Carol unconsciously drew away from him. ‘You could give guilt seminars to Catholics, you know. Look, Tony, I’m just asking for advice here. I take responsibility for my own actions.’

He cursed himself silently for striking the wrong note yet again. ‘You want advice?’ he said sharply. ‘OK, entirely without prejudice, I’d say that if Radecki asks you again, you should tell him you didn’t kill Osborne and that you don’t know who did. And that you’re as uncomfortable with the resemblance to Katerina as he is. That you don’t want people thinking you’re the sort of person who would exploit his private grief for business advantage. And frankly, it would be easier for you to walk away from this whole deal, because it’s not like it’s hard to find a source of illegal labour.’

Carol nodded. ‘Thank you. I’ll give it some thought,’ she said formally.

Tony shook his head. ‘Shall I go out and come in again? Then we can start fresh? Look, we’re both tired and scratchy, let’s not take it out on each other.’ He reached for her hand and laced her warm fingers through his. ‘Tell me how you’re feeling.’

Carol shrugged. ‘It’s hard to describe. A mixture of exhilaration, because I feel like I’m doing better than I had any right to hope, and absolute terror because I know I don’t have a safety net if I screw up. I’m living on adrenaline, and it’s exhausting. So take my mind off me and tell me about your day.’

‘It’s not exactly uplifting material. There’s been a fourth murder.’

Her eyes widened in shock. ‘So soon? That’s very close.’

‘And he’s losing control.’ Briefly, he outlined what he’d learned from Marijke earlier that evening. ‘Do you want to see my draft profile?’

‘If you don’t mind letting me see it.’

He got up, crossed to his briefcase, and extracted a few sheets of paper. ‘Here you go,’ he said, passing it to her. ‘Would you like some coffee?’

‘Mmm, please,’ Carol said, already reading the familiar opening disclaimer. While he brewed up, she gave her attention to the short report. Tony kept out of the way until she’d finished, then returned with the coffee.

‘So, what do you think?’ he asked. ‘I think it’s a bit thin, myself. I don’t feel that I’ve come up with anything that really moves the investigation much further forward.’

‘Given how little you had to work with, I’d say you’ve done a good job,’ Carol said reassuringly. ‘The most important thing is obviously your theory that he’s a boatman.’