P: frustrating. i’m trying to prove a negative – a woman who claims she was the lover of a man who is now dead, but i don’t think they even knew each other. i think there’s a chance we could use this as a lever to lift the lid on a major figure in organized crime. this guy has always kept his hands clean, kept his distance from the sharp end. we’ve never laid a finger on him, and i want to be the one who nails him. the only trouble is, she’s got a kid, and i suspect that our man has spirited her away somewhere to use as a pressure point over her. so i need to find the kid as well.

M: Any joy?

P: not so far. if she doesn’t turn up in school tomorrow, i’m going to tell plesch we should put out a national appeal for her as missing. act like she might be the victim of a paedo. it’ll drive the mother nuts and it’ll make whoever is taking care of her very, very nervous.

M: As long as you don’t make them so nervous they do something stupid.

P: i don’t think these guys would use anyone who’d panic for something this sensitive. if anything happens to the kid, they’ve lost their pressure point on the mother. more than that, they’re going to turn her into a vengeful fury who will be out to get their blood.

M: But how safe will the mother be if you get your hands on the kid?

P: her life won’t be worth a pocketful of euros. which means, as soon as we get the kid, we take the mother out of the general prison population and put her somewhere very, very safe.

M: Sounds like you’re pushing really hard on this one.

P: i want to get this guy so bad i can taste it. but the other thing is that i heard a rumour there’s some kind of major operation being planned against him that would take the ball out of our court. so i feel like time isn’t on my side.

M: Be careful. It’s hard to do your best work when you’re looking over your shoulder. That’s when we make mistakes, no?

P: i know. part of me realizes it doesn’t matter who gets him, as long as we take him down. but i’m greedy.

M: As if I didn’t know that.

P: so, you want to satisfy my greed?

M: I thought you’d never ask …

Petra smiled. Sometimes, distance really didn’t matter so much after all.