspect you could supply enough bodies to keep us both happy.’

‘You didn’t, though, did you? You didn’t come near me till Colin was well out of the way.’ There was a hard edge to his voice now, and his eyes had lost their warmth. ‘That makes me suspicious, Caroline. That, and the fact you look so like Katerina. OK, Colin never met Katerina. But if he was halfway good at what he did, he would have checked me out. He would have seen photographs of Katerina at least. And then, when she died, maybe he thought this was the chance to set up some kind of sting using you to get to me. Only, you decided to eliminate the middle man.’

Carol was unnerved. He was wrong in almost every detail, but he was wrong in the right sort of way. Suddenly, they’d shifted from easy companionship to the edgy realm of suspicion. She didn’t know what to do.

She set her glass down and stepped away from him, folding her arms across her chest. ‘Let me off this boat.’

He frowned. ‘What?’

‘I don’t have to listen to this shit. I came here in good faith to do business. I’m not going to stand here and take accusations of murder and conspiracy from you. Tell your man to let me off this boat, now. Unless you want me to start screaming?’

Tadeusz looked amused. ‘You’re overreacting.’

Carol let the flare of anger show in her face. ‘Don’t you dare patronize me. You’re just another gangster, Tadzio. You’ve got no right to come the moral high ground with me. I don’t have to account for anything to you. And I certainly don’t want to do business with somebody who thinks I do. This is a waste of my precious time. Now let me off the boat, please.’