He shook his head and opened the passenger door for her. ‘I cleared out most of her clothes, but I kept one or two things that I loved to see her in. I didn’t want you to be cold today, and it seemed somehow less presumptuous than going out and buying something for you.’

She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. ‘That was very thoughtful. But, Tadzio, you don’t have to take responsibility for me. I’m a grown-up with my own platinum card. You don’t have to second-guess my needs. I’m used to meeting them myself.’

He took the gentle rebuke well. ‘I never doubted it,’ he said, handing her into the car. ‘But sometimes, Caroline, you have to give in to being pampered a little.’ He winked and walked round to the driver’s seat.

‘Where are we off to, then?’ she asked as they turned left down the Ku’damm towards the ring road.

‘You said you wanted to see how things work in my business,’ Tadeusz said. ‘Yesterday, you saw the legitimate side. Today, I’m going to show you how we move our commodities. We’re going towards Magdeburg.’

‘What’s at Magdeburg?’

‘You’ll see.’

Eventually Tadeusz pulled off the autobahn and, without pausing to consult a map, he took several turns that finally brought them to a quiet country road meandering among farms. After ten minutes or so, the road ended on the banks of a river. He turned off the engine and said, ‘Here we are.’

‘Where is here?’

‘The banks of the River Elbe.’ He gestured to his left. ‘Just up there is the junction with the Mittelland Kanal.’ He opened the door and climbed out. ‘Let’s walk.’

She followed him along a path by the river, which was busy with commercial craft ranging in size from long barges loaded down with containers to small boats carrying a few crates or sacks. ‘It’s a busy waterway,’ she commented, falling into step beside him.

‘Precisely. You know, when people think of moving illegal goods around, whether that’s arms or drugs or human beings, they always think of the fastest ways of doing it. Planes, lorries, cars. But there’s no reason for speed. You’re not carrying perishable cargo. And smuggling really started on the water,’ Tadeusz said. As the canal came into view, he reached out and took her hand in his.