‘This is no rescue mission,’ said Jake. ‘I just want to find the people who did this.’

I looked down and his fists were clenched so tightly his arms were shaking. He was struggling to hold it together. To contain the rage he was feeling. Those Ghosts, Tenebris, the Snake, the Coyote – Jake would wreak terror on them all. The caged animal inside him, the one he worked so hard to keep contained, was coming out, and he wouldn’t be able to stop it.

Hattie walked in, his mouth set in a thin line. ‘I’ve spoken to the police. Nothing yet.’

We were all silent as we took this in. No body had yet been found. It didn’t mean anything. Certainly not hope. It was only a matter of time. I thought of Thatcher. And of Y. Tenebris had yet to show mercy to anyone who was a threat to their business.

Pixie let out a sob. ‘We . . . we shoulda laughed at his jokes more. Would’ve made him happy. Thinking he was funny. The silly sod.’ Geraint put an arm round her and she cried more into his chest.

This all felt like a shitty bad dream. Robin would walk in and make a crack about why all the long faces, it’s not like someone died. And we would tell him he was an idiot and then we’d all laugh and everything would feel right again.

We’d lost colleagues before. More than I could count. Their names were engraved underneath the wooden dining table in this room. But this was the first time we’d ever lost someone in our unit. One of the family.

‘I know we’re all devastated.’ Hattie looked round at us all. ‘But if we let this derail us, they’ve won. We can’t forget what’s at stake here. We keep Peng alive. We find the Snake. We end Tenebris. That is how we avenge Robin.’

Pixie wiped her tears and disentangled herself from Geraint. We were all silent. I was never more grateful for Hattie’s strong, quiet leadership. We needed his calm. His soft tones. I couldn’t think right now. I just wanted to be told what to do. I just wanted to be told how we were going to try and make this better.

‘We have just over twenty-four hours until Peng leaves the UK.’ Hattie checked his watch. ‘Right about now she’s getting ready to leave the Embassy for Lord Wycombe’s shoot. Tomorrow it’s the Christie’s Asian art exhibition and auction, and straight after that we see her safely onto an Air China flight back to Beijing. We’re nearly there.’

He turned to Jake. ‘You chase down this van lead but if it goes nowhere, you have to let it go. Do you understand?’

Jake gave a curt nod.