Digit by digit, Carol pressed her chin against the keys, hoping she would be quick enough to avoid the electronic switchboard system giving up on her and cutting the line before she reached the end. Finally, she twisted round so she could lean her head against the receiver. She heard the blessed sound of a phone ringing. It stopped abruptly, then she heard the electronic beep of an answering machine. Petra’s voice chattered cheerfully in German, then there was another beep.

Carol tried to speak and could only croak. She cleared her throat painfully. ‘Petra. It’s Carol. I need you now. Come to the apartment. Please.’ It was all she could manage. With her last ounce of energy, she terminated the call by rolling over on to the receiver rest.

Her immediate mission accomplished, Carol gave in and let unconsciousness claim her.

Tony had never been so cold in his life. It had been bad enough in the boot of the car, but at least there he’d been lying on carpet. He had no idea where he was now, but it felt as if he was lying on concrete or stone. He’d begun shivering uncontrollably a while ago, but his body seemed to be beyond that effort now. His muscles ached with cramp and, whenever he breathed, he could feel the broken tips of his ribs protest as they grated against each other. Was this how it had been for the children in Schloss Hochenstein? Freezing, in pain, alone and waiting for death?

Physical discomfort, however, ranked a poor second behind the mental torture. He didn’t understand how it had happened, but Radecki had found him in Koblenz, and had known exactly who he was. He’d thought he was so smart, coming up with his idea of a plausible story on the spur of the moment. But all he had achieved was to leave Carol in more danger than she had been before.

The worst thing about his gift for worming his way inside other people’s heads was that it left him with no illusions about the extremes of evil that human beings were capable of. Someone with less insight would not have understood the psychological message that Radecki had sent out loud and clear. One way or another, he was going to have sex with Carol. Tony knew that could never be consensual; what he had provoked by his futile attempts to save Carol was to deliver her up to rape.