Holm turned the package over in his hands. ‘And who’s going to attach it to the truck?’

‘Perhaps that should be your job, sir?’ Javed was laughing now. ‘What with your experience of live operations and all.’

A couple of hours later they were inside the port control room. Holm had got tired of waiting and anyway they needed to introduce themselves to their Dutch counterparts. The day had filtered into a grey twilight, and huge sodium lamps glowed orange over the lanes of vehicles awaiting clearance to leave. Drizzle wafted beneath the lights, swirled by a chill wind blowing in off the North Sea. The warmth and darkness of the control room was soporific and Holm tried to stay alert as they monitored the Excelsior as she docked. Within minutes of coming alongside, the cranes got to work, and as each container was plucked from the ship, its consignment number flashed up on a screen. Holm began to get bleary-eyed trying to spot the one they were interested in but eventually Javed gave him a nudge.

‘There it is.’ He pointed at the screen and then out through the control room window. Far down the quay a container was being lowered onto a truck. ‘Blue cab, Christmas tree lights on the grille. Got it?’

Holm nodded and they went outside into the light rain, dragging a reluctant port police officer with them. They began to work their way down a line of vehicles. Holm had made sure their visit was flagged as a familiarisation exercise rather than anything specific, but the man wanted to know more.

‘What exactly are you looking for?’ he asked. ‘We don’t get much of interest coming from the UK.’

‘It’s just routine,’ Holm said. ‘To check our systems more than anything. Highlighting areas of concern. Possible improvements we can make. Learning from what you do here. After all, Rotterdam has three times the throughput of Felixstowe.’

Javed stifled a laugh as the officer pointed at the main office building.

‘You’ve seen how it’s all logged. Cameras, number-plate recognition, driver identification.’ The officer grimaced. ‘Why do we have to stand out in the wet?’

‘Shoe leather,’ Javed said.

‘Hey?’ The officer turned to Javed. ‘I don’t understand.’

‘Never mind.’ Holm casually gestured at the next truck. ‘This one looks interesting. The one with the Christmas tree lights. Let’s have a word with the driver.’

‘Sure.’

The officer waved up at the cab and the driver opened the door. ‘Consignment papers, please.’

The driver, a burly guy with little English, reached onto his dashboard for a clipboard. He handed it down.

‘I just pick up,’ he said. ‘Why you need to check already? Only marine parts for some ship.’