Walker moved forward to shake the man’s hand, Brandon Hope close behind. Walker gestured to his left where there was a woman in a Royal Air Force uniform. Silva had her as the base commander. Next came an American general. An angular face and a severe haircut. Stars on his shoulders, a host of colours on his left breast. After him, a man and a woman in suits. As Walker introduced them, each received a handshake from the Saudi.

‘Who’s he?’ Itchy said.

‘No idea.’ Silva tried to remember the photos Fairchild had shown her of Haddad. In some there had been other Saudis, but she didn’t recognise the man from the plane.

As the introductions were going on, a pair of forklift trucks appeared and the tailgates of the lorries came down. Each lorry now disgorged pallets of equipment which were picked up by the forklifts and ferried across to the aircraft and lined up. A single pallet was taken to a point a few metres in front of the stage and somebody draped a Saudi flag in the centre, while a Union Jack was placed on one side and the Stars and Stripes on the other.

‘Exports,’ Silva said. ‘This is nothing more than a ceremony to mark a trade deal between American Armaments and the Saudi government. In this case the weapons have been manufactured in the UK at the factory in Birmingham, hence the trilateral nature.’

At the end of the line of dignitaries there were two more men in suits. For a moment the binocular lenses were full of the backs of Walker, Hope and the Saudi. Silva pulled right and the pudgy face of Greg Mavers slipped into view. Standing next to Mavers was a very sober-looking Sean Connor.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

By the time the Excelsior had docked and the container had been unloaded it was early evening. Straddle carriers roved up and down the rows of containers and moved them onto waiting lorries. Holm and Javed sat in their car on the ring road and waited. At eight o’clock Holm’s phone buzzed. It was Cornish.

‘The container’s on a lorry and it’s leaving now,’ she said. ‘Index Tango Alpha three, four Lima X-ray. White cab.’

‘Thanks, Billie,’ Holm said. ‘I owe you.’

‘Forget it, Stephen. Just stay out of trouble and keep us safe, OK?’

‘Will do.’

Javed flicked the sun visor down and peered into the little vanity mirror on the back.

‘Here we go,’ he said a couple of minutes later. ‘Tango Alpha three.’

There was a grunt of diesel engine and a rumble as the truck drove past. Holm waited a couple of moments and pulled out. Before long they were rounding Ipswich and heading west.

‘Where do you think?’ Javed said.