‘That was so stupid,’ Putin says, walking over to her. ‘So fucking stupid.’ He’s mad with anger, the veins bulging at his temples.

‘I’m sorry,’ she gasps. The pain has stopped, but she’s terrified by what he might do next.

Putin looks around, checking to see if anyone has heard her shouts. Then he kicks her in the stomach. And again, harder this time. And again.

‘Stop it! Are you crazy?’ a woman shouts as Kate begins to pass out. ‘Stop it!’

101

Silas

Silas gazes up at the palm trees spilling over the top of the roof. He doesn’t expect to be able to enter the penthouse suite, he just wants to see the area for himself, get a feel for Rob’s wealth, the Shoreditch side of his life.

‘Average price paid for properties in this street?’ Strover says. ‘£1.9 million.’

‘The penthouses must go for way more,’ Silas says. ‘£4 million? £5 million?’

He’s given a second briefing to the SIO in charge of the Dr Varma homicide and told him that he’ll be staying in London for a few hours. The potential link to the Cornish murder was relatively easy to explain – NABIS has all the ballistics and Silas expects a match with the markings on the bullet that passed through Dr Varma’s skull. That there might also be a connection with the disappearance of several super recognisers from across the UK and Europe left the SIO scratching his head. One thing did become clear: the Met need to interview Rob and Gilmour as a matter of urgency. Silas refrained from muddying the waters further by suggesting that one was being framed by the other. At the moment, no one knows where either of the men are.

Silas’s phone rings. It’s his boss, Detective Superintendent Ward.

‘I owe you an apology,’ Ward begins, wrong-footing Silas. His boss never apologises. ‘You’re right. Someone is trying to take down Rob. And it sounds like it’s this “doppelgänger”, just as you suspected. I was wrong to respond so cynically to your earlier suggestion.’

What’s got into Ward? Silas has never heard him like this before. ‘That’s OK, sir,’ he says. ‘It’s a complex case. May I ask what’s made it clearer?’

‘Rob did. He’s just been in to see me. Brought Kate along with him too – a pleasant surprise. Seems to have made a full recovery from her accident.’

Silas can hardly believe what he’s hearing. ‘Sorry, sir, did you say Rob and Kate have just been in to see you at Gablecross?’

Strover looks up from her own phone. Silas shakes his head in disbelief.

‘And I know what you’re going to say,’ Ward continues. ‘Rob brought his passport and driving licence along. Kate had her passport too. I made a point of asking.’