Petra fished a sheet of paper from her pocket and handed it to Marlene. ‘I took it myself this morning with a digital camera.’

Marlene unfolded it to reveal a colour print of a small child straining on the end of a rope. The photograph had been doctored to remove any identifying features. She let out a small gasp, her hand flying to her mouth.

‘Sorry it’s a bit blurred, I was using a long lens.’

‘Is she OK?’

Petra shrugged. ‘As far as I can tell. But, hey, if I had a kid, I wouldn’t be too thrilled at the thought of Darko Krasic’s cousin the pig farmer taking care of her. So, Marlene. What do you think? Might we have a deal?’

‘You don’t know who you’re up against here,’ Marlene said apprehensively. ‘Krasic is an animal.’

‘Marlene, I’ll let you into a little secret here. You are not the only lever we have into Krasic and Radecki. In a few days’ time, what you have to offer may well be strictly academic. Those guys are going away, and they’re going to be gone for a very long time. But I would very much like to tie Kamal’s murder round their neck along with everything else. Yes, you’ll be sticking your neck out, but it’s going to feel like a flea bite to those two compared with what we have lined up for them. I promise you, we’ll keep you and Tanja safe. You have my personal guarantee of that.’

‘A cop’s guarantee?’ Marlene snorted. Her fingers plucked at the blanket and she stared at the wall for what felt like forever to Petra, though it was probably less than a minute. She forced herself to keep quiet, to let Marlene calculate the odds for herself. Eventually, Marlene gave an impatient shrug. ‘Fuck it, what have I got to lose?’ she muttered bitterly. ‘OK, we’ve got a deal.’

Petra gave a silent cheer. Now she could go back to the Special Ops Neanderthals cluttering up her squad room and let them release their testosterone in action. ‘You made the right choice. For you and for Tanja. You’ll be moved from here directly to a safe house, though everybody will be told you’re going to hospital. And as soon as we’ve got Tanja, she’ll be brought to you.’

She swung her feet on to the floor. ‘Hang in there, Marlene. Between us, we’re going to take these bastards down.’

Marlene snorted. ‘Listen to little miss gung-ho. You’ve no idea what you’re up against here, have you? I just hope you do the business as well as you talk it.’

So do I, Petra thought as she walked out. For all our sakes, so do I.