‘Because there is none,’ said Ćirić, ‘or none that involves a return to his homeland for your brother. He is an unstable element, an agent of chaos. Even if he were somehow to be controlled, I don’t believe it would be possible to hide from Interpol the fact of his presence in Serbia. If we were discovered giving him sanctuary after what happened in Amsterdam, it would be used against us in the ongoing accession negotiations. But I was led to believe that you had convinced Spiridon to leave Europe.’

‘Where did you hear that?’

‘Your lawyer has been making certain approaches.’

Radovan sipped coffee to hide his unhappiness. Somehow, Ćirić had already learned that Frend was trying to buy new passports for the Vuksans. That information could only have come from Kauffmann or one of the embassies with which she was dealing: Radovan suspected the former. Kauffmann was testing the ground, covering herself, trying to balance her greed against the Vuksans’ current and future toxicity. God preserve us, Radovan prayed, from the amorality of lawyers.

‘Distancing ourselves from Europe remains the preferred option,’ he said.

‘Do I detect a hint of ambivalence?’

‘Only regret that exile should have been forced upon us.’

‘By personal misjudgment,’ said Ćirić.

‘And the ambitions of others,’ Radovan added. ‘We were not responsible for separating Nikola Musulin’s head from his body.’

‘Your expression suggests that I might have been.’

‘Not at all, but his murder was sanctioned by Belgrade, and you, Teo, also take your orders from Belgrade. Collective responsibility did not end with the death of Josip Broz. Kiš and Stajić would not have engaged in such a public act of violence had it not been cleared from above, and if it did not serve the ambitions of the state.’

‘And how,’ said Ćirić, ‘would such an assassination aid us in our pursuit of accession? The last time I checked, the EU continued to display an aversion to bombings in tourist areas, regardless of the identity of the target.’