‘I’ll admit to an aversion to awkward questions where you and your friends are concerned.’

‘Then why are we here?’

‘I know exactly what was done to De Jaager and his people,’ said Ross, ‘and I know the reason, otherwise I wouldn’t have called to warn you about the contact between Armitage and whatever is left of that Serb syndicate in the Netherlands. De Jaager and his family died because, ten years ago, give or take, he conspired in the killing of a Zemun enforcer called Andrej Buha, also known as Timmerman. At the risk of being excessively blunt, I think you killed Buha, either on contract or as a favor to De Jaager.’

‘That must be some file you got,’ said Louis. ‘I’d like to see it someday. I might even recognize some of what’s in it, although it’s unlikely.’

‘Your denial is noted for the record,’ said Ross. ‘But De Jaager and the others died because of what was done to Buha, and now you’re going to find whoever killed them and put them down. In all likelihood, that means you’ll be looking for Spiridon and Radovan Vuksan, unless some of the Zemun old guard have decided to return to Amsterdam and settle scores. But my money is on the Vuksans.

‘This is the thing: There are people in law enforcement – here, and elsewhere – who wouldn’t shed too many tears if some grave misfortune were to befall the Vuksans. They’ve been sowing misery since the Balkan wars, but they’ve always had a particular interest in people trafficking. In the last five years, they’ve expanded into people smuggling, which is a different beast: container trucks, the holds of ships, fast boats across the Mediterranean from North Africa. There’s good money to be made, because the cargo pays upfront. If the cargo drowns, suffocates, or gets caught and put behind wire in a camp in Italy, Greece, or Cyprus, that’s their tough luck. It’s a high-volume, high-yield business, and casualties don’t impact on the bottom line.

‘At the other end of the scale, the Vuksans are moving low volumes with a significantly higher individual yield, and they’re not big on background checks. That form of cargo travels in more comfort, and has to arrive safe and sound, with not even a bruise. The Vuksans charge Iranian Kurds fifty thousand dollars per head to get to the United Kingdom via Serbia and France, and God bless those who make it. We fucked the Kurds over, so I don’t begrudge them a new start.