‘I think,’ Fairchild said, ‘it’s about time we came clean.’

Silva snorted. ‘Right. As if I’d believe anything you said after all that’s happened.’

‘Let’s start at the beginning.’ Weiss was at the end of the table. He sat down and laid both hands flat before clasping them together. ‘Karen Hope is not what people think she is. Not the saviour come to lead us out of the wilderness. Not a Kennedy-type figure. Not even a moderately competent politician. But she is power hungry, corrupt, and will stop at nothing to achieve her ambition of becoming president.’

‘I know that.’ Silva gestured towards Fairchild. ‘Matthew briefed me on the whole thing. Hope killed my mother in an attempt to cover up her brother’s dealings with Jawad al Haddad.’

‘Yes.’ Weiss’s hands went flat on the table again. He leaned forward. ‘Although it will never become public, your mother was something of a hero. We knew of Hope’s relationship with the Saudis, of course, but we only discovered the true extent of it through your mother’s research.’

‘We?’

‘The security services.’

‘You were keeping tabs on her?’

‘We keep tabs on a lot of people, Rebecca, and every now and then all the watching and listening and hacking pays off. That was the case with your mother. We intercepted some of her file uploads and discovered the information about Hope. We followed up various leads and checked the veracity of your mother’s work. We came to the shocking conclusion it was not only true, but there was even more dirt buried.’

‘And that is?’