The Shark recited his speech again over the sounds of mastication.

‘That’d be Rado’s uncle, right?’ Schümann miraculously said. ‘Or cousin, or something, who knows with those Serbs?’

‘You know who I’m talking about?’ the Shark asked eagerly.

‘Sure, I know. It’s my business to know who’s connected on my patch, isn’t it?’

‘So who’s this Rado?’

‘Radovan Matic. Fourth division criminal, premier league arsehole. I nailed him about four years ago when he was still a juvenile for possession with intent to supply heroin. The usual rap on the knuckles. Then he buggered off to Berlin. We don’t see much of him these days.’

‘And he’s Darko Krasic’s nephew, yeah?’ The Shark was struggling not to sound too excited.

‘I think his old man and Darko are cousins.’

‘His father, does he still live in Oranienburg?’

‘Arkady? Yeah, he’s got a smallholding about six miles from here. Keeps pigs, I think. He’s a decent enough bloke. Never been in any kind of trouble. He beat the crap out of Rado after his arrest, so I heard.’

‘Does he have other kids, this Arkady Matic?’

‘There’s a grown-up daughter, I think. But she’s not living at home.’

‘Where exactly is this farm?’

‘You want the address or directions?’

‘Both, please, if you don’t mind.’ The Shark could hear the obsequiousness in his voice, but he didn’t care if he was crawling. He just wanted the information.

Schümann gave him a detailed description of how to find the Matic family farm. ‘What do you want with them anyway?’ he asked.

‘I don’t really know. I’m making inquiries on behalf of one of the other detectives here,’ The Shark said apologetically. ‘You know how it is. You clear your own case and somebody thinks you’ve got time on your hands …’

‘Tell me about it,’ Schümann complained. ‘Do me a favour, though. If your colleague is thinking about coming on to my patch, get him to call me first.’

‘He’s a she,’ The Shark said. ‘I’ll pass the message on. Thanks for your help.’ Bollocks to that, he thought. He wasn’t going to ask Detective Schümann’s permission to check out Matic’s farm. He wasn’t sharing his moment of glory with some provincial plod.

He jumped to his feet and practically ran out of the squad room, grabbing his jacket on the way. He had a good feeling about this. A smallholding in the middle of nowhere was the perfect place to stash Marlene Krebs’ daughter. He was on to something here. He’d show Petra he was worthy of her respect.

Chapter 30

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