Holm and Javed examined the shipping manifests for the Excelsior. The schedule suggested the weapons shipment would be on the boat and heading for Rotterdam on the following Monday. They had to factor in how long the drive would take from Rotterdam to Naples and the length of the crossing to the Tunisian marina where the Angelo had made repeated visits.

Holm was struggling to work out an ETA based on the speed of the yacht when Javed tapped him on the shoulder.

‘Forget it, boss,’ Javed said. ‘The Angelo will be in al Hammamet on Thursday evening.’

‘How the hell do you know that?’

‘Because there’s going to be a party on board to raise money for the charity. All sorts of celebrities are going to be there, many arriving in their own boats.’ Javed pointed at his monitor. ‘It’s here in La Stampa. It just came up in a search. Stroke of luck really.’

Holm picked up his phone and called Palmer. ‘We’re on for dinner on Thursday at your place.’

‘I’ll look forward to it,’ Palmer said and hung up.

They’d gone over the details at their previous meeting and Palmer agreed with Holm that the operation had to be kept hush-hush right up until the last possible moment.

‘When we’ve found Taher and the weapons?’ Holm said.

‘Yes. Then you call me up and give me the location. I’ll put plans in place so a force can be mobilised the instant you contact me. Probably some UK/Tunisian joint venture, maybe a drone strike. Whatever, as soon as I know I’ll action my plan and hopefully we’ll have Taher and the weapons.’

‘Hopefully.’

At that point Palmer had reached out and put his hand on Holm’s arm. ‘But not a word before you are one hundred per cent sure, Stephen, OK? If you’re right about a mole then this is much too big to risk a cock-up.’

‘Boss?’ Javed turned from his screen. ‘What are we going to tell Huxtable? We can’t exactly expect her to believe the Nazi story again, and I don’t think the Tunisians have much of an animal rights movement.’

‘We tell her nothing,’ Holm said. ‘I’ll buy the tickets on my credit card and if anyone asks we’re going on holiday together. If they enquire further then it’s harassment.’

‘I’ll be the laughing stock,’ Javed said. ‘My reputation will take a dive.’

Holm raised an eyebrow. ‘Your reputation?’

The feeling of powerlessness came again when, on Thursday morning at a little after eleven, Silva found herself strapped into a seat in the same private charter jet that had flown them back from Italy. Itchy sat across the aisle, and opposite and facing her, Lona.

As the aircraft accelerated down the runway and rose into the air, Itchy leaned across.

‘It’ll be all right, Silvi,’ he said. ‘Karen Hope is going down.’